Iraq No Worse Than Chicago?

By Louis in News on Mar 22, 2007 7:14PM

On Monday, Republican Congressman Tim Walberg stated in a radio interview that he has gathered from his discussion with American troops returning from Iraq that "80 to 85 percent, in a conservative fashion, of the country is reasonably under control, at least as well as Detroit or Chicago or any of our other big cities. That's an encouraging sign."

Chicago and Detroit may have their problems, but surely it is a bit far reaching to claim that Iraq is anything remotely similar to Chicago, or as Walberg specifies, Harvey, Ill. Harvey had 12 murders in 2005, military casualties in Iraq are in the thousands.

In response to the Republican's statements, the Democrats have responded that it is ridiculous to compare Detroit or Chicago to a country in the midst of a bloody civil war. Unfortunately, Chicagoist pulled their Iraqi correspondents out after the initial campaign (invasion or liberation, depending on your view), so we are beginning to feel that we have no real clue what is going on in Iraq. The major news media seem to be convinced that the war is wrapping up or the war is unraveling, with no in-between.

This may or may not be a slap in the face. Republicans could take the view that Chicago and Detroit are a little on the unsafe side in some areas, and the liberal media is making the war into more than it really is. Democrats see a civil war that the conservative spin is covering up, and this is a huge insult to the people of Chicago and Detroit.

Well someone should probably be mad, but we are so confused, we don't know who we should be picking up the torch for — the Chicago police who work to make our streets safe (and bars too?), or American troops who are dealing with either civil war or nothing at all.