Sixteen vs. Sixty-one

The Gannett Star this morning [Sunday] is horrified that we have had 16 combat deaths among Hoosier soldiers in Iraq since April. (Interestingly enough, we’ve had only 16 in Iraq since January — the graph accompanying the story in the print version shows 1 from January to March, and 15 from April to June, and to get the number of 16 from April to June, they add one death in Afghanistan.) To show its horrification at these terrible numbers, it prints this as the lead story on Sunday, the day the most people read the newspaper.
On the other hand, we’ve had 61 homicides in Indy (just in Indy, not statewide) since January. And the Gannett Star says yesterday that this represents a 22% drop from the same period last year. And implies, “Ho hum, no story here, just good police work.”
I’m all for supporting the troops, and I grieve right along with the families, but let’s face it: When you go to war, sometimes (and regrettably) good people die. That’s the nature of the beast. On the other hand, we’re not fighting a war in Indianapolis, but I think 61 homicides in Indianapolis since January is appalling, and the fact that it’s a 22% drop from this time last year is just a meaningless statistic, given that we have plenty of hot weather left ahead of us this year. Who knows — there might be a “surge” in homicides in Indy in July and August.
Too many people want our troops to come home before their job is done in Iraq, and the Gannett Star sound like they’re among the faint hearts. To me, it sounds like the troops would be exchanging one kind of war zone for another.