The GOP debate described a terrifying world that doesn't actually exist
The GOP debate described a terrifying world that doesn't actually exist
by Zack Beauchamp at Vox
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10776398/republican-debate-2016-charleston-world
SNIP..............
In reality, ISIS is getting weaker; for example, it has lost large chunks of its territory, especially in Iraq. There is just no evidence that the group is gaining strength.
Still, it is of course true that ISIS's threat is real, and Americans are right to worry. But the candidates, and, indeed, the moderator, exaggerated that threat so far beyond reality it is hardly recognizable. The San Bernardino attacks, for example, killed 14 Americans which is a real danger that needs to be taken seriously, but not exactly the existential threat or imminent American defeat that the candidates portrayed.
It's worth, just for a bit of perspective, comparing terrorism deaths in the United States with firearm deaths, a threat that the Republican candidates generally downplay:
..........
For even more perspective: The number of Americans killed per year by terrorism is the same as the number crushed to death by their own furniture. Obviously one key difference here is that terrorist groups would like to kill many more Americans, and are surely trying to accomplish just that, whereas presumably your sofa is not plotting any major attacks. But the point is that the risk terrorism poses to everyday American lives is not where you might have thought it was from this debate.
..............SNIP