Violent death? That's a pretty vague term...
What exactly does the unknown author mean by the term. Does that include murder, suicide, and automobile accidents?
According to the U.S. Department of Justic, in 2002, Washington DC had 262 murders and approximately 600,000 residents. That's 43.6 per 100,000...
Unfortunately for accuracy, the only group actually keeping statistics on murder in Baghdad is the U.S. Army, whose statistics only count "non-political murders". This interesting term means that they do not count any murder that can be traced to the U.S. occupation, attacks against any coalition held area, or against the government. (i.e. all the weekly car and truck bombings don't get included in the statistics...)
The annual murder rate, adjusted by the Army, is 6 per 100.000...
I'd suggest you talk to any American civilian you know who was stationed in Baghdad and see what their perception of the safety of the city was... you'll likely get an eye opening variation from the "official government version."
:think: