March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Tension and miscommunication between Clinton White House officials and intelligence officers hindered efforts to get Osama bin Laden for years before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, an independent commission says.

The United States was better at collecting intelligence than acting on it prior to Sept. 11, the commission's staff said as it released part of an initial report due in late July. The 10- person panel, appointed by President George W. Bush with members from both political parties, continues its public hearings today in Washington.

There was a clash between the intentions of administration officials, who said President Bill Clinton clearly approved covert actions to kill bin Laden, and the understanding of top officials in the Central Intelligence Agency, who felt their instructions were to try to capture him, the report says.

``Working-level CIA officers said they were frustrated by what they saw as the policy restraints of having to instruct their assets to mount a capture operation,'' the report says.

After taking office at the start of 2001, Bush's administration began to review the policies and directives at the core of the dispute, the report says. That review culminated a week before terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

Clarke Speaks Today

Today's witness list features Richard A. Clarke, a senior national security adviser under the last three administrations, who says in a new book that the Bush administration failed to take seriously the threat from al-Qaeda before the attacks.

During the commission's hearing on Tuesday, leading members of the Bush and Clinton administrations defended their policies and efforts to counter bin Laden's terrorist threat. Bush's response is an issue as he begins a campaign for a second term.

Clarke, in his new book ``Against All Enemies,'' says the Bush administration upon taking office thought that Clinton and his advisers ``were overly obsessed with al-Qaeda,'' Clarke wrote. Clinton's emphasis on eliminating the terrorist network was seen by the Bush administration as ``well, rather odd,'' he wrote.

Bush and his advisers have challenged Clarke's account. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the commission on Tuesday that Bush ``made clear his interest and his intense desire to protect the nation from terrorism'' and wanted to do more than ``swatting flies,'' a reference to the Clinton administration approach.

This week's sessions mark the eighth public hearing for the commission, formally the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet and Clinton administration National Security Affairs Assistant Samuel Berger also will testify today.

Bush has agreed to meet privately with commission members. Clinton has also agreed to appear before the commission.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurence Arnold in Washington at larnold4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 24, 2004 09:07 EST