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STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES FLAWED TERROR DATA
13 June 2004

The US State Department has issued a report on the global terrorist threat, giving evidence of the rate of incidents occurring throughout the last year. The report has now been cited for publishing seriously flawed information. The Baltimore Sun explained it this way:

The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism to acknowledge that it understated the number of deadly attacks in 2003, amid charges that the document is inaccurate, dangerously outmoded and politically manipulated by the Bush administration.

On NBC's Meet the Press, the Secretary of State was asked how this could have happened and whether the public should trust any information published by the government. Sec. Powell suggested that efforts to correct the error, and his own acknowledgement of the "deliberately misleading" nature of evidence presented to the UN, show that the government is working to produce the most reliable reports.

Allegations surrounding the latest incident of false administration reporting include that there was an effort to make it appear that terrorist incidents had decreased thanks to the war on terror and the war in Iraq. The reason: it is expected that the revision will show that terrorist incidents have actually increased, and that the world is now more dangerous than it has been in many years.

The original report claimed that major terrorist incidents had fallen to their lowest level in 34 years, 45 percent below 2001, with "minor terrorism events" reduced by over 90 percent to a nominal 21 incidents. These numbers are plainly false. The expected revisions will show that overall terrorism has swelled to its worst numbers in 20 years.

This intrigue is playing out, even as Al Qaeda's apparent offensive in Saudi Arabia is increasing in persistence and brutality. The Financial Times reports that US and Saudi authorities are now seeking to confirm Al Qaeda claims to killing an American citizen and kidnapping yet another. In recent weeks, militants have targetted Americans and westerners in Saudi Arabia with bombings, hostage-takings and firefights.

The clear pattern, perceptible even through the mainstream media, is a severe and disturbing spiral of violence, so the issue of the erroneous report is particularly vital. The State Department has denied any deliberate manipulation of the report for political reasons, but has yet to offer any compelling explanation for the sweeping flaws in the numbers reported as official government intelligence. [For more: CNN]