“In his [December 10, 2004] farewell speech [Attorney General John] Ashcroft did say…that ‘more than 375 people have been charged in terror-related prosecutions in the United States since the 2001 attacks, with 195 either convicted or entering guilty pleas.’ This represents a bold and important claim and was repeated regularly by President Bush. …Six months after Ashcroft’s speech, however, the Washington Post published an extraordinarily detailed analysis of all the cases included in the totals of 375 indictments and 195 convictions the attorney general had provided. The Post examined the data and found, in fact, only 39 convictions for terrorism and national-security related crimes since September 11, 2001. …the Washington Post found ‘no demonstrated connection to terrorism or terrorist groups’ for 180 of the 375 people charged. Only fourteen people convicted of terrorism-related crimes were found by the Post to have links to al-Qaeda.”
– Ian S. Lustick, Trapped in the War on Terror, Page 37