More civilians were killed last year in Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican city across the border from El Paso, Texas, than were killed in all of Afghanistan.

There were 3,111 civilians murdered in the city of Juarez in 2010 and 2,421 in the entire country of Afghanistan.

On a per capita basis, a civilian was 30 times more likely to be murdered last year in Juarez, where there are 1,328,017 inhabitants according to Mexico’s 2010 census, than in Afghanistan, where there are 29,121,286 people according to the CIA World Factbook.

The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan was compiled by the Congressional Research Service and published in a CRS report released on Feb. 3.  The number of civilians killed in Juarez was compiled by Molly Molloy, a research librarian at New Mexico State University who maintains a count of murders Juarez and published it on the Frontera List Web site.  Molloy’s work on civilian murders in Juarez was also referenced in a recent CRS report on Mexican drug cartels.

Much of the violence in Juárez is sparked by drug trafficking organizations battling over one of the major smuggling corridors into the United States.

But the brain-dead head of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, continues her ridiculous propaganda campaign, saying that US communities along the US-Mexico border, are safer than most Americans believe, and warned the cartels, should they decide to move north, they will be met with overwhelming response.  At the University of Texas-El Paso, Napolitano said that it’s "inaccurate to state, as too many have, that the border is overrun with violence and out of control."

"This statement, often made only to score political points, is just plain wrong."

Isn't it good to know that when it comes to homeland security, the most important person involved is whistling past the graveyard.