The State Department has issued the numbers for the "Country Reports on Terrorism" (formerly called the "Patterns of Global Terrorism) and results are seemingly quite startling. In 2004 the number of attacks was 3,129. In
2005?
More than 11,000 terrorist attacks occurred worldwide last year, killing 14,600 people, as networks inspired by al Qaeda but often not directed by the group spread, the State Department said on Friday.
The Bush administration's typical response below the fold.
The report sought to avert any conclusion that the sharply higher statistics on attacks meant the war on terrorism was not working.
"This data cannot be meaningfully compared to previous years since it suggests that attacks on civilians may have been occurring at a substantially higher rate than was reflected in previous years' reporting and accounting," it said, adding that it was using different counting methods than in past years.
In Bushlogic, the number of attacks and deaths are up, ergo, we are winning the war on terra. I am looking for specifics on how the methodology changed as a way of more explanation and will post if such data is in fact published somewhere.
Update [2006-4-28 17:13:31 by Glic]: From the State Department site
As recently amended, Section 2656f(b) of Title 22 of the United States Code provides that the
report must contain "to the extent practicable, complete statistical information on the number
of individuals, including United States citizens and dual nationals, killed, injured, or
kidnapped by each terrorist group during the preceding calendar year." The statistical
information included in the statistical annex to this report has been provided by the National
Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which has a statutory mission to serve as the U.S.
Government's knowledge bank on international terror groups. Statistical information
compiled by NCTC with respect to non-combatant targets is included in this annex. NCTC
has noted in its foreword that, because of revisions in methodology, the figures in the annex
are not directly comparable to statistics reported in previous years. NCTC does not track
statistics with respect to combatant casualties (except to the extent that they are incidental to
acts of terrorism targeting noncombatants).