|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Terrorism Numbers Will be Fixed, Officials Say
Errors in the U.S. State Department’s 2003 terrorism figures were partly caused by a new data collection procedure, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday as his agency pledged to fix the numbers (see GSN, June 10). “I can assure you it had nothing to do with putting out anything but the most honest, accurate information we can” Powell said, according to the Associated Press. “Errors crept in that frankly we did not catch here,” he said. The Global Patterns of Terrorism report issued in April indicated there were 190 acts of international terrorism last year. The Bush administration said the drop in incidents from 198 in 2002 and 346 in 2001 was a sign of success in the war on terror. Questions arose in early May about the report, the AP said, and the State Department was forced to admit this week that its estimates were incorrect due data collection errors and the fact that the report does not include incidents that occurred after Nov. 11 The corrected report will show “a sharp increase over the previous year” of terrorist acts, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, according to CNN. “When we’re sure we have the new facts, the right facts, we will prepare an appropriate analysis and give you our assessment at that moment,” Boucher said (CNN, June 11). Boucher said the State Department is preparing a response to questions by U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on whether the incorrect numbers were politically motivated in this election year (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 11).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
