Comments on: FACT CHECK: Baghdad Has 13 Times More Murders Than Philadelphia

By: Baghdad Is Philly, No Wait its NYC at Lies Before Breakfast

Baghdad Is Philly, No Wait its NYC at Lies Before Breakfast — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:30:44 +0000

[...] Philly. But Philly as bad as Baghdad(sounds funny right)? Never the less the wingnut was deservedly debunked and blasted by the progressive side of the [...]

By: jaredroebuck.com Blog » Blog Archive » Baghdad Is Philly, No Wait its NYC

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:35:37 +0000

[...] Philly. But Philly as bad as Baghdad(sounds funny right)? Never the less the wingnut was deservedly debunked and blasted by the progressive side of the [...]

By: Baghdad Is Philly, No Wait its NYC at Lies Before Breakfast

Baghdad Is Philly, No Wait its NYC at Lies Before Breakfast — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:20:11 +0000

[...] Philly. But Philly as bad as Baghdad(sounds funny right)? Never the less the wingnut was deservedly debunked and blasted by the progressive side of the [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 19:58:25 +0000

Samuel Preston, a demographer at UPenn, showed that the mortality rate among US soldiers in Iraq is actually lower than that of African American men 20-34 living in Philadelphia. I’m not certain why he has’nt published these results in a journal, but I could hazard a guess… Check out the link below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082500940.html

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:09:30 +0000

I see a lot of bad statistics cited above. These numbers can show anything you want when you compare apples to oranges (remember the “gun homicide rates” cited by Mr. Moore?). The atrocities cited are horrible; it’s too bad that it doesn’t count as homicide when the nations own dictator orchestrates the same acts of violence. I suppose the homicide rate will disappear when Iran and/ or Syria take the reins. These “events” will be government sanctioned so that the U.N. can talk until they are blue in the face about how nice it would be if it were to stop.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:18:14 +0000

Oh, I get it. We sent the wrong guys to do the job in Iraq. Instead of the Army, Air Force and Marines, we should have sent in the Philadelphia PD.

By: baric

baric — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:42:44 +0000

If a winger makes this kind of comparison, then simply claim that you’re glad that he finally agrees that our troops are no longer needed in Iraq and should be brought home.

By: Merle

Merle — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:12:51 +0000

We should be fighting the Global War Against Cars. They are the real threat.

SPC: I have actually read posts at Freeperville that cite these very statistics, in all seriousness, as proof that the war in Iraq is a) no big deal in the grand scheme of things and b) not really costing us too much in American lives. After all, those traffic accident victims died essentially for nothing, while our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen (not counting all the Iraqis, of course) have the consolation of having died to keep freedom on the march around the globe.

By: nullH.J.Dunning

nullH.J.Dunning — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:44:36 +0000

It’s hard to believe that the murder rate today is lower then in the 1970’s. In Atlantic City area in the past couple of days the police department ran across 4 women that were all shot in the back of the head. After a day went by they said, they were going to treat this as a murder case. You Think! Murder is not something normal people like to talk about, but if we as a nation don’t face up to this problem, by putting murderer’s in prison and never let them out. We also had a 34 year old women, murder a 3 week old baby boy by cutting and throwing the baby around. This also took place in the south Jersey area.Open up the mental hospitals. The goverment had it right in the 1950’s. The crime rate was a lot lower.Take Care, H.J. Dunning

By: Vast Left

Vast Left — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 05:27:25 +0000

“Funny, I canâ€™t remember the last time that 150 people in Los Angeles were abducted from their place of work.”

Oh yeah? So why won’t “Lost” be on again until February?

By: SPC

SPC — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:16:03 +0000

Safer than Philly?

Don’t you love statistics. I can prove that the terrorist threat is a bit overstated. If we assume that Bin Laden declared war on us starting with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, he and his boys have managed to kill less than 7,000 americans including Iraq and Afganistan casualties. During the same period approximately 42,000 americans died per year in traffic accidents. That would be about 588,000 from 1993 through 2006 inclusive. We are 84 times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident than to be killed by terrorists. We should be fighting the Global War Against Cars. They are the real threat.

By: BlacquesJacquesShellacques

BlacquesJacquesShellacques — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:19:35 +0000

A sterile debate. Now that the dems are in power the murders in both countries will cease, and if not it will be entirely the fault of Bush.

By: slarti

slarti — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:39:00 +0000

Bushwacked,
You’re correct… but not neccessarily on topic. The point isn’t the statistical math itself but the blatant lie perpetuated by Rep. King and others who believe Bagdad is somehow on par when contrast with the dangers of U.S. cities.

By: Brian Boru

Brian Boru — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:32:25 +0000

Lots of the dead bodies have holes drilled into them or show other signs of torture; decapitated girls have dogs’ heads sewn onto them etc. Do any Philly murders display such depravity?
I wrote on another blog that I’m going to Philly for a family wedding later this week; I wouldn’t go to Baghdad to receive a Nobel Prize/

By: JD

JD — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:08:54 +0000

Nobody is asking the most pertinent question for comparision: Would anyone in Baghdad ‘boo’ Santa Claus?

By: I Am Dali

I Am Dali — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:55:29 +0000

“What is their fascination with comparing Baghdad with U.S. cities? Why do they hate America?”

no no, you see, it’s a compliment. baghdad is a paradise on earth, things are going great: somebody built a school at some point i think.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

we just need the military to enforce the same kind of civil success in our own american cities! and get our metro violence down to baghdad levels, apparently.

By: darby1936

darby1936 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:31:38 +0000

Rep. King needs to stay in Sadr City rather than the green zone the next time he visits Iraq. No armoured vehicles for him either.

By: WaltTheMan

WaltTheMan — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:04:39 +0000

The morgue rate in Baghdad is on average 45 per day. At 365 days per year – that works out to about 16500 reported dead per year. Because of fear and Islamic tradition, the unreported toll is estimated at from 60 to 70 deaths per day. Taking the lower number, that works out to about 22000 unreported deaths per year. The sum yeilds 38500 deaths per year out of a population of 2.5 million (There are 8 million Sunnis in all of Iraq (They don’t all live in the same city, the Shi’ites live in Sadr and the Kurds live in the north.).).

By: Regis

Regis — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 02:45:24 +0000

I live in Iowa. Steve King is an idiot. The only reason I’m glad that Steve King is in DC is that he makes the Democrats look like we’re super intelligent.

By: BC

BC — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 02:00:36 +0000

The other issue is that deaths in Baghdad are being compare to deaths in US cities.
As a non-US based person, it is a bit of a giggle. The US has massively higher murder rates in absolutes & on per capita basis than most western nations due to lax gun laws.

Compare this with Sydney, Australia which is about the same population as Philly. Murder rates are 1.0 per 100,000, or approximately 50 people per year.

I’m sure you can find some euro cities that are even lower.

The US is no measuring stick about murder rates. It certainly is no pinnacle to aspire to.

=my2c