Lies, Damned Lies, and White House Statistics
I've mentioned that I get occasional statements from Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) through the House Government Reform Committee, Minority Office. The following is the complete text of one that I got dated 28 April 2006. It's an interesting and rather petty example of the lengths to which the White House will go to manipulate facts and figures to support its own distorted view of reality.
Terrorism Attacks Surge in 2005
April 28, 2006 — Rep. Waxman issued a Flash Report today examining data released by the State Department and National Counterterrorism Center that shows that the number of reported global terrorism incidents has increased exponentially in the three years since the United States invaded Iraq–an increase of over 5,000% [i.e., of over 50 times] in the number of terrorist attacks and over 2,000% [i.e., over 20 times] in the number of deaths in three years.
The Administration claims that the 2005 data is [sic] not comparable with data from previous years because the rise in attacks is due to increased surveillance and better methodology. These are the same arguments the Administration made in 2003, when attacks rose to a 20-year high, and in 2004, when the number of attacks tripled in a single year.
When preparing this year's report, the Administration consulted with global terrorism experts who recommended that the Administration release data that could be compared to previous years. Professor David Laitin of Stanford University recommended that if the Administration changed its methodology, it should recalibrate data from previous years so we do not lose a sense of the time trends." Not only did the Administration reject this recommendation, but officials denied there commendation was ever made.
In response to the Administration's actions, Rep. Waxman stated: For the third year in a row, the Bush Administration is playing games withthe numbers to hide the truth: global terrorism has skyrocketed since the invasion of Iraq.
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on Wednesday, 3 May 2006 at 03.36
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Yes, and it's equally notable that an MSNBC special report on Iraq that aired last weekend had several military and other experts making a critical point:
The overwhelming majority of insurgents, domestic and foreign, are fighting our troops not because they hate American democracy, affluence, our lifestyle or because of religious differences. They're fighting us because we invaded Iraq.