GovernmentExecutive.com

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that he was embarrassed by a State Department terrorism report that misstated the number of terrorist incidents that occurred worldwide last year.

The State Department in April released its 2003 "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report, which claimed that the number of terrorist incidents has been on the decline over the past three years and that last's years count, 190, represented the lowest reported total since 1969. U.S. officials at the time trumpeted the report as evidence that the United States was winning the war on terrorism.

Late last month, however, two U.S. academics published an opinion piece in The Washington Post criticizing the State Department for mischaracterizing the information in the report. The only verifiable information in the report shows that the number of terrorist incidents has instead increased annually over the past few years, according to Princeton University economics professor Alan Krueger and Stanford University political science professor David Laitin.

The State Department acknowledged last week that it had underreported the number of terrorist incidents that occurred in 2003 and announced plans to soon release an updated version of the terrorism report. In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Powell went even further and said that the report was "very embarrassing."

"I am not a happy camper over this. We were wrong," Powell said.

He denied any "political" motivations behind the incorrect numbers in the report, and instead blamed the error on poor "data collecting and reporting" procedures.

"I don't think there was anything political or policy-driven about it. It was just data that was incorrect or it wasn't properly measured compared to the way it was measured in previous years," Powell said.

During an appearance on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," though, Powell seemingly defended the main thrust of the report - that terrorism still poses a threat to international security.

"If you read the report, though, the report makes it clear that terror is a continuing problem. We didn't say it had gone away," he said.

Powell also said yesterday on "Meet The Press" that he is set to meet today with officials from a number of agencies involved in the preparation of the report, including the State Department, CIA and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to discuss how the errors occurred.

"They are working all weekend long and they will have a big meeting ... to figure out where the errors crept in, why they crept in, and we're going to correct this report as quickly as possible," Powell said on "This Week."

COMMENTS

• Anyone who doesn't go to the Kerry BBQ is a bigger fool than all of the fools that voted for the current administration in 2000. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me! Stan Posted June 17, 2004 8:37 AM
• "He denied any "political" motivations behind the incorrect numbers in the report, and instead blamed the error on poor "data collecting and reporting" procedures." No da! Of course when he is caught he will deny any political motivation. He is political and all his motives are political - that is his job. Now he denies doing his job? "I don't think there was anything political or policy-driven about it. It was just data that was incorrect or it wasn't properly measured compared to the way it was measured in previous years," Powell said." It's just data? That sounds a lot like weapons of mass destruction! Remember that one. This administration lies so much they don't even think it is important to tell the truth - its just data! Where are those over paid SES guys that were supposed to proof the release? How could they miss this just data error? This is an attempt to make the administration look like they are winning a war that they are not winning. In fact they are fanning the flames. "During an appearance on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," though, Powell seemingly defended the main thrust of the report - that terrorism still poses a threat to international security." Boy this is brilliant! Of course terrorism poses a threat - it always has and it always will! What does he think the Boston Tea Party was? Is it not terror when you do it? Just when someone does it to you? Terrorism is not the problem! The problem is how the terrorism is directed. The British terrorized the USA in the Boston Massacre but the USA were heroes in the Boston Tea Party. The minutemen were terrorists fighting the government but to us they are heroes. Terrorism is in the eye of the beholder and the administration should get rid of the idea of terrorism and start focusing on the issues! Terrorism is not the issue; the issue is the reason for terrorism! The USA bases terrorism on how it is directed not on what it is in terms of action. Drug dealers are terrorists and we do little to stop them. Illegal aliens are terrorists and we allow them to stay or even to come and go as if they were citizens. "If you read the report, though, the report makes it clear that terror is a continuing problem. We didn't say it had gone away," he said. It appears that he didn't read the report! tax payer Posted June 15, 2004 6:52 AM
• "The State Department in April released its 2003 "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report, which claimed that the number of terrorist incidents has been on the decline over the past three years and that last's years count, 190, represented the lowest reported total since 1969. U.S. officials at the time trumpeted the report as evidence that the United States was winning the war on terrorism." Late last month, however, two U.S. academics published an opinion piece in The Washington Post criticizing the State Department for mischaracterizing the information in the report. This is all too familiar for this administration, if, a psychologist analyzed this type of behavior, he would diagnose it as, "Cognitive Dissonance," which is the tendency of human beings to reinterpret reality so it remains consistent with their beliefs. In other words, if a lie is caught, change your statement to fit the lie, with excuses. Lawrence D. Pierce Posted June 16, 2004 11:58 AM