June 6,2008:
With things quieting down in Iraq
(U.S. casualties hit an all-time low in May, 2008), South Africa has regained
its position as the most violent country on the planet, with a murder rate of
65 per 100,000 population. The death rate is also high in some other African
countries (like Sudan, Somalia and Congo), but those placed don't keep records
as effectively as South Africa. The Iraqi rate is now running at about 48 per
100,000. The Afghanistan rate is about 15. India, another area with lots of
terrorism (and half of it is from communist and tribal rebels) the murder rate is
about four per 100,000. That's about the same as most European nations, and
half the U.S. rate. But the Western Hemisphere has always had a higher homicide
rate than the Old World. No one is quite sure why.