9-11 panel nearly done with report

WASHINGTON – Working in secret, the Sept. 11 terrorism commission is finishing a final report that several members believe will be done by week’s end and will have unanimous support.

The report’s factual findings, which are virtually complete, will echo, in some respects, last week’s Senate Intelligence Committee report in harshly criticizing the FBI and CIA for poor intelligence-gathering, which, if improved, could have otherwise prevented the attacks, many commission members believe.

It also will stand by the finding in its preliminary report last month that al Qaeda had only limited contact with Iraq before the terrorist attacks, commissioners say. Strong ties between Iraq and al Qaeda were one justification the Bush administration gave for going to war with Iraq.

The panel will meet this week to finalize its recommendations, which commissioners say will call for an overhaul of intelligence agencies.

As recently as last month, former Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., and several other commissioners on the panel of five Republicans and five Democrats said unanimity might not be possible.

The meetings since then have changed Gorton’s mind.

“We’ve had a good personal relationship in our internal deliberations with no traces of partisanship,” he said.