President Bush said yesterday that he supports creation of a new national intelligence director and a national counterterrorism center, key recommendations of the Commission that investigated the attacks of September 11, 2001. His backing, however, is conditional — the intelligence chief would not have authority over budgets, hiring and firing and would not be stationed in the White House, counter to the suggestions of the Commission. The director would not be a member of the president cabinet.

Executive director of the 9/11 commission, Philip D. Zelikow, warned about Bush’s proposal. He told PBS that “If Congress takes the shell of this idea and then dilutes the powers so that it looks like they’ve done it but they haven’t really done it, then you will have another bureaucratic layer.”