National Counterterrorism Center: 2007 Report on Terrorism; Annual rept

摘要

Consistent with its statutory mission to serve as the U.S. Government's knowledge bank on international terrorism, the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is providing this report and statistical information to assist in understanding the data. Section 2656f(b) of Title 22 of the U.S. Code requires the State Department to include in its annual report on terrorism 'to the extent practicable, complete statistical information on the number of individuals ... killed, injured, or kidnapped by each terrorist group during the preceding calendar year.' While NCTC keeps statistics on the annual number of incidents of 'terrorism,' its ability to track the specific groups responsible for each attack involving killings, kidnappings, and injuries is limited by the availability of reliable open source information, particularly for events involving small numbers of casualties. The statistical material compiled in this report, therefore, is drawn from the number of attacks of 'terrorism' that occurred in 2007, which is the closest figure that is practicable for NCTC to supply in satisfaction of the above-referenced statistical requirements. In deriving its figures for terror attacks, NCTC applies the definition of 'terrorism' that appears in the 22 U.S.C. 2656f(d)(2), i.e., 'premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.' To establish the repository for the U.S. Government's database on terror attacks, in 2005 NCTC unveiled the Worldwide Incidents Tracking System (WITS). Available on the Internet, WITS allows public access to and a transparent look at the NCTC data. NCTC cautions against placing too much weight on any set of attack data alone to gauge success or failure against the forces of terrorism. Despite limitations, tracking attacks can help us understand some important trends, including the geographic distribution of incidents and information about the perpetrators and their victims.