Frequency of Terrorist Incidences

Significant Terrorist Incidents, 1961-2003: A Brief Chronology

I plotted this out using Excel and the results are startling. The state department statistics indicate a smattering of attacks starting around 1961 and slowly building, with peaks of 22 world wide terrorist attacks in 1996, and rising literally exponentially to 45 attacks in 2003. This trend began way before 9-11 and if left unchecked the world would eventually be consumed by terror. I had often wondered if we were in danger of over-reacting to world terror, and that little tidbit has convinced me that we have way under-reacted.



So after viewing this chart do you think that the problem is going away?