U.S. Says 1,907 People Died in International Terror (Reuters)

U.S. Says 1,907 People Died in International Terror

Wed Apr 27, 2005 08:59 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1,900 people died in international terrorist attacks last year according to U.S. data released on Wednesday. It was triple the figure for 2003 but officials said this reflected more aggressive government efforts to track such violence. According to the data released on Wednesday, 1,907 people died in "significant" international terrorist attacks last year, up from 625 in 2003, and 6,704 people were wounded, up from 2003's 3,646. The number of such attacks surged to 651 last year from 175 in 2003.

While the statistics at first glance suggest international terrorism dramatically increased last year, U.S. officials said the numbers could not be meaningfully compared to previous years when they did not track such violence as extensively. The numbers are politically sensitive because the Bush administration last year used erroneous statistics to argue that it was winning the war on terrorism and then revised them upward amid sharp criticism by Democratic members of Congress.

Officials said the 2004 numbers could not be meaningfully compared to those of 2003 or earlier because -- after the embarrassment of last year's revised numbers -- they devoted more resources to counting terrorism attacks and, as a result, had tallied many more incidents than were noted in the past. Ten U.S. analysts were assigned to counting the 2004 numbers, up from three part-time employees the year before. "This increased level of effort allowed a much deeper review of far more information and, along with Iraq, are the primary reasons for the significant growth in (the) number of terrorist incidents being reported," said John Brennan, the interim director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

IRAQ ATTACKS

The number of attacks in Iraq increased to 201 from 22 in 2003 and the number of people killed rose to 554 from 117... :wtf:

World terror risk 'on the rise'

Iraq is by far the most dangerous country to do business - but global terrorism is also making the rest of the world riskier, a new survey says.

Monday, 18 April, 2005, 16:52 GMT 17:52 UK

Danger has risen in 31 nations, many of them in western Europe, insurance broker Aon says in a new risk map. Former hot spots East Timor and Western Sahara were among just five places where risk levels went down in 2004. Despite a lack of terror attacks in richer nations, the threat has not gone away, Aon warns.

Aon's map, published for the second year running, divides the world into five categories of risk - low, guarded, elevated, high and severe. Since last year, Iraq has shot from fifth to first place in the rankings, with 2,922 terror incidents recorded in the 12 months to February 2005.

Other countries where the risk is considered severe include India, Pakistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia and Colombia. They are joined by Nepal and Somalia, which have been upgraded to the worst category since the 2004 survey.

(more at the link above)