Terrorism drops to lowest level since 1969..

[Barefoot In Kailua]

......With the good President at the helm

www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/31569.htm









Say no to Hanoi John!

[Deleted]

Tap-dancing on the deck of the Titanic again, I see.

[Gorf]

Barefoot said:

......With the good President at the helm

www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/31569.htm

Hmmm..

I wonder what the numbers are going to look like for 2004.

With all of the attacks of the insurgents in Iraq and those have have been reported around the world already this year I won't be surprised to see the total numbers for the year rise dramatically again.

All still under the watchful eyes of that same president.

[Deleted]

You didn't read the "article." The numbers do not include Iraq statistics because it doesn't meet the State Department's definition of "terrorism."

I'm sure if one wanted to bother looking into these statistics (as someone no doubt will in the next few days), we will find it is just more Bush propaganda.

By the end of the Summer, up will be down and black will be white, and Bush will be the greatest statesman who ever lived.

[Lwood]

(R)uffda! said:

By the end of the Summer, up will be down and black will be white, and Bush will be the greatest statesman who ever lived.

You all heard it here. (R) thinks that by the end of the summer GWB will be the greatest statesman who ever lived.

[Gorf]

Lwood said:

You all heard it here. (R) thinks that by the end of the summer GWB will be the greatest statesman who ever lived.

I read it here anyhow.

Then again, you disagree with most of what (R)uffda! says so he might be wrong about GWB in this particular case.

[Gorf]

(R)uffda! said:

You didn't read the "article." The numbers do not include Iraq statistics because it doesn't meet the State Department's definition of "terrorism."

I'm sure if one wanted to bother looking into these statistics (as someone no doubt will in the next few days), we will find it is just more Bush propaganda.

By the end of the Summer, up will be down and black will be white, and Bush will be the greatest statesman who ever lived.

I was actually referring to the attack on the Iraqi civilians of late.

The busload of civilians including children and that sort of attack. Which doesn't fit the articles definition of not fitting the lot standing definition of terrorist attack and ought to therefore count in the totals.

There were some 60 deaths alone in that one bus attack and there has been numerous others of that nature.

Nearly 200 in the attack on the Spanish train.

Oh wait, they don't count the number of people killed in the attacks just the number of attacks.

I guess an attack is an attack.

[JT]

{ said:

>-(Gorf)-<[} link=board=news&thread=1083407008&start=6#0 date=1083441136]

I was actually referring to the attack on the Iraqi civilians of late.

The busload of civilians including children and that sort of attack. Which doesn't fit the articles definition of not fitting the lot standing definition of terrorist attack and ought to therefore count in the totals.

There were some 60 deaths alone in that one bus attack and there has been numerous others of that nature.

Nearly 200 in the attack on the Spanish train.

Oh wait, they don't count the number of people killed in the attacks just the number of attacks.

I guess an attack is an attack.

Actually, you should read the reports.

The attacks in Iraq against non-combatants (which includes military personnel when unarmed or not on duty) will be counted in 2004. I expect that the numbers, both of attacks and deaths, will be higher again. The bombing of the train in Spain will definitely boost the number of deaths.

And no, they count, and report on, deaths as well as incidents.

There are online reports for 2000 through 2003. The 2000 report compares things to a 1999 report, so the reporting requirement predates Bush.

www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/
www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2001/html/
www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2002/html/
www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/c12108.htm


Looking at the "year in review" sections for each of those years:

2000 Report
There were 423 international terrorist attacks in 2000, an increase of 8 percent from the 392 attacks recorded during 1999. The main reason for the increase was an upsurge in the number of bombings of a multinational oil pipeline in Colombia by two terrorist groups there. The pipeline was bombed 152 times, producing in the Latin American region the largest increase in terrorist attacks from the previous year, from 121 to 193. Western Europe saw the largest decrease--from 85 to 30--owing to fewer attacks in Germany, Greece, and Italy as well as to the absence of any attacks in Turkey.

The number of casualties caused by terrorists also increased in 2000. During the year, 405 persons were killed and 791 were wounded, up from the 1999 totals of 233 dead and 706 wounded.

The number of anti-US attacks rose from 169 in 1999 to 200 in 2000, a result of the increase in bombing attacks against the oil pipeline in Colombia, which is viewed by the terrorists as a US target.

Nineteen US citizens were killed in acts of international terrorism in 2000. Seventeen were sailors who died in the attack against the USS Cole on 12 October in the Yemeni port of Aden. They were:...

