# Winning the War on Terror -- by hiding the scoreboard (mild) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 18, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929 "2005-04-18T19:00:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/1 "2005-04-18T19:00:12Z")
I was going to post this in Great Debates, but on reflection, there’s nothing to debate (other than “How will the Bush Apologists spin _this_ one?”): > [@](#): > > [**Bush administration eliminating 19-year-old international terrorism report**](http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11407689.htm) > By Jonathan S. Landay > Knight Ridder Newspapers > > WASHINGTON - The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government’s top terrorism center concluded that there were **more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985,** the first year the publication covered. > > Several U.S. officials defended the abrupt decision, saying the methodology the National Counterterrorism Center used to generate statistics for the report may have been faulty, such as the inclusion of incidents that may not have been terrorism. > > Last year, the number of incidents in 2003 was undercounted, forcing a revision of the report, “Patterns of Global Terrorism.” > > But other current and former officials charged that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s office ordered “Patterns of Global Terrorism” eliminated several weeks ago because the 2004 statistics raised disturbing questions about the Bush’s administration’s frequent claims of progress in the war against terrorism. > > …According to Johnson and U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the issue, statistics that the National Counterterrorism Center provided to the State Department reported **625 “significant” terrorist attacks in 2004.** > > That compared with **175 such incidents in 2003,** the highest number in two decades. > > **The statistics didn’t include attacks on American troops in Iraq,** which President Bush as recently as Tuesday called “a central front in the war on terror.” That’s right, kids – not only did the number of terrorist attacks in 2004 _tripled_ from 2003, but we’re not even counting terrorist attacks in the Big Hotbed o’ Terror itself. I can only imagine that if _those_ number were included, the Bush Administration would have simply shut down the National Counterterrorism Center with a small explosive or two. (And I really appreciate my mainstream news media for not interrupting their 24/7 coverage of the Michael Jackson trial with this insignificant little piddly detail. Priorities, people!) ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/2 "2005-04-18T19:07:55Z")
Ummm… Why’d you leave out the notes about the change in methodology? You know it’s going to be brought up. Just curious? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/3 "2005-04-18T19:20:27Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > Ummm… > Why’d you leave out the notes about the change in methodology? > You know it’s going to be brought up. > Just curious? umm whatever nevermind ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/4 "2005-04-18T19:59:39Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > Why’d you leave out the notes about the change in methodology? You mean besides that it read like a transparent attempt at CYA from the State Department? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/5 "2005-04-19T01:04:23Z")
Not just CYA **Rjung**. If the people in government who are supposed to know about the direction the war against terror is taking actually _know_ what’s going on they won’t be able to credibly tell us peons that “I don’t think anybody could have predicted that these people…would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile,” Without such reassurances we’ll get nervous about TWAT, and a nervous populace is an unhappy populace. They’re trying to keep _us_ happy, and that’s a _good_ thing, right? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/6 "2005-04-19T18:43:59Z")
So, you’re saying the Bush Administration is trying to make “Ignorance Is Bliss” our new national motto? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/7 "2005-04-19T19:21:49Z")
Interesting. Anybody have an explanation for how the executive branch can simply refuse to comply with a congressional order? The [MIPT.ORG](http://MIPT.ORG) site linked at the bottom of rjung’s article says this report is published by the State Dept. by way of Congressional mandate. Even the State Dept website says the report is Congresionally-mandated. [http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/](http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/) ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/8 "2005-04-19T19:36:42Z")
> [@unclebeer](#): > > Anybody have an explanation for how the executive branch can simply refuse to comply with a congressional order? My question is exactly what could Congress do if the executive refused to comply? I mean besides witholding funds, Congress has prety limited power over the executive. They could pass all the laws, make speaches, scream, shout, stomp and yell, but the executive enforces the law. I doubt an executive decision not to enforce a law could be considered a “High Crime or Misdomeanor”. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/9 "2005-04-19T19:38:39Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > So, you’re saying the Bush Administration is trying to make “Ignorance Is Bliss” our new national motto? 😉 No – “Ignorance is Strength”. “Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/10 "2005-04-19T20:18:44Z")
Where have these terrorist attacks occurred? Can you cite some that have happened in the United States? Because for all we know, the increases in terrorism could be occurring in countries that didn’t follow the US example. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/11 "2005-04-19T21:09:36Z")
You can find the reports being discussed at the State Dept page I linked above, or the [MIPT.ORG](http://MIPT.ORG) site liked at the bottom of rjung’s article in the OP. Go look at 'em and come back with an intelligent response. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/12 "2005-04-19T21:12:01Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Where have these terrorist attacks occurred? Can you cite some that have happened in the United States? Please explain the relevance. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/13 "2005-04-19T21:16:58Z")
Perhaps Congress wil continue to get them as per code, yet the reports will remain unpublished. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/14 "2005-04-19T21:27:25Z")
The whole thing cracks me up. When Bush thought the numbers were going his way, he didn’t hesitate to brag about it. Now when they’re going south, he wants to sweep it under the rug. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/15 "2005-04-19T22:12:40Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > Perhaps Congress wil continue to get them as per code, yet the reports will remain unpublished. That’d surely open the way for an unscrupulous politician or special interest group to file a freedom of information lawsuit for the purpose of reaping political hay from the war against terror. I’ll start saving up my _outrage_! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/16 "2005-04-19T22:45:36Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > The whole thing cracks me up. When Bush thought the numbers were going his way, he didn’t hesitate to brag about it. Now when they’re going south, he wants to sweep it under the rug. :smack: You should have seen the weaseling that went on last summer when the 2003 report was re-released after being found to contain significant errors. I started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=263012) about it back then. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/17 "2005-04-20T15:55:24Z")
**[New Office to Issue Terrorism Data](http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news3/latimes59.htm) State Department says move is for technical reasons, but one observer sees attempt to ditch political problem as numbers rise.** By Sonni Efron and Paul Richter Times Staff Writers April 19, 2005 WASHINGTON — The State Department will stop releasing an annual report on terrorist incidents worldwide, saying Monday that a new federal office for counter-terrorism would take over the task of compiling the statistics. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/18 "2005-04-20T19:41:23Z")
This new office, it wouldn’t happen to be called the “ **O** ffice of **S** tatistical **P** reparation,” or something similar, would it? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/19 "2005-04-20T21:18:33Z")
Sigh. From PatriotX’s link: > [@](#): > > The State Department declined to release the figures for 2004 on Monday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the numbers were too preliminary, and said the **National Counterterrorism Center, a new agency created under last year’s intelligence reform law** , would release a final tally for 2004 at some unspecified future date. (bolding mine) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929/20 "2005-04-20T21:23:32Z")
I _thought_ the gag was rather obvious, especially since I took the effort to bold the initials, but I guess some folks really do need big neon lights for everything… 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winning-the-war-on-terror-by-hiding-the-scoreboard-mild/299929.md?page=2)