WAR ON TERRORISM What's new

The latest developments in the war on terrorism:
INTELLIGENCE VOTE
The intelligence committees on Capitol Hill are planning to vote today on a dozen recommendations to revamp the nation's spy agencies, including the creation of a Cabinet-level chief to oversee all intelligence.
The chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate committees, who supervised a yearlong staff investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks, have agreed to a proposal for a national director of intelligence over the 13 agencies that spend about $35 billion a year gathering and analyzing information.
The chairmen, Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and Republican Rep. Porter Goss of Florida, have criticized the lack of coordination and communication among the CIA, FBI and other agencies in their counterterrorism efforts before Sept. 11.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. -- the two ranking members -- also back the naming of an intelligence czar.
The four leaders were talking to other members of the two committees Monday in preparation for today's meeting, according to Goss and two Senate staffers. The two panels, with 37 members, are scheduled to review a draft of the staff report on the Sept. 11 investigation and a series of recommendations.
"We know that the present system does not work well, and it's time to get serious about reforming intelligence," Goss said.
NEW AGENCY
Despite fierce opposition from the FBI, support is growing in Washington for the creation of a domestic intelligence agency that could take over intelligence gathering and counterterrorism from the bureau.
The idea will likely get its strongest boost when the joint congressional intelligence committee investigating the Sept. 11 attacks unveils its recommendations, including one that stops just short of endorsing the proposal and calls for a yearlong study of the concept.
At issue is whether the FBI, historically a law enforcement agency charged with combating such mainstream crimes as bank robbery and drug trafficking, should continue trying to recast itself as one-stop shopping for terrorism prevention or whether that job could be better handled by a separate agency with that single mission.
FBI Director Robert Mueller and many bureau officials -- as well as civil libertarians -- are against forming such an agency, which could be modeled after MI5, the British domestic intelligence service.
Civil liberties groups fear such an agency would bring back the days of domestic spying on Americans and would have little or no oversight to protect citizens from unwarranted wiretaps or other violations of their privacy.
GROUND ZERO
Several new plans for Ground Zero call for erecting what would be the tallest building in the world on the disaster site -- giving terror-battered lower Manhattan a new, distinctive skyline, sources said Monday. The new skyscraper would rise about 1,500 feet, eclipsing the world's tallest buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, which stand 1,483 feet.
The building would not touch the footprint of the twin towers. Some of the seven new plans reserve the footprint for memorials -- including an amphitheater dedicated to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The bold proposals are part of more expansive plans being presented privately this week to rebuilding officials. A master plan is expected to be finalized by Jan. 31, under a new fast-tracked schedule.
STUDYING COLLAPSE
Surveillance tapes and maintenance logs are among the missing evidence as investigators try to figure out why the World Trade Center collapsed, federal officials said Monday.
Many documents destroyed in the disaster "are pretty key in carrying out the work," lead investigator Shyam Sunder said.
Two hypotheses on the cause of the collapse have emerged since the National Institute of Standards and Technology began its $23 million probe three months ago.
Both theories agree the jetliners damaged floor joists and columns inside and outside the buildings. But they vary on whether the fire-weakened columns failed and alone brought down the buildings or whether floor trusses sagged in the intense heat, pulling the columns inward to collapse.
The lost records probably contain vital information that could help answer questions, Sunder said. Investigators are trying to locate copies of many destroyed documents from the building's owners and city agencies.
Source: Combined dispatches