September numbers have settled for our comparison of violent deaths in Iraq and Chicago, with Chicago topping Iraq by more than a 6 to 1 margin.
Total US casualties were at 25 with 8 coming from hostile fire and 17 from non-hostile activities (mostly a helicopter wreck). Casualties in Afghanistan remained high at 25 due to hostile fire and 2 from non-hostile.
The 17th Ward represented by Latasha Thomas taking the dubious distinction of having 9 homicides based on unofficial data.
Read More of 50 Murders in Chicago; 8 Casualties in Iraq off-site...John Powers says:
If the US can spend money wisely to reduce violence, why not spend money wisely to reduce violence?
Certainly the money spent in Chicago violence prevention programs is not working.
JBP
Jim says:
This article is so air headed I'm surprised you had the nerve to post it. Is it because the real reason for the drop in violence in Iraq, is the hundreds of millions of dollars the U.S. is paying militants not to shoot people?
According to a report in USA Today, the U.S. hired 36,000 former militants at $8 per day to help us--and that's just what the U.S. pays the grunts. Who would know how much we are paying the leaders and the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to be nice?
Using the figures in the USA Today article, 365-day coverage with all 36,000 comes to roughly $2,016,000 per week or about $105,000,000 per year. And again, that's just for the low-level people.
In a subsequent article on the subject by The New York Times, it is reported that these Sunni insurgents on the U.S. payroll are now being hunted down by the Shia government. Understandably, the turn-coats feel betrayed by the U.S.
Yet The New York Times article on the surge and Bush's courage did not tell us about the huge protection racket the U.S. has been engaged in, and the real reason behind the drop in American casualties.
One final thought. I bet the Chicago toughs would be willing to shut down with an adequate payoff. I know what you are thinking, thats what I think of the payoff to control the surge.