From the former article:
Reports of credible terrorist threats against the United States are at their lowest level since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to U.S. intelligence officials and federal and state law enforcement authorities.
The intelligence community's daily threat assessment, developed after the terrorist attacks to keep policymakers informed, currently lists, on average, 25 to 50 percent fewer threats against domestic targets than it typically did over the past two years, said one senior counterterrorism official.
A broad cross section of counterterrorism officials believes al Qaeda and like-minded groups, in part frustrated by increased U.S. security measures, are focusing instead on Americans deployed in Iraq, where the groups operate with relative impunity, and on Europe.
Though some are expressing caution and even skepticism, interviews last week with 25 current or recently retired officials also cited progress in counterterrorism operations abroad and a more experienced homeland security apparatus for a general feeling that it is more difficult for terrorists to operate undetected.
And earlier in the week, the same paper (Washington Post) reported the following:
The number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled last year, according to U.S. government figures, a sharp upswing in deadly attacks that the State Department has decided not to make public in its annual report on terrorism due to Congress this week.
Overall, the number of what the U.S. government considers "significant" attacks grew to about 655 last year, up from the record of around 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides who were briefed on statistics covering incidents including the bloody school seizure in Russia and violence related to the disputed Indian territory of Kashmir.
Terrorist incidents in Iraq also dramatically increased, from 22 attacks to 198, or nine times the previous year's total -- a sensitive subset of the tally, given the Bush administration's assertion that the situation there had stabilized significantly after the U.S. handover of political authority to an interim Iraqi government last summer.
The State Department announced last week that it was breaking with tradition in withholding the statistics on terrorist attacks from its congressionally mandated annual report. Critics said the move was designed to shield the government from questions about the success of its effort to combat terrorism by eliminating what amounted to the only year-to-year benchmark of progress.
If you watched the President's News Conference, you may have noticed that he was asked about the increase in overseas terrorism:
Q: Mr. President, your State Department has reported that terrorist attacks around the world are at an all-time high. If we're winning the war on terrorism, as you say, how do you explain that more people are dying in terrorist attacks on your watch than ever before?
BUSH: Well, we've made the decision to defeat the terrorists abroad so we don't have to face them here at home. And when you engage the terrorists abroad, it causes activity and action.
And we're relentless-- we, America and our coalition partners. We understand the stakes.
And they're very high, because there are people still out there that would like to do harm to the American people.
But our strategy is stay on the offense, is to keep the pressure on these people, is to cut off their money and to share intelligence and to find them where they hide.
And we are making good progress. The al-Qaida network that attacked the United States has been severely diminished. We are slowly but surely dismantling that organization.
In the long run, like I said earlier, the way to defeat terror, though, is to spread freedom and democracy. It's really the only way in the long term.
In the short term we'll use our troops and assets and agents to find these people and to protect American. But in the long term, we must defeat the hopelessness that allows them to recruit by spreading freedom and democracy.
But we're making progress.
Q: So in the near term you think there will be more attacks and more people dying?
BUSH: I can't predict that.
In the near term I can only tell you one thing: We will stay on the offense. We'll be relentless, we'll be smart about how we go after the terrorists, we'll use our friends and allies to go after the terrorists, we will find them where they hid and bring them to justice.
I was thinking about all of this while I was at my daughter's soccer game the other day. The Boo wants to become a professional soccer player and I am quite proud of her ability in the game. She has followed in my own footsteps and become a goalkeeper. When I was in college I learned to play soccer and became a keeper. Later in Medical School, I played semi-pro women's soccer --which, BTW, is not too shabby when you consider that soccer was not the popular sport it is today in the US; AND that women's sports were practically non-existent at the time (70's).
At any rate, I was reflecting that one of the most basic mistakes that soccer goalkeepers make is staying rooted to the goal and failing to come out to meet the attacker and narrowing the angle of his attack on the goal. It suddenly struck me how applicable this principle was to the War on Terror.
There are many who think that staying vigilant right in the goal is the best way to prevent future terror attacks. But the concept of "narrowing the angle of attack" is relevant to terrorists. By moving out to where they are and not waiting for them to have a clear shot at a goal that--under all circumstances--is impossible to protect 100% of the time, we keep the attacker occupied outside the goal and significantly lessen his chances of achieving a score. If he does try to score anyway, the keeper has increased the chance of his strike going wide and missing its target.
Of course, this doesn't stop the action. The ball continues to get kicked by many other players and passed around. Others can be passed to and they can still make a long kick toward the goal.
But far and away the best method of preventing a score when there is a breakaway, is for the keeper to come out, narrow the angle and meet the offense outside the immediate goal area.
I should mention though, that it doesn't always work. Sometimes, even when the keeper is one of the best, a goal can be scored. You just can't prevent it. Additionally, coming out of the goal puts the keeper at increased risk of injury because the sliding save is a dangerous maneuver.
A successful defense depends on a lot of factors; but in the long run in soccer--like in so many other things in life--the best defense can be a good offense.
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