“The number of Chicagoans murdered since 2001 is two and a half times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001, according to the Department of Defense and FBI data,” presstv.ir reports. “Chicago’s murder rate is up 54 percent from last year, according to police data . . . Homicides in Chicago have spiked this year. Chicago has had 169 murders in 2012, compared to 110 at the same date last year . . . According to FBI and Department of Defense data, 5,056 people have been murdered in Chicago since 2001, compared with 1,976 total U.S. deaths in Afghanistan since 2001. Chicago’s murder rate even outpaces total NATO coalition fatalities in Afghanistan since 2001 by a difference of more than 2,500 killed.” [h/t the rabbi]