Using the Pen to Obscure the Sword

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"The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism ... amid charges that the document is inaccurate and was politically manipulated," reports the Los Angeles Times. The most recent "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report, which claimed terrorist attacks declined 45% and minor terrorism events declined more than 90%, was touted by the Bush administration as proof that America's winning the "War on Terrorism." At its release, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called the report "clear evidence that we are prevailing." The corrected report will likely show an increase in significant terrorist incidents, according to experts. One State Department official called the errors "clerical," and likely due to the recent transfer of responsibility for the report from the CIA to the new Terrorist Threat Integration Center.