Five years after Sep 11, U.S. still not safe-Bush

WASHINGTON, Sep 5 (Reuters) Five years after the September 11 attacks, the United States is safer but ''we are not yet safe'' from a significantly degraded but still dangerous al Qaeda threat, the White House said in a report today.

A White House ''national strategy for combating terrorism'' was published as the United States prepares to observe the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Bush administration faces criticism from Democrats over whether it has done enough to safeguard Americans from more attacks.

''Since the September 11 attacks, America is safer, but we are not yet safe,'' the 23-page report concluded.

The report comes as Bush is trying to help his Republican party retain control of the U.S. Congress with an American electorate weary of the Iraq war.

The report predicted the war on terrorism will last a long time and that terrorists have declared their intention to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction to inflict catastrophic attacks against the United States and its allies.

It cited Syria and Iran as continuing ''to harbor terrorists at home and sponsor terrorist activity abroad.'' The United States is locked in a test of wills with Iran and Syria over their support for Hizbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon and in particular over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Bush won re-election in 2004 by promoting his ability to fight the war on terrorism and portray Democrats as soft on national security, a theme his party is pushing again before this November's election.

All 435 House seats, 34 of 100 Senate seats and 36 governorships are at stake on November 7. Democrats need to pick up 15 House seats and six Senate seats to reclaim majorities.

The report, an update of a February 2003 national strategy, said the threat from al Qaeda is ''significantly degraded'' after the deaths of many of its leaders but that it remains dangerous, five years after al Qaeda followers crashed hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

''Although al Qaeda functions as the movement's vanguard and remains, along with its affiliate groups and those inspired by them, the most dangerous present manifestation of the enemy, the movement is not controlled by any single individual group or state,'' the report said.

Bush was to deliver a speech later today on the war on terrorism, the latest in a series of speeches seeking to olster U.S. support for the Iraq war.

REUTERS MS PC1900