The Terror Factor
A new report shows 625 people were killed by terrorism in 2003 -- a sharp increase over the number first reported by the State Department. Meanwhile, a new poll shows a drop in the percentage of Americans that approve of President Bush's handling of the war on terror. How do you think we're doing? Post | Chat
U.S. Adjusts Report, Shows Rise in Terrorism
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP
WASHINGTON (June 22) - Significant acts of terror worldwide reached a 21-year high in 2003, the State Department announced Tuesday as it corrected a mistaken report that had been cited to boost President Bush's war on terror.
Incidents of terrorism increased slightly during the year, and the number of people wounded rose dramatically, the department said.
J. Cofer Black, who heads the department's counterterrorism office, said the report, even as revised, showed ''we have made significant progress'' in the campaign against international terror.
The corrected report shows that the Bush administration is ''playing fast and loose with the truth when it comes to the war on terror,'' said Phil Singer, spokesman for Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign. The administration ''has now been caught trying to inflate its success on terrorism,'' he said.
Combining the two categories of terror attacks - those with loss of life or serious injury and major property damage and less serious attacks - Black said the overall number of terror incidents was at a 34-year low.
Still, there were 175 ''significant events'' of terror last year, he said, the highest number since 1982. |
