Florida More Dangerous than Iraq
November 14th, 2006According to Australian Filmmaker George Gittoes, there is more violence in Miami, Florida than there is in Iraq. Gittoes’ latest documentary, Rampage, compares and contrasts life of an ordinary family living in the blue-collar community in Miami, with ongoing fighting in Iraq. Unfortunately, the main stream media (and libs in general) seem to overlook small facts like this when reporting the news; and constantly hammer us with 10 Marines Dead in Iraq or More Civilian Causalities in Iraq.
My favorite quote in the article is the following:
“Even left-wing Americans … don’t want to recognize the mess they’ve got in their own backyard,” he said.
This is sad, but true. Let’s take a deeper look at the data and you can make your own judgments. According to this Iraq Coalition Casualty Report, there have been 2,853 troops killed and confirmed by the DOD; and according to this left wing, anti-war website (numbers probably inflated but okay for this purpose), there have been between 47,000 and 52,000 civilians killed in Iraq. Total population in Iraq is 26,074,906.
Now for the numbers in Florida; the FBI Crime Lab reports the following data for 2005:
- Violent Crime - 125,957
- Murder/Manslaughter - 883
- Rape - 6,592
- Robbery - 30,141
- Aggravated Assault - 88,341
- Total Population of Florida - 17,789,864
So, there you have it. Based on the numbers, statistically, it is clearly more dangerous in Florida than it is in Iraq. And my question is, where is the public and media outcry? Why aren’t they featuring this on 60 Minutes or Dateline? I’ll tell you why and goes back to the quote from Gittoes, “Even left-wing Americans … don’t want to recognize the mess they’ve got in their own backyard”. Wake up America, let’s keep the war in Iraq in perspective.
Technorati Tags: liberal, liberalism, conservative, iraq, war in iraq
November 15th, 2006 at 4:52 am
Ok, you think iraq isn't so bad a place?
This is the news from iraq just from TODAY:
82 dead from car bombs, murders and clashes.
150 taken hostage from the Higher Education Ministry for University (as we know hostages usually end up dead)
Hundreds injured in car bombings. Hospitals lack resources to treat people and turn them away. Morgues lack the space and pile the bodies in the street, or bury them unidentified.
"Clothes merchant Mohammed Ali, 30, had closed his shop early and was heading home when the bomb blast threw him from his motorcycle.
I could see people on fire. We tried to rescue some women from minibus, but they died in our arms,'' Ali said. "
Yes, florida is a very dangerous place. Americans live there. By your own data, on average 3 people are murdered every day.
It is possible to acknowledge America is a dangerous place and at the same time appreciate the terrible reality for civilians in Iraq. And I am Australian.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:58 am
And perhaps it is your attempt at irony, or perhaps you are a complete moron, but your figures prove that iraq is more dangerous.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Hey MORON Mat from Australia,
I can't stand people who post comments and don't take time to read and/or understand the main point of the topic at hand. The point isn't to take lightly the tragic deaths in Iraq; rather, the point is to illustrate how the left in America (specifically the media) are so consumed with the war in Iraq, that they ignore to report on the tragedies in their own backyard. I would also add that they NEVER report the good news in Iraq.
Damn, I didn't know they had left wing idiots in Australia. Please do me a favor and stay there!
November 16th, 2006 at 1:45 am
Ah, thats what I like to hear, a bit of fire in the belly.
I think it is a good point you make that there is little appreciation of the underbelly and disadvantage in american society, and it goes unreported by serious media. That's why I said it is possible to acknowledge both dangerous situations. But I feel the main push of the post was to downplay the unreal violence in Iraq caused by the loss of the rule of law.
"let’s keep the war in Iraq in perspective"
it's not all that bad?
November 16th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Mat - my intention was not to down play the violence in Iraq at all. I was simply pointing out that the mainstream media in the US pays no attention to tragic issues that go on here in the states.
January 6th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
FIRST, I agree that Florida needs help, and that as a nation, we need to find a way to fix our crime epidemic.
However, I don't understand how you (or Gittoes) could possibly be saying that roughly 50,000 murders out of 26,000,000 is somehow LESS dangerous than 883 out of 17,000,000?
I also find it interesting that you list "violent crime" as a category like murder, rape, etc. A "violent crime" or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without weapons.
So using the stats from above:
Murder/Manslaughter - 883
Rape - 6,592
Robbery - 30,141
Aggravated Assault - 88,341
if you add all those up... guess what they equal? You guessed it...
Violent Crime - 125,957
So yes, there was more reported "violent crime" in Florida than there were reported MURDERS in Iraq.
Sound logic tells you when making a comparison, make sure it is comparing "apples to apples". In this case, you are comparing "apples to fruit" ...
