[R] iraq statistics - OT

[Peter Dalgaard]

Rolf Turner <rolf at math.unb.ca> writes:

> Gabor Grothendieck wrote:
> 
> > I came across this one:
> > 
> > http://www.nysun.com/article/32787
> > 
> > which says that the violent death rate in Iraq (which presumably
> > includes violent deaths from the war) is lower than the violent
> > death rate in major American cities.
> > 
> > Does anyone have any insights from statistics on how to
> > interpret this?
> 
> 	Well, I don't.  But I remain very skeptical anyhow.  I had
> 	heard earlier that the violent death rate for *American
> 	military personel* in Iraq is lower than the violent death
> 	rate in American cities --- which seems more plausible.  But
> 	still not very plausible.  Or maybe major American cities
> 	are even worse than we had been led to believe.

They are... Figures like the ones quoted for South Africa, Colombia,
New Orleans &c generally represent the existence of neighbourhoods
with total social and law enforcement breakdown.

However, numbers can easily be misleading. I notice that the crude
death rate is substantially lower in Iraq than in Canada! The fact
that 40% of the Iraqis are less that 15 years of age may have
something to do with that... (and with the denominator of the violent
death rate too).

-- 
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