<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="center">Last Thursday, the State Department released its annual report on global terrorism. According to the State&rsquo;s findings, 11,774 terrorist attacks in 92 counties that transpired last year resulting in a total of 28,300 deaths.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Iran was labeled the most dangerous as the top sponsor of terrorist activity, specifically the report said that the country &#8220;remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015, providing a range of support, including financial, training, and equipment, to groups around the world.&#8221;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Iran is still providing arms and funds to terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia. Justin Siberell, the States&rsquo; acting coordinator for counterterrorism, said that the department was &#8220;concerned about a wide range of Iranian activities to destabilize the region.&#8221;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> ;These findings are only going to add fuel to the criticism on Obama&rsquo;s recent Iran deal.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fortunately, the report did reveal that the total number of terrorist attacks decreased by 13% from the following year. &ldquo;This represents the first decline in total terrorist attacks and resulting fatalities worldwide since 2012,&rdquo; said Siberell.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But in Afghanistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Turkey and Syria, the terrorist activity increased.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Although the Middle East and North Africa are the most terrorist populated areas, Europe is at risk &ldquo;from foreign terrorist fighters who returned home to Europe to plot and carry out attacks.&rdquo; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is because in 2015, ISIS and al Qaeda &ldquo;increased their focus on staging mass-casualty attacks.&rdquo; With the escalation of these types of attacks, like the ones carried out in Paris, Lebanon and Turkey, the state department recently issued a travel alert for Americans traveling to Europe. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The report also lists 13 &ldquo;terrorist safe havens,&rdquo; which are described as &ldquo;ungoverned, under-governed, or ill-governed physical areas where terrorists are able to organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, transit, and operate in relative security because of inadequate governance capacity, political will, or both.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These areas include <strong>Somalia, The Trans-Sahara, The Sulu/Sulawesi Seas Littoral, The Southern Philippines, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Colombia and Venezuela.</strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are 58 total terrorist organizations identified in the report, including ISIS and al Qaeda and their affiliations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While there seems to be some positive progress in the war on terror, the State&rsquo;s findings reveal that there is still much more work to be done. Let&rsquo;s hope that our next president recognizes how much of a threat Iran is and is not so eager to negotiate with countries that fund terrorism. ;</p>