Monday, December 5, 2005

Californy Ain't No Paradise

Recently released crime statistics show the homicide rate in California is 265 percent higher than the death rate suffered by U.S. and British military personnel in Iraq.

According to the report "Crime in California 2004," compiled by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, there were 2,394 reported homicides in the Golden State last year. That compares with 905 deaths of coalition forces in Iraq, chiefly Americans and Brits, during the same time period.

Such comparisons have been made by defenders of the action in Iraq, who say the number of casualties for a war of this length are extraordinarily low.

This is a fair point that helps us keep things in their proper perspective. I wonder why folks like Red Kennedy, Lurch Kerry, and I, Gorebot aren't calling for a withdrawal from the west coast? With two-and-a-half times as many deaths in the Golden state as in Iraq within the same time-frame, it's pretty obvious that the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Democrat Party over the Iraq War is just heavy-handed politics. Nothing more.

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