Of COURSE you don't count terrorist attacks in the flypaper zone if you are making a flypaper analogy. That's the entire POINT of the flypaper analogy.

The word "flat" has an exact meaning. A fatality rate increase in the West--again note how the use of "West" allows you to gloss over the zero rate in the United States--from 191 to 198 is not even statistically significant. An increase in attacks from 7.2 to 9 a year is only significant if you try to sell it as a percentage increase.

Basically, Mother Jones has "discovered" that there is a lot more violence in a war zone.

This story is entirely hype.