2001 Report
The worst international terrorist attack ever—involving four separate but coordinated aircraft hijackings—occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001.
...
Despite the horrific events of September 11, the number of international terrorist attacks in 2001 declined to 346, down from 426 the previous year. One hundred seventy-eight of the attacks were bombings against a multinational oil pipeline in Colombia—constituting 51 percent of the year’s total number of attacks. In the year 2000, there were 152 pipeline bombings in Colombia, which accounted for 40 percent of the total.

A total of 3,547 persons were killed in international terrorist attacks in 20011, the highest annual death toll from terrorism ever recorded. Ninety percent of the fatalities occurred in the September 11 attacks. In 2000, 409 persons died in terrorist attacks. The number of persons wounded in terrorist attacks in 2001 was 1080, up from 796 wounded the previous year. Violence in the Middle East and South Asia also accounted for the increase in casualty totals for 2001.

In addition to the US citizens killed and injured on September 11, eight other US citizens were killed and 15 were wounded in acts of terrorism last year.

2002 Report
International terrorists conducted 199 attacks in 2002, a significant drop (44%) from the 355 attacks recorded during 2001. A total of 725 persons were killed in last year’s attacks, far fewer than the 3,295 persons killed the previous year, which included the thousands of fatalities resulting from the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

A total of 2,013 persons were wounded by terrorists in 2002, down from the 2,283 persons wounded the year before.

The number of anti-US attacks was 77, down 65% from the previous year’s total of 219. The main reason for the decrease was the sharp drop in oil pipeline bombings in Colombia (41 last year, compared to 178 in 2001).

Thirty US citizens were killed in terrorist attacks last year: ...

2003 Report
There were 190 acts of international terrorism in 2003, a slight decrease from the 198 attacks that occurred in 2002, and a drop of 45 percent from the level in 2001 of 346 attacks. The figure in 2003 represents the lowest annual total of international terrorist attacks since 1969.

A total of 307 persons were killed in the attacks of 2003, far fewer than the 725 killed during 2002. A total of 1,593 persons were wounded in the attacks that occurred in 2003, down from 2,013 persons wounded the year before.

In 2003, the highest number of attacks (70) and the highest casualty count (159 persons dead and 951 wounded) occurred in Asia.

There were 82 anti-US attacks in 2003, which is up slightly from the 77 attacks the previous year, and represents a 62-percent decrease from the 219 attacks recorded in 2001.

Thirty-five American citizens died in 15 international terrorist attacks in 2003: ...

Offhand, I'd say that bragging comments about the low number are propaganda, since it's pretty clear that it'll be a "fluke" year. On the other hand, saying that the report itself is just Bush propaganda doesn't seem to hold water.

[Deleted]

Propaganda = ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause.

That's all it is. Everyone knows the world is powderkeg right now. Hell, Bush is supposedly fighting a WAR because of it.

[Barefoot In Kailua]

Lwood said:

You all heard it here. (R) thinks that by the end of the summer GWB will be the greatest statesman who ever lived.

(R)uffda is hard headed but every now and then he comes to his senses.

[JT]

Or not...

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5183158/

Report on gains against terror in error

The State Department’s annual report on terrorism mistakenly reported a worldwide decline when both the number of incidents and the toll in victims had actually increased sharply, the agency said Thursday.

Administration officials had used the findings announced last April as evidence President Bush’s campaign to counter terror was succeeding.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the errors were the result of new data collection procedures. “I can assure you it had nothing to do with putting out anything but the most honest, accurate information we can,” he said.

Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, “We got the wrong data and did not check it enough.”<br>
He added, “Our preliminary results indicate that the figures for the number of attacks and casualties will be up sharply from what was published.”<br>
...
He said the errors started to become apparent in early May. The spokesman did not say why an announcement was not made then.

One of Bush’s major foreign policy claims is that his post-Sept. 11 strategy to counter terror was showing success.

When the annual report was issued April 29, senior administration officials held it up as evidence the war against terrorism was being won.
...

[Deleted]

and...

www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=5396771

[Gorf]

(R)uffda! said:

and...

www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=5396771

You sure BiK won't say "Reuters is Al Jareau" (or something like that) again?

[Deleted]

It was a ridiculous report then and it still is. You can't measure "terrorism."

And I doubt that anyone seriously believes the world is a safer place than it was 2 years ago or 5 years ago or 10 years ago.

[Gorf]

I could understand people in the US feeling it is safer now than they felt it was for a while after 9/11 but in generally I agree with you.

Plus, the earlier report was likely not "accidental" mistake.

It was "typical" spin doctoring.

People remember the original flamboyant reports, they don't remember the retraction that gets buried in the middle of the least read section of the newspaper.