John Campbell (R-Ca 48) continues to act as George Bush's surrogate when parroting Bush's December 2005 claim that Baghdad is safer than Washington, D.C. I am setting the record straight with the facts -- D.C. ain't no Baghdad.
Campbell (R-Ca 48) has repeatedly claimed in speeches to Republican audiences in the district that Baghdad is safer than Washington, D.C. Despite the facts on July deaths in Baghdad coming out today, Campbell is unwilling to back off his assertion. You judge the facts from a second page story in the August 16, 2006, Orange County Register (the "hometown" Republican paper for the Ca-48):
"July appears to have been the deadliest month of the war for Iraq civilians. An average of more than 110 Iraqis were killed each day in July. . . .[and] at least 17,776 Iraqi civilians died violently in the first seven months of this year or an average of 2,539 per month. The Health Ministry did not provide figures for people wounded by attacks in Baghdad but said at least 3,597 Iraqis were injured outside the city in July, a 25 percent increase over June. UN officials and military analysts say the morgue and ministry numbers almost certainly reflect severe undercounts, caused by the haphazard nature of information in the war zone."
Comparing D.C. with a population of 550,521 to Baghdad with a population 5,772,000 requires a per capita adjustment to make the numbers fair. Extrapolating from Baghdad's July violent civilian death figures Baghdad is on course for a 2006 civilian death toll of 41,256. D.C.'s 2005 death toll (murders) totaled a mere 196. On a per capita basis, D.C. would have to have had 2,055 murders in 2005 to be on pace with Baghdad. Despite being the U.S., "murder capital," D.C.'s 196 murders in 2005 falls far short of 2,055.
Is it so hard to grasp? Intuitively we know Cambell's claim is false. But Campbell wants so much to "stay the course" with Bush that he will stretch the truth to make Bush's Iraq occupation palatable. After all, if Baghdad is safer than Washington, D.C., Bush must be doing something right in Iraq, right? Campbell's version of Bush's "mission accomplished" sales pitch works with the Republican faithful desperate for any spin, but fails to pass muster for accuracy.
It's time to change Congress -- 2008 is too late. Vote Steve Young, a Democrat with solutions.
