I. Shaw McElhinney quotes Rush Limbaugh on the violent death rate in Iraq. If you were to rely only on the impression given by the mainstream media, you would believe that Iraq is the deadliest place in the world. Certainly, the number of terrorist attacks that kill innocent bystanders, local security forces, and coalition soldiers is bad, but is the worst? Not by a long shot.
According to [Rep. Steve King of Iowa], the violent death rate in Iraq is 25.71 per 100,000. That may sound high, but not when you compare it to places like Colombia 61.7” per 100,000 death rate, violent death rate. South Africa, has a higher violent death rate per 100,000: 49.6 per 100,000. Even Jamaica has a higher violent death rate than does Iraq: 32.4, and Venezuela comes in at 31.6 violent deaths per 100,000. “How about the violent death rates in American cities? New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina was 53.1. FBI statistics for 2004-05 have Washington DC’s violent death rate at 45.9 per 100,000; Baltimore at 37.7 per 100,000, and Atlanta at 34.9 per 100,000. The figure again from Iraq, 25.71 per 100,000, and that includes the war. [Rush Limbaugh]
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