U.S. Sept. 11 Commission Releases Report

The U.S. commission investigating the events of Sept. 11, 2001, today released a report critical of U.S. efforts against terrorism prior to the attacks, according to reports (see GSN, July 21).

Among the report’s recommendations is the creation of a national intelligence director and reforms of congressional committees responsible for overseeing the intelligence community, according to the Washington Post.

The report also calls for improved efforts against WMD proliferation, through measures such as the creation of an international legal regime that would enable the capture and prosecution of WMD smugglers; the expansion of the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led effort to interdict WMD-related cargo shipments; and increased support for the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (Eggen/Linzer, Washington Post, July 22).

During a press conference today to release the report, commission Chairman Tom Kean said none of the U.S. antiterrorism efforts prior to Sept. 11 “had disturbed or even delayed” the attacks.

“(They) penetrated the defenses of the most powerful nation in the world,” Kean said. “They inflicted unbearable trauma on our people, and at the same time they turned international order upside down,” he added (Hope Yen, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 22).

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