ode on a broken urn

If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre of operations during the past 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington DC is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.

That means that you are about 25 per cent more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US, than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion? The US should pull out of Washington.

SSAA - Australian Shooter magazine (Oct, 2006)

while the statistics are dubious (at best), i thought it was a logical argument to make... what are the troop levels versus the mortality rate of those troops?... how does this compare to our nation's capital, Washington D.C.?... moreover, what conclusions can you make regarding these facts?... so, i did some (very) quick research... i thought i would share my findings.

Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan
US soldiers killed = 1,503 (via Casualties by year and nationality - 2001-2011 )
US soldiers in theater = average 36,530 (via Average Monthly Boots On the Ground FY2002-2012 )
Deaths per 100,000 = 411

Homicide Rates - Washington, D.C.
Persons killed by homicide = 2,057 (via Metropolitan Police Department - Washington, D.C. )
Median population = 582,049 (via Google Public Data from U.S. Census Bureau )
Deaths per 100,000 = 35

so, what does this tell us?... two conclusions are clear to me.

#1 - figures don't lie, but liars often figure.

#2 - i'm not visiting either Afghanistan or Washington, D.C.