Defending the Truth

I think the point he was trying to make is, even among many of the countries you listed, they have persisting religiously-inspired terrorism, and now as Pakistan demonstrates, political unrest.

But of course, as Gandhi reminds us:
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

In this sense we're more violent than many Muslim countries.

I find it difficult to equate the Crips and Bloods with Saddam or the Taliban. Or even the gangs during prohibition. Now if you want to go back to what was done to the Indians or Black people during this country's infancy, THAT might be a decent argument.

I was thinking more on terms of aggression toward other states, and even state-sponsored terrorism. For example, sponsoring of contras, political assassinations, sponsoring rightist military coups left and right, or even terrorism carried out directly by the CIA (such as a more well-known case; CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles who was an "anti-Castro" terrorist involved in a number of different operations including the blowing up of a Cuban airlines killing seventy-three innocent people, and who now lives under the protection of the US government in Florida).

It is, but not on a national level.
The crips might run Crenshaw Blvd, but they don't run all of L.A. and definitely not the state of California and the U.S. isn't identified as a "Crip nation".

That's true in Palestine or Iraq.

I'm sure that in most of Iraq or Gaza people live their lives relatively unscathed by terrorist violence, just as it was in N Ireland during "the troubles".

You can hardly compare the troubles with present day Iraq or especially present day Palestine. It is very rare to find a Palestinian that has not been directly harmed by the violence and besiegement.

Unscathed by violence in Iraq? My ass. Even I have to put up with mortar fire and I'm in the fucking green zone!

Gang violence perped by the Crips and Bloods is nothing compared to being afraid to go to the grocery store for fear of being blown to bits. I'll take a Crip with bad aim over a guy with a bomb and a few gross of nails strapped to his carc-ass.