U.S. faces multiple hurdles to fighting terrorism, report warns.

WASHINGTON _ Turf fights, overlapping jurisdictions, inadequate intelligence, bureaucratic confusion and a lack of central leadership are preventing the U.S. government from coping with the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction and their use by terrorists, a top-level report warned Wednesday.

``The U.S. government is not effectively organized to combat proliferation,'' the report stated. ``The nation lacks a comprehensive policy and plan to meet the threat.''

The report called for creation of a new federal agency to direct anti-terrorism and anti-proliferation efforts, as well as interagency operations to block terrorist and rogue-nation plots before they get under way.

Prepared by a bipartisan commission headed by former Central Intelligence Director John Deutch, the …