Religion of Peace Body Count Update

Terrorists Killed More Than 14,500 People in 2005, Report Says

Terrorists killed more than 14,500 people in 11,000 attacks across the globe last year, the U.S. State Department said in its annual report on terrorism.

Fifty-six of those killed were Americans, the report said. Three thousand of the deaths were attributable to 360 suicide bombings. There were 25,000 people wounded and 35,000 people kidnapped, the report said.

``We saw indications of an increase in suicide bombings,'' the report said, noting that the July 7, 2005, bombings in London that killed 54 people were the first such attacks in Europe.

Al-Qaeda Threat

The al-Qaeda terrorist network remains a threat, with plans to attack the U.S. in a manner to match ``or even surpass the terror of 9/11,'' Henry Crumpton, the U.S. State Department's anti-terrorism chief said.

Is there a silver cloud in this grim report? Yes.

Yet while al-Qaeda's leaders continued to inspire terrorist activity in 2005 and their group is resilient and can adapt to counter-measures, they were not able to direct it as fully as in the past, the report said.

``Al-Qaeda is not the organization it was four years ago,'' the report said. The group's leaders are scattered and on the run, while its Afghan safe haven is gone. Its relationship with the Taliban has diminished, and its finances and logistics have been disrupted, Crumpton said.

For these reasons, ``al-Qaeda and its affiliates are desperate to claim Iraq as their own,'' Crumpton said. ``We and our allies, along with the emerging Iraqi government, must deny Iraq to al-Qaeda.''

Maybe the Murthas and Sheehans will see why we need to continue our engagement in Iraq and finish what we have begun. I suspect that our success in keeping al-Qaeda on the run is directly linked to the CIA's efforts in ferrying al-Qaeda leaders around the world, a practice which is in deep jeopardy due to the McCarthy, Priest and their cabal.