Terrorism Stats -- the bitter truth

This just out from Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-CA) office:

Rep. Waxman issued a Flash Report examining data released by the State Department and National Counterterrorism Center that shows that the number of reported global terrorism incidents has increased exponentially in the three years since the United States invaded Iraq--an increase of over 5,000% in the number of terrorist attacks and over 2,000% in the number of deaths in three years.

The Administration claims that the 2005 data is not comparable with data from previous years because the rise in attacks is due to increased surveillance and better methodology. These are the same arguments the Administration made in 2003, when attacks rose to a 20-year high, and in 2004, when the number of attacks tripled in a single year.

When preparing this year's report, the Administration consulted with global terrorism experts who recommended that the Administration release data that could be compared to previous years. Professor David Laitin of Stanford University recommended that if the Administration changed its methodology, it should "recalibrate" data from previous years so "we do not lose a sense of the time trends." Not only did the Administration reject this recommendation, but officials denied the recommendation was ever made.

In response to the Administration's actions, Rep. Waxman stated: "For the third year in a row, the Bush Administration is playing games with the numbers to hide the truth: global terrorism has skyrocketed since the invasion of Iraq."