January 2, 1999
Web posted at: 6:36 p.m. EST (2336 GMT)
"The 1997 murder rate in the United States declined to its lowest level in 30 years, but young Americans were killing each other with firearms with greater frequency, the Justice Department reported Saturday.

There were 18,209 murders, or 6.8 for every 100,000 people, the lowest since 6.2 per 100,000 in 1967. The rate was down from highs of 10.2 per 100,000 in 1980 and 9.8 in 1991. In 1950 the rate was 4.6 per 100,000. "
http://www.cnn.com/US/9901/02/murder.rate/

Note: that this is not deaths per 100,000 but murders- not suicide or accidental deaths- whether in a bath tub, car accident, or shot with gun by accident. Murders- people deliberating killing someone. Further note, that the US is not a war zone. It has laws and law enforcement preventing the criminal element from possessing firearms, nor is there easy access bombs, mortars, RPGs, etc and available to everyone at dirt cheap prices.

Now let's look at Iraq:
[Now this is only over 30 day [1/12 of yearly period- so times 12] and some numbers are much higher- but these is attacks- a number of people might die in these attacks and sometimes people don't die.] According chart at:
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/
The highest attacks per 100,000 is 29.19 and lowest is 0.06

Now if you take total population the attacks per 100,000 is 8.95 per 30 days, so is roughly [very roughly because comparing apples and oranges] about the same chance of dying from murder in the US in one as dying from attacks in one month in Iraq- or 1 year in Iraq is same 12 years in the US- in regards to dying from murder as compared to attacks.
I think that there is lots missing factors here, but in general I think it's quite safe to say that living in Iraq is safer, than if America were to let out all our prisoners for all our prisons. Or if you concerned merely the chance of dying- whether from murder or from higher risk categories, 12 year in living in America is far more lethal than 1 year in Iraq.
If think in terms of general life expectancy even with this war going on- Iraqi lives are being saved.

In summary I think it fair to say that many places in Iraq are peaceful. Some places are problem areas, but to think that these terrorists are being successful, and the Iraq is doomed is simply not supported by any facts.