Killing Fields

(Fox News) - The New York Times published a lengthy article Sunday alleging that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are responsible for 121 killings since their return from combat. The Times wrote the veterans have left — "a cross-country trail of death and heartbreak."

But the Times did not compare its anecdotal statistics for military personnel against the averages for the general population. Powerline.com reports that the figure of 121 homicides out of a conservative estimate of 700,000 returning veterans over six years works out to a mere fraction of the national average for homicides committed by males aged 18 to 24.

The Times' figure for veterans involved in fatal automobile accidents is also not placed in context with members of the general driving population — who are 12 times more likely to be involved in a fatality than Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.