To the Point

New Powers for Spies

It has been revealed that the FBI neglected to alert airline security even though the agency suspected two of last week's hijackers before they even bought tickets on the flight that hit the Pentagon. That failure of agencies to share intelligence information is just one of the problems identified in a series of government reports that warned of America's vulnerability long before last week's attacks proved them right. We hear about efforts to close the loopholes and the fear that Constitutional liberties may be at risk with experts on terrorism, security, and intelligence. Newsmaker: Airline Bailout Package - Congress and the Bush White House want to help the airline industry recover from last week's tragedy. But The Wall Street Journal's Jim Vandehei says they want proof that the bailout relates to last week's terrorism rather than mismanagement. He also talks about a proposed 181-plus billion-dollar rescue and security package. Reporter's Notebook: What if Osama bin Laden Isn't There? The US has demanded that Afghanistan turn over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban says it might ask him to leave the country on his own, a solution the US finds unacceptable. Peter Grier, of The Christian Science Monitor, finds their "least-of-several-evils" approach unsurprising, and questions what the US might do in the face of that decision.