July 6, 2004

Armada of American, British and Australian warships is circling Iraq's offshore oil depots to prevent threat of waterborne suicide attackers; Iraqi oil flows through rattling pipelines to depots; vulnerable site is crucial to country's economic future; in April, attackers in three boats sped toward depots and blew themselves up, killing themselves, two American sailors and coast guardsman but not causing extensive damage to terminals; but it served notice that depots are under threat by someone with deep knowledge of Iraqi oil industry; Prime Min Iyad Allawi says sabotage attacks on pipelines crisscrossing desert mainland has already cost nation $200 million in lost revenue; broken pipelines can be fixed in few days, but any severe damage to giant, isolated oil terminals could be devastating to country counting on its oil wealth as best hope for stable future; photos; map (M)

Second article in biographical series, John Kerry's Journey, focuses on Kerry's years as idealistic student at Yale, then realistic lieutenant in Vietnam War and then leader of searing protests against that war; in 1965, Kerry, a Yale senior, presented then-Vice Pres Hubert H Humphrey with petition condemning some antiwar demonstrators for their 'irresponsible protests'; five and half years later, Kerry tossed decorations he earned as Navy lieutenant in Vietnam toward United States Capitol in gesture of rebuke; what happened to him in intervening years is story of earnest young man's growth to grave adulthood, as well as his and his contemporaries' struggle to come to grips with country that was changing radically around them in ways that still echo with renewed controversy in current election year; photos (L)

Report from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is expected to contain scathing indictment of CIA and its leaders for failing to recognize that evidence they collected before war in Iraq did not justify their assesssment that Saddam Hussein had illicit weapons; report says CIA was told by relatives of Iraqi scientists that Baghdad's programs to develop unconventional weapons had been abandoned, but that agency failed to give that information to Pres Bush, even as he publicly warned of threat posed by Hussein's illicit weapons; existence of secret prewar CIA operation to debrief relatives of Iraqi scientists--and agency's failure to give their statements to president and other policymakers--was uncovered by Senate intelligence panel; CIA officials play down significance of information collected in secret debriefing operation, saying they assumed such talk was part of Iraqi denial and deception program; Senate report is said to conclude that entire intelligence community did poor job of collecting information about status of Iraq's weapons programs, and that intelligence analysts did even worse job of writing reports that accurately relected information they had; Senate panel finds no evidence that CIA changed reports as result of political pressure from White House; detailed examination of Senate panel's investigation; photo (L)

Stalemate in Congress leaves welfare programs around country in limbo; state officials are postponing new investments in child care, expansion of job training and most other intiatives for welfare recipients and low-wage workers; Congressional Republicans are insisting that stricter work requirements be part of any renewal of 1996 welfare law; Democrats say only minor changes are needed; Congress has passed seven bills extending program since Sept 2002, when law's major provisions were scheduled to expire; lawmakers see little chance for approval of long-term reauthorization this year; say that with large budget deficits looming, Congress will be under intense pressure in election year to cut the $16.5 billion that House and Senate tentatively agreed to for main welfare program; impasse is remarkable because lawmakers of both parties describe 1996 law as a success that moved millions of people from welfare to work and cut welfare rolls by 60 percent; map (M)

In a Busy Holiday Weekend, 'Spider-Man 2' Is No. 1 America flocked to the movies this holiday weekend as ''Spider-Man 2,'' the sequel to the blockbuster movie of two summers ago, broke box-office records by taking in $180 million in its first six days in theaters, a rare, bona fide hit in a summer filled with pricey ''event'' pictures. The anti-Bush documentary ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' continued to draw huge audiences across the country, taking in $21 million over the four-day weekend for a total of $60 million so far. The Arts, Section E.