from the best of the Web Today at www.OpinionJournal.com

BY JAMES TARANTO

Thursday, May 31, 2007 2:58 p.m. ED

The United States is among the least “peaceful” nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new “index” released on Wednesday that “evaluates” 121 nations based on their “peacefulness.”

The index, brainchild of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is described further in this press release, which also lists the countries in order of their ranking. It is a very silly exercise:

Today both Norway and Germany are peaceful because America entered World War II and because America spends an outsize share of its GDP on defense in order to protect its allies from aggressive threats. But the Economist index faults the U.S. for the strength that makes possible Europe’s peace. Of the 20 “most peaceful” countries, 12 are U.S. allies, and another five are formally neutral European states–i.e., free-riding nonmembers of the NATO alliance.

Another example of the survey’s absurd bias: Israel places No. 119, ahead of only Sudan and Iraq. But of course most Israelis would like nothing more than to live in peace, as would their leaders. They are forced into frequent wars because they are surrounded by enemy states, almost all of which The Economist reckons as more “peaceful”–including Iran, which comes 22 places above Israel despite its pursuit of nuclear weapons and its president’s vow to “wipe Israel off the map.”
Syria, at No. 77, actually places well ahead of the U.S., despite its support for terrorists in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel. The Palestinian Arabs aren’t even mentioned in the survey, which covers only nations.

Then again, maybe this is all a clever ruse to discredit pacifism.

for the rest if the story: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010147

HKO comments: such examples of intellectual fraud is typical of using data without a brain or even worse, data selected with preordained conclusions. Principles trump data. The way to achieve peace is to defeat those people who oppose it.

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