Graham Alleges a 9/11 'Coverup'

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Graham on Sunday accused the Bush administration of engaging in a "coverup" of intelligence failures before and after the Sept. 11 attacks to shield it from embarrassment, and said the war with Iraq has allowed Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to become a greater threat to Americans than ever before.

Graham, a presidential candidate and former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also accused the administration of jeopardizing the safety of Americans by blocking the release of a landmark congressional report on the government failures that preceded the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The Florida Democrat said the White House has withheld from the public important information about the continued existence of terrorist cells in the United States -- including some with ties to foreign governments that the U.S. has been afraid to go after.

"By continuing to classify that information

"Local agencies have been denied information which would help them be more effective. First responders and the American people do not have the information upon which they can hold the administration and responsible agencies accountable," Graham said, adding: "I call that a coverup."

Even before announcing his candidacy for president last week, Graham had been outspoken in criticizing the Bush administration's record on counter-terrorism, saying its focus on war with Iraq has allowed Al Qaeda to regroup and Hezbollah and other terrorist networks to flourish.

But Sunday's remarks appeared to be the first time that Graham has publicly accused the White House of trying to cover up such ongoing threats -- and its own intelligence failures -- by refusing to declassify information about them.

Graham said he was basing his accusations on classified information he has received as a ranking member of the Senate intelligence committee, and as a leader of last year's joint congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks.

That inquiry by the intelligence committees of the House and Senate focused on missteps made by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the years and months before the attacks, and on ways to prevent terrorist acts on U.S. soil. It reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of CIA, FBI and National Security Agency files, interviewed hundreds of front-line law enforcement and intelligence agents and held a series of public and closed-door hearings before adjourning to complete its final report.