US 9/11 commission report meets mixed reaction

9/11 panel faults gov't for terror attacks

The much-awaited report by the US independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, which was released on Thursday, has drawn mixed reaction.

The 567-page final report is a product of the commission, which interviewed over 1,000 of witnesses from 10 countries and examined 2.5 million pages of documents.

The report recommends the creation of a national counterterrorism center to unify all counterterrorism intelligence and operations of the country's intelligence agencies across the foreign and domestic divide in one organization.

President George W. Bush called the report "solid and sound" and promised to study its recommendations, many of which he described as common sense and constructive.

"We will give serious consideration to every idea because we share a common goal," Bush said.

In his response to the commission's report, Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry urged swift implementation of the recommendations.

"If I am elected president and there has still not been sufficient progress on these issues, I will not wait a single day more. I will lead," he said.

About 30 family members of the victims in the attacks attended the commission's release of its final report, which recommended sweeping changes in the US intelligence community. They said they were eager to take up the cause to persuade the Congress and the government to consider and implement the proposals, even if the report's findings offered a dismal assessment of repeated failures made by the intelligence agencies leading up to the 2001 attacks.

"I had a lot of my questions answered," said Terry McGovern, whose mother Anne was killed at the World Trade Center.

"They weren't answered in a good way, but I think it's really useful to show what kind of job needs to be done," McGovern said.

April Gallop said the panel did not have enough time or money to address all of her concerns, but she was pleased by how much they did get done. "I came here pessimistic, but I leave here optimistic," said Gallop, a 33-year-old, who along with her infant son was injured in the attack on the Pentagon.

Ellen Mariani of Derry, New Hampshire, who lost her husband aboard Flight 175, did not attend the press conference, but said the commission did not do enough to hold officials responsible, a media report said.

"There are people who need to be blamed," she said. "There are people that overlooked and failed our loved ones."