WASHINGTON – Are we safer today than we were before Sept. 11, 2001?

Yes, concludes the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks in its final report released Thursday.

“But we are not safe,” the sobering 567-page document goes on to say.

Commission Chairman Thomas Kean said an even deadlier attack in the future “is possible – even probable.”

After reviewing 2.5 million documents and interviewing 1,200 people, the 10-member bipartisan panel found that although there have been positive strides since Sept. 11, the government’s intelligence bureaucracy remains rooted in an outdated Cold War structure that needs a massive overhaul. And the commission said Osama bin Laden and other extremists like him will not lack for a fresh generation of terrorist recruits, fueled by rising anti-American hatred in the Arab world.

But changing the way the world thinks about the United States – ultimately the only way to staunch the threat – could prove far more challenging than revamping the structure of the federal government.

“No matter whom we kill or capture, including Osama bin Laden himself, there will be still those who plot against us,” Kean said.

The commission devoted part of its report to engaging in the “struggle of ideas” to improve America’s image in the Arab world and curb the growth of Islamist terrorism. It recommended more pro-American broadcasts to Arab and Muslim audiences and rebuilding scholarship and library exchange programs for young people.

But as a measure of just how contentious the issues are, the commission largely sidestepped what experts on the region believe is the central obstacle to winning Arab hearts and minds: the intractable Palestinian-Israeli conflict. America’s loyalty to Israel – and failure to prod its ally to a settlement – has bred enemies across the Muslim world.

The commission did not criticize U.S. policy but instead spoke only vaguely of how “those (foreign policy) choices must be integrated with America’s message of opportunity to the Arab and Muslim world.”

U.S. support for repressive Arab governments – from Saudi Arabia to Egypt – combined with continued U.S. dependence of Middle East oil, has also bred cynicism about U.S. intentions that propaganda broadcasts and cultural exchange programs cannot undo.

The commission also avoided comment on the current conflict in Iraq and the recent abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison there, but both are viewed in some circles as sparking anti-U.S. hatred across the Islamic world.

The commission blamed the success of the Sept. 11 attacks on “a failure of imagination” by U.S. authorities to anticipate them and said that questions remain about whether the United States has become nimble and creative enough to thwart another terrorist assault.

“We are contending here against a very entrepreneurial, very innovative enemy who knows how to penetrate our open society,” said Commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton. “Have we gotten beyond the lack of imagination? I’m not sure I can answer that.”

In the almost three years that have passed since the attacks, billions of dollars have been poured into the new Department of Homeland Security. The FBI has made counterterrorism its top priority. The military has toppled the Taliban regime that had provided al-Qaida sanctuary in Afghanistan.

Yet America is still at risk and will be for the foreseeable future. That point was driven home this summer when top federal law enforcement officials warned of a possible deadly al-Qaida strike in advance of the presidential elections in November.

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Commissioners on Thursday called both the nation’s intelligence-gathering operations and congressional oversight of them “dysfunctional.”

And they said answers to fundamental questions remain elusive – such as who is in charge of the nation’s intelligence across all the various agencies.

“Who is our quarterback?” asked Commissioner Jamie Gorelick at a news conference.

She said when she asked that question in commission hearings, the answer inevitably came back that the president was.

“But this is not his full-time job, and it is an impossible situation for that to remain the case,” she said. “Right now the authorities to act cohesively do not exist.”

The commission recommended creation of a White House official to oversee all domestic and foreign intelligence at the CIA, the FBI and the Defense Department.

The commission also found that gaps still exist in homeland security, such as the need for better screening of visitors at the borders and passengers at airports and other transportation hubs.

But as the Commission noted, these measure alone will not protect the United States, so long as others feel motivated to attack us.

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