	Overview of 2003 Terrorist Trends

On April 29, 2004, the Department of State released its Patterns of Global Terrorism report(hereafter referred to as Patterns 2003 ). (2) Revised data (3) show minimal change in the number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2003over 2002 levels -- an increase from 205 attacks to 208. In 2003, the overall number of reported anti-U.S. attacks declined visibly, 60 anti-US attacks in 2003 as opposed to 77 attacks in the previousyear. In 2003, as in 2002, both the highest number of attacks (80) and highest number ofcasualties (159 dead and 1,268 wounded) continued to occur in Asia where the number of attacksdeclined roughly by one-fifth, and the number of casualties increased roughly 11%. (19)
The final report of the 9/11 Commission, issued on June 22, 2004, recommends the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center. Subsequently on August 2, 2004, President Bush announcedsimilar plans to establish such a center. The new center is envisioned as serving as a centralknowledge bank for information about known and suspected terrorists and would be charged withcoordinating and monitoring counterterrorism plans and activities of all government agencies, andpreparing the daily terrorism report for the President and senior officials. (20) Presumably the functionof compiling the data for Patterns will be performed by the new National Counterterrorism Center, if and when it is established. It has been some fifteen years since Congress mandated the first Patterns report. At the time the report was originally conceived as a reference document, the primary threat from terrorism wasstate sponsored. Since then, the threat has evolved, with Al Qaeda affiliated groups and non-statesponsors increasingly posing a major threat. In light of the high level of international attention attached to the report and theincreased complexity and danger posed by the terrorist threat, some observers have suggested thata thorough Executive/Congressional review of Patterns , its structure and content, may be timely andwarranted. Patterns of Global Terrorism Data, 2002-2003
Note: Based on revised data published in Patterns 2003. More recently this function has beentransferred to the newly operational Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC).
This report highlights trends and data found in the State Department's annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report , (Patterns 2003) and addresses selected issues relating to its content. Thisreport will not be updated.
On April 29, 2004, the Department of State released its annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report. After discrepancies were noted in reported data, the Department of State issued revisedstatistics on June 22, 2004. The newly released data showed minimal change in the number ofterrorist attacks worldwide in 2003 over 2002 levels -- an increase from 205 attacks to 208. In2003, the overall number of reported anti-U.S. attacks declined visibly, 60 anti-U.S. attacks in 2003as opposed to 77 attacks in the previous year. In 2003, the number of persons killed in internationalterrorist attacks was 625, down from 725 in 2002. In 2003, persons wounded numbered 3,646, upfrom 2,013 the previous year. In 2003, as in 2002, both the highest number of attacks (80) andhighest number of casualties (159 dead and 1,268 wounded) continued to occur in Asia. Notably,the report defines terrorist acts as incidents directed against noncombatants. Thus, attacks in Iraqon military targets are not included.
Patterns , a work widely perceived as a standard, authoritative reference tool on terrorist activity, trends, and groups, has been subject to periodic criticism that it is unduly influenced bydomestic, other foreign policy, political and economic considerations. Patterns is currentlyundergoing an internal executive branch review.
This year for the first time, data contained in Patterns was provided by the newly operational Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC). On August 2, 2004, President Bush announced plans tocreate a National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), an institutional change recommended by the9/11 Commission in its July 19, 2004 report. The center is envisioned as serving as a centralknowledge bank for information about known and suspected terrorists and would be charged withcoordinating and monitoring counterterrorism plans and activities of all government agencies, andpreparing the daily terrorism threat report for the President and senior officials. Presumably thefunction of compiling the data for Patterns will be performed by the new National CounterterrorismCenter, if and when it is established.
It has been some fifteen years since Congress mandated the first Patterns report. When the report was originally conceived as a reference document, the primary threat from terrorism was statesponsored. Since then, the threat has evolved with Al Qaeda affiliated groups and non-state sponsorsincreasingly posing a major threat. Given the increased complexity and danger posed by the terroristthreat, one option available to Congress and the executive branch is to take a fresh look at Patterns, its structure and content.