President George W. Bush announced Wednesday new steps to improve U.S. intelligence gathering, based on proposals by an independent panel that examined failures in the buildup to the Iraq war, dpa said. The high-level commission's report in March strongly criticized U.S. intelligence agencies and their ability to protect the country from the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Bush said he accepted 70 of the panel's 74 recommendations and would consider three others. He rejected one, but did not say which because it was classified. In one step, Bush directed the creation of a National Security Service within the FBI that would integrate counterterrorism, counterintelligence and intelligence tasks within the domestic law enforcement agency. The president also plans to work with Congress to create a new high-level Justice Department post to oversee intelligence, the White House said. Already, Bush declared, the FBI and the Department of Justice "have made substantial progress" in strengthening their national security capabilities and coordinating with other security agencies. --SP 2334 Local Time 2034 GMT
