Bush backs new intelligence centre, czar

US President George W Bush yesterday endorsed the creation of a national intelligence czar and counter-terrorism centre — his first steps in revamping the nation’s intelligence-gathering system to try to prevent a repeat of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"We are a nation in danger," Bush said as he announced the position with top administration national security figures in the White House Rose Garden. Bush thus embraced, with some changes, two key recommendations of the September 11 commission, which outlined lapses in intelligence that left the US vulnerable to the attack.

The bipartisan panel's most overarching recommendations in a 567-page report were for the creation of a counter-terrorism centre, which the commission sees as a joint operational planning and intelligence centre staffed by personnel from all the spy agencies, and a national intelligence czar.

The chairman of the September 11 commission, Thomas Kean, and the vice-chairman, Lee Hamilton, have insisted the centre and the national intelligence director position be placed in the executive office of the president to give the White House clout to deal with all the nation's intelligence agencies.

Bush said he wants them set up outside the White House.

"I don't think the person should be a member of my Cabinet," Bush said.

"I will hire the person and I can fire the person. I don't think the office should be in the White House, however, I think it should be a stand-alone group to better co-ordinate."

Intelligence reforms to help thwart a repeat of the 2001 terrorist attacks took on special urgency with the announcement on Sunday by authorities that they had uncovered an al-Qaida plot to attack five prominent financial institutions in New York, Washington and New Jersey.

"The work of security in this vast nation is not done," Bush said.

"The elevation of the threat level in New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC, is a serious reminder a solemn reminder of the threat we continue to face."

In asking Congress to create the national intelligence director position, Bush said the person holding the post would be appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The director would serve as the president's principal intelligence adviser, overseeing and coordinating the intelligence community's foreign and domestic activities.

Currently, the CIA director heads his own agency but also oversees the US intelligence community, which has grown to 15 agencies, but does not have budgetary authority or day-to-day operational control of the agencies, most of which are in the Defence Department.

A national intelligence director would oversee all the agencies.

Under the re-organisation, the CIA would be run by a separate director, and the national intelligence director would assume the responsibility of leading the intelligence community government-wide.

"I want, and every president must have, the best, unbiased, unvarnished assessment of America's intelligence professionals," Bush said.

He said the national counter-terrorism centre would build on the analytical work already being done by the Terrorist Threat Integration Centre, which began operations in May 2003. The centre will be the "government's knowledge bank for information about known and suspected terrorists", Bush said.