Fact?

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by baggygreen

I see why fatty thought the way he did, because that was my initial (albeit tired) thought as well.

It raises another point, which is that the west appears to have become a little overly sensitive to soldiers dying in combat. funnily enough, thats an occupational hazard that soldiers accept when they enlist, but the media and a proportion of the public think this is unacceptable. *shrug*

Very true. That is a sad part of the "game" unfortunately.

I did understand where fatty was coming from too, btw. But he was a tad too insistant upon his being correct after his error was pointed out...

Oh well, all in good fun...

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Aramike

Oh well, all in good fun...

Precisely

The original idea was to draw attention to the conclusion and hopefully plant the seed "Washington isn't a war zone"

I'm wondering if the risks are even higher in some other US cities

[AVGWarhawk]

I live outside Washington....it is a war zone I see the aftermath of the night skirmishes on the news all the time.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

I live outside Washington....it is a war zone I see the aftermath of the night skirmishes on the news all the time.

Is that just since Obama moved into the neighbourhood?

[Fincuan]

Old one, and misleading. You can think of that as VERY creative or just plain wrong use of statistics.

See for example here for an conversation on the subject: http://answers.google.com/answers/th...id/594867.html

This one pretty much sums it up:

Originally Posted by Some guy at the linked conversation

While I thought the "joke" about pulling out of D.C. was kind of
funny, I couldn't believe that those figures were right, so I checked
them. They are not even anywhere close based on my calculations.
Whoever published that email really twisted his statistics.

According to the email, there have been 2112 deaths in 22 months.
Average US soldier population in Iraq was 160,000
2112 / 1.6 = 1320 deaths per 100,000
1320 deaths / 22 months = 60 deaths per MONTH per 100,000

DC has had 188 murders so far this year, 11 months. http://www.safestreetsdc.com/
Population of D.C. is around 550,000 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108620.html
188 deaths / 5.5 = 34.2 deaths per 100,000
34.2 deaths / 11 months = 3.1 deaths per MONTH per 100,000

So take your pick:
D.C. = 3 people killed per MONTH for every 100,000
Iraq = 60 soldiers killed per MONTH for every 100,000 (or 2 per DAY
for every 100,000!!!)

Note that the figure that above guy used for Washington DC is all murders, not just those committed with a firearm. Without looking at the statistics I bet suicides are a big majority of firearm related deaths in US and Washington D.C anyway, and even if one included them it would be hard to get the math as wrong as in the original version of this "myth".

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by Fincuan

Old one, and misleading. You can think of that as VERY creative or just plain wrong use of statistics.

See for example here for an conversation on the subject: http://answers.google.com/answers/th...id/594867.html

This one pretty much sums it up:


Note that the figure that above guy used for Washington DC is all murders, not just those committed with a firearm. Without looking at the statistics I bet suicides are a big majority of firearm related deaths in US and Washington D.C anyway, and even if one included them it would be hard to get the math as wrong as in the original version of this "myth".

Yeah, there's no doubt that the Washington stats were skewed. I'm wondering if someone picked up on an exceptionally bad month and went to town...

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Is that just since Obama moved into the neighbourhood?

No sir! It has always been bad. I worked one block outside of Washington (Oxon Hill)...it was just bad no matter what time of day. To be honest Jim, the with exception of The Mall(Capitol Hill) and a few afluent spots...the city is a disgrace. You know, when you have a mayor caught on tape with a crack pipe and a whore....there has got to be trouble. Google Marion Barry....

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by baggygreen

I see why fatty thought the way he did, because that was my initial (albeit tired) thought as well.

It raises another point, which is that the west appears to have become a little overly sensitive to soldiers dying in combat. funnily enough, thats an occupational hazard that soldiers accept when they enlist, but the media and a proportion of the public think this is unacceptable. *shrug*

Yep, same thing here in Holland when 1 guy bites the bullet. Big national drama. What the h**l did they expect?! A frickin picknick?!

Though it has to be said that IMHO the army itself is to blaim in this; they promote themselves as a great opportunity to start a career and get an education. Kids around here (I don't call 'm kids because of their age) don't join out of patriotism or because they want to fight for something good, it's because they see a career opportunity. The fact that you get sent on mission out of country is cleverly left out of the promotional material...

"You want to work on apache's, or even fly them? Want to ride in a tank? Want exictement and an education? Join the army!"

I call those guys kids because they actually fall for the propaganda without realizing they could die while in service.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by August

BTW historically speaking that is the "best" rate than our nation has ever experienced in a war, ever.

I thought the war ended a few years ago. It actually is a rate for occupying/peacekeeping, isn't it?

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

I thought the war ended a few years ago. It actually is a rate for occupying/peacekeeping, isn't it?

LOL

(you joke, yes?)

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

LOL

(you joke, yes?)

Umm, what exactly do you consider a war?

[August]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

I thought the war ended a few years ago. It actually is a rate for occupying/peacekeeping, isn't it?

As far as I know there has been no declared end to the Iraq war.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by August

As far as I know there has been no declared end to the Iraq war.

Technically, there wasn't a declared beginning to the Iraq War. In any case, it can hardly be called a "war" during the last few years.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by August

As far as I know there has been no declared end to the Iraq war.

Maybe my memory doesn't serve right here, but didn't G.W. Bush declare the operation accomplished on that carrier a few years ago? I thought that was the official end of the "war".

[Platapus]

It was Mission Accomplished and there are usually multiple missions that need to be accomplished before a war is over.