Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
No, I read an analysis last night - somewhere - that compared deaths in Iraq attributed to the insurgency - on all sides - and compared the same time frame to Chicago murder deaths.
|
I'd be interested in the time frame, and knowing if the rate in Chicago at that time was representative of the rate in Chicago as a whole. If the time frame seems objectively reasonable as applied to Iraq (only counting deaths after some major event) then presumably it makes sense, but if there was a time period during which deaths were high in Chicago (e.g., a couple of weeks of gang clashes that resulted in an unusually high rate of deaths) then it'd be too easy to fuck with the time periods.
Again, though, there's a difference to me between deaths from regular criminal activity, and deaths intended to influence the social structure. Note that many gang-type deaths I would classify as the latter. Also, I'm not saying that I don't think Iraq is ready for elections. I just am sceptical of this comparison you speak of really being apples/apples, particularly since you are comparing an entire country to a major urban area. I would think the death rates in Baghdad/Falluja would be higher than in Iraq as a whole, just as Chicago's rates are higher than IL as a whole, or than the US as a whole.
