WASHINGTON, July 22 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Thursday that the government would do everything within its power to safeguard the country, after receiving a copy of the final report of the commission probing the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Speaking after a briefing on the report from the commission's top officials at the White House, Bush said: "They recognise what I recognise and the Americans recognise that there is still a threat.
"And we in the government have an obligation to do everything in our power to safeguard the American people," he told reporters.
The US commission probing the September 11, 2001 attacks was Thursday to wrap up its lengthy investigation issuing a damning report blaming lapses by intelligence agencies for failing to detect the plot.
The report, to be released at 11:30 am (1530 GMT) is expected to detail numerous breaches of the US security network which allowed al-Qaeda terrorists riding hijacked planes to carry out the attacks in which some 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The nearly 600-page report apparently faults both the administrations of President George W. Bush and his predecessor Bill Clinton for not adequately taking into account the threat posed by al-Qaeda.