Fear mongering, along with “noble lies,” addressed elsewhere in this blog, are major components in the authoritarian’s tyrannical toolbox.
Ever since we were attacked in 2001, we have been manipulated with the fear card. Any time the Administration wants us to give up a right, manipulate Congress or redact our constitution, they leak or outright announce some imminent terrorist threat.
It’s all wrong!!!
Let me try ease your fears.
First of all, lets put some numbers to our losses caused by those most evil of the evil, the terrorists. Using numbers is cold and our losses are uncalled for, but it might help protect us from the fear mongers.
There are two numbers we can derive for our losses. One is for the attack in September of 2001. The other is for the loss of our children in Iraq.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the United States was close to 284,709,000 in September 2001. On a per capita basis, that attack cost us 1 out of every 95,765 citizens. This loss can also be stated as 104 out of every 10,000,000 citizens.
According to Nation Master, the per capita losses in Iraq since the war started is 83.994 out of every 10,000,000 citizens as of March 2006. Using U. S. Census Bureau population for July 2006, 299,398,484, and the total 2006 fatality count from iCasualties.org, 822 troops, the rate drops to 27.5 fatalities per 10,000,000 citizens. Now using the average fatalities for 2004, 2005 and 2006, 818 troops, against the mid 2005 population, 296,507,061, the rate is 27.6 fatalities per 10,000,000 citizens.
To put those numbers in perspective, here are statistics of other losses we suffer each year. They are from the FBI. These numbers are for both 2001 and 2006 and show the rate for every 10,000,000 citizens.
Since the World Trade Center fatalities were on a single day, the 2001 column is adjusted to a daily rate for the year. Those in the 2006 column are for the entire year.
I have merged the losses from terrorist activities into the table for comparison.
| Crime | 2001/Day | 2006/Year |
|---|---|---|
| Property Crimes | 1,002 | 333,450 |
| Larceny Theft | 779 | 202,680 |
| Burglary | 203 | 72,940 |
| Violent Crime | 138 | 47,350 |
| Vehicle Theft | 118 | 39,840 |
| World Trade Center | 104 | N/A |
| Aggravated Assault | 87 | 28,750 |
| Robbery | 41 | 14,940 |
| Rape | 9 | 3,090 |
| Murder | 1.5 | 570 |
| US Iraq Forces | N/A | 27 |
As you can see, we here at home are more likely to have our car stolen than be killed by a terrorist and that assumes we were attacked every day of the year for an average daily fatality rate of 104 for every 10,000,000 citizens.
Now look at the 2006 column again and realize what the last entry for our troops means. Since I’m using the population of the United States and not the population of Iraq nor total US troops in Iraq, they would, both numerically and intuitively, be safer fighting terrorists “here” rather than “there.”
Now imagine you were living in the 1850s in the middle of the old, unsettled, wild west. You are living in a small town inside a fort full of courageous cavalry. When are you and they safest? When all the troops are out searching for the bad guys over the horizon or when they are back at the fort with their loved ones?
In spite of the fear mongering, it’s time to stop cowering each time the fear card is played and bring the troops home so we can all be safer.
Andy Hailey