Over time, the succession of terrorist incidents around the world becomes not merely shocking, but numbing. It is understandable, therefore, that we often take refuge in the necessary abstractions of news coverage: numbers killed, damage done, reactions of governments and security forces.

But human faces haunt every one of these stories.

Terrorism is evil because it is an affront to human life and universal values of civilization that we share in common. To condemn terrorism in this absolute manner does not mean that we ignore either the complexities of history or the specific political context in which it arises. It certainly does not mean that we dismiss the injustice and oppression that terrorists exploit. But it does mean that we never, never excuse terrorist acts because suffering and poverty and injustice persist in the world.

Sympathy for the underlying cause claimed by terrorists is all the more reason to reject their acts and seek their elimination. Terrorism should be defined, as one expert has written, "by the nature of the act, not by the identity of the perpetrators or the nature of their cause."

Moreover, terrorists inevitably end up oppressing and killing far more of the people they claim to represent — including women and children — than any real or imagined enemy.

The stories and profiles presented here are neither comprehensive nor do they attempt to represent the extent or full dimension of the common threat of terrorism that all nations face today. Instead, The Human Toll of Terrorism is an attempt to record some of the individual accounts behind today's headlines, to let family members and loved ones speak for those who can no longer speak for themselves.

In Part I, "Speaking for the Dead," we present stories of some of those murdered by terrorists — and those who survived to tell us of their lives. Most of these are accompanied by factual information gleaned from the most recent edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, an annual report that the U.S. State Department makes to the American Congress on terrorist activities in many countries around the world.

Part II, "Legacies of the Living," tells of individuals and organizations who are helping families recover from the trauma of terrorism, build a world free from violence, and preserve the memory of its victims.

The settings may vary — from Kenya to Turkey, Colombia to Pakistan — but the common thread of humanity remains. It is their faces and voices, their hopes and dreams, that we must never forget.

As Secretary of State Colin Powell has stated: "In this global campaign against terrorism, no country has the luxury of remaining on the sidelines. There are no sidelines. Terrorists respect no limits, geographic or moral. The frontlines are everywhere and the stakes are high. Terrorism not only kills people. It also threatens democratic institutions, undermines economies, and destabilizes regions."