Using that analogy with your reasoning, you are trying to draw the conclusion that "Since Florida has more FRUIT than Iraq has APPLES, Florida must have more Apples." This is flawed logic, and I really hope you recognize this.
So here is your apples to apples comparison:
For the sake of easy math, let's say Iraq's #'s are 50,000 murders for 25,000,000 people and Florida's are 800 murders out of 16,000,000.
Using these "estimates", 1 in 500 Iraqis was murdered while 1 in 2,000 Floridians.
When comparing murders to murders you will see that an Iraqi was FOUR TIMES more likely to be murdered than a Floridian in 2006. That is the only conclusion you can draw from the numbers you provided.
January 6th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Chris - my point was simply that the media constantly hammers us with negative news about Iraq; yet never seem to point out the number of murders (and yes, violent crime), here in our own backyard.
And, believe it or not, I would rather walk down some streets in Baghdad than some of the neighborhoods in every major city in the US (Las Angeles, New York, Dallas, Detroit).
Additionally, the main srteam media often ignores all the positive things happenning in Iraq.
January 6th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I've lived in Miami, reside in Florida, and visited NY, LA, etc. Pretty peaceful places full of interesting people and things, if you ask me. I've realized I have little danger to worry about, because there is a thing called "Street Smarts", I know where there's danger coming, when to walk fast (or run), whats parts of town to get the hell out of asap, and who not to look in the eyes. The violence in these cities is constantly broadcast on local news stations, you hear about every rape, murder, child abuse case and things you'd rather not know about that are happening in your own backyard, it just doesnt make the national news unless its really major. Iraq is NOT in the spotlight on local TV.
I dont think my street smarts would work in Iraq, if an area looks totally safe to walk through or not, I have now idea where bombs or bullets might come from. I guess this comes from fear and propaganda right?
31 years in South florida and not a victim of a single crime, knock on wood.
Havent heard of much Iraqi tourism going on lately, since after all its so relatively safe.
January 6th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Actually, in order to do even a roughly accurate comparison you need to compare the numbers covering the same period of time. The IBC starts from the invasion in March 2003 up to the present. The FBI numbers cover only a single year.
According to the IBC, there were 12617 civlian deaths in the 1-year period from March 2005 to March 2006. The number of civilian deaths in Iraq (March 05 to March 06) is 14.3 times higher than the number of murders in Florida (January 05 to January 06). The population of Iraq is 1.5 times higher than the population in Florida. So actually, Iraq is 14.3 times more dangerous than Florida.
As
Moreover, the IBC is not comparable to the Florida murder counts. (a) The IBC is only counting civilian deaths. The murder counts in Florida include the murders of non-civilians. (b.) The IBC is only counting civilian deaths attributable to the US's military invasion. This includes civilians killed as a result of US military acts, as well as civilians killed as a result of acts committed by Iraqi militias/insurgents/terrorists whatever. This does NOT include the run-of-the-mill murders you are more likely to see in Florida.
So in actuality Iraq's murder rate is probably more than 14.3 times larger than Florida's.
As mat and chris point out, Brito's conclusion that "statistically, it is clearly more dangerous in Florida than it is in Iraq" is dead wrong.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:31 am
i like it when points are proved with actual math.
if you notice the replies from the right are all " we MEANT that you liberals focus on the bad stuff in iraq and none of what goes on at home". well thats rewriting history now isn't it? if there weren't a war overseas, many liberals would be shouting about the atrocities going on in our cities. and why should someone try to find good in a war they didn't want? it seems to me that reports like this are more to convince other right-wing-lunatics that they didn't make a mistake supporting the iraq war.
how on earth can anyone smart enough to use a computer and be stupid enough to believe that a WAR ZONE is safer than disney world? and then back it up with numbers that still prove the opposite? thats like saying "the sky is orange!! i have the photo-negatives to prove it.
i would almost agree with the "conservatives". (im sorry i just cant call them conservatives because "conservative" implies being thoughtful i.e. to conserve resources. i think "right-winged lunatics " fits a little better.)
considering that florida has both catherine harris and jeb bush in charge, they make a good case for florida being more dangerous than iraq. here is the difference between FL and iraq, one is run by religious zealots who will not stop untill all either are converted or killed, and the other is a WAR ZONE.
i hope thats the kind of response you want us commie pinkos to give.
now in return, you have to use *gasp* logic and reason.
January 7th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
I note that chris, in a previous posting mentions a crime "epidemic". This may have been a fair statement 20 years ago, but not now. In fact, most newspapers are reporting the same trends via Associated Press releases, based on the same FBI statistics that we all depend on.
In general, violent crime has dropped significantly to historically low levels, and has only as of, I believe, 2003 that there has been an upward trend.
Although it can be argued that "the media" don't report violent crime in this country as much as "they should" perhaps that is because there is much less to report.
January 9th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
It dosen't matter witch is more dangerous both have been taken over by
fanatics who place no value on life. Therefore I would not recomend visiting either place. the only mistake that Bush and the U.S. has made is not taking all of the assholes (Lib's) from florida to iraq and soon iraq would be just a bunch of assholes! I guess that would be cruel and unuasual punishment. So the only answer is nuke them both send the rest to austrailia make sure they have no boats, enhance the white shark population . Then maybe we will all have a chance. Why don't you fools ask the victums what the percentage is of being attacked in either place. I'm sure there responce would be 100%. So much for all of your numbers.
January 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I don't consider myself a liberal or a conservative...i like to think I'm someone who can see some good ideas from both groups and would love to see them both be able to make compromises with each other but thats not how politics goes i guess...
...so on that note i was willing to go along with this a argument until numbers were used to refute the very argument they were meant to support....I don't think you realize that if the government were left unchecked it would revert back to its Vietnam propaganda of telling the American public how well its doing in this war when its really not...the very fact that this government, (that called Saddam an emminent threat with his WMD's and Osama the most wanted man alive), hasn't talked about how WE supplied Osama with training, weapons and money during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, and you can google pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Hussein in 1984 during the Iran-Iraq war as were supporting Iraq at the time. We have helped to create our own enemies.
The hypocrisy of government demands that we make sure to bring to light the atrocities of war or they'll gladly lie to the people with a smile on their faces....
January 12th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
He could have produced any numbers, since I've personally seen the iraqi civilian death toll fluctuate between 10,000 and 500,000. Who cares? The point he made was still valid; The mainstream news (and the liberal population) claims it cares so much about human life, but only seems to mention it when it can help their agenda. In this case, convincing americans that the war is some horrible atrocity that the US has committed.
Anybody hear about the blizzard that hit Colorado? People died, others were stranded without electricity or heat. The blizzard was apparantly as damaging as a class 5 hurricane, but where was the coverage? All I've seen on the news was something about stranded cows.
I'm willing to believe that liberals have their hearts in the right places. They really do want to do what's right, the problem is that there are skewed versions of the different means to get to the ultimate end. Everyone always thinks they're right, and it's hard to double back and look at it from a different viewpoint.
January 13th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Listen up libs. IF YOU WOULD PLEASE…UTILIZE YOUR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION AND READ THE ENTIRE POST, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND (HOPEFULLY) THAT MY POINT WAS TO ASK A SIMPLE QUESTION -- WHERE IS THE MEDIA OUTCRY FOR ALL THE MURDER THAT GOES ON IN OUR OWN BACKYARD?
PEOPLE DIE EVERYDAY IN THE US, WHETHER IT'S FROM DRUNK DRIVING, CHILD ABUSE, MURDER, HOMELESSNESS, ETC AND I DON'T SEE A DAMN THING REPORTED BY ABC, CBS OR NBC.
IS FLORIDA MORE DANGEROUS THAN IRAQ? NO, OF COURSE NOT BUT I WANTED YOU UNINFORMED LIBERALS TO READ THE ENTIRE POST. UNFORNATELY, YOU EITHER DIDN'T READ THE ENTIRE POST, OR YOU DID READ IT AND COULDN'T COMPREHEND IT.
YOU COME HERE TO MY BLOG AND CALL ME NAMES AND SAY HOW STUPID I AM AND TELL ME THAT THE NUMBERS DON'T MAKE SENSE (NO SHEET); BUT YOU ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE NO FREAKIN CLUE ABOUT THE CRAP THAT GOES ON OUTSIDE OF THESE BORDERS. YOU SIT THERE IN YOUR LITTLE APARTMENTS IN SAN FRANCISCO REPEATING TO YOURSELF "BUSH LIED AND ALL THESE PEOPLE DIED", COMPLAIN ABOUT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ALL DAY LONG AND THEN GO JOIN CINDY SHEEHAN IN ONE OF HER WIDELY PUBLICIZED DEMONSTRATIONS.
MAYBE IF YOU SPENT SOME TIME IN SUDAN OR BETTER YET, SOMALIA SO YOU CAN SEE THE 10 YEAR OLD MUSLIM BOYS CARRYING AK47S….MAYBE THAT WILL GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE IN LIFE.
PEACE!
January 18th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
right on Michael give them hell, Libs don't care about this country, they don't care about are schools, because their kids all go to private schools. They don't care about poverty or homeless, because they don't live in it. All they care about is control, they control the media because libs can't win a fare fight. You will never see only good reported by the media because libs are nogood. I think that it is a slap in the face by the media to act like the public doesn't know bad cruel, violent, crime exists. I think we all know its out there I don't think the media should report it at all. It's like my mom and dad always say, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY THEN DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL. This Country would be a lot better off if libs worked and earned their money for a change with their hands and backs not the mouth. By the does anyone out there no what the definition of "IS" is.