Out Of The Line Of Fire

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More than a year — but no WMDs — later, those words have returned to slam-dunk Tenet. It doesn't help that the controversies over Iraq and 9/11 follow on intelligence failures stretching back almost to the beginning of Tenet's reign. In his seven years as director of Central Intelligence — only the legendary Allen Dulles served longer — Tenet revived morale at an agency devastated by post — cold war budget cuts and a sharp drop in recruitment. But he also presided over blunders that included the agency's failure to foresee in 1998 that India would test an atomic device, and the mistaken identification one year later of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade as a bombing target, an error that resulted in the deaths of three embassy staff members. The CIA also failed to foresee al-Qaeda's dual bombing in 1998 of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya or its attack on the U.S.S. Cole two years later.

Once Tenet steps down, his acting successor will be Deputy Director of Intelligence John McLaughlin, a career analyst. It is a cliche to call McLaughlin unassuming and modest; it is more telling to describe him as deeply analytical and alert to the ambiguities of his trade. An amateur magician, he is especially adept at sleight of hand, a skill that helped win him the nickname "Merlin."

McLaughlin may need his magic powers, for one of his first challenges will be to defend the agency against attempts by the Pentagon, which already controls 90% of the roughly $40 billion the U.S. spends on intelligence annually, to take over more responsibility for gathering and analyzing intelligence. But Tenet's departure may set the stage for much larger changes. The 9/11 commission report, due out on July 26, is expected to call for the creation of a new Cabinet-level chief who would consolidate control over all the nation's disparate intelligence operations — an idea supported by Bush's rival for the White House, John Kerry, but opposed by both Tenet and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

In intelligence circles the betting is that Bush will avoid tackling a contentious restructuring during an election year. But the Pentagon, CIA and FBI are positioning themselves to hold onto as much turf as they can in whatever reorganization may come after November. Toward that end, Rumsfeld named Stephen Cambone last year to the newly created post of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. And on the same day that Bush announced Tenet's resignation, FBI Director Robert Mueller announced the creation of a directorate of intelligence within the bureau to better co-ordinate its intelligence activities.

That Tenet survived in his job so long is testimony to his combination of people skills and peerless political instincts. The son of Greek immigrants who owned a diner in Queens, N.Y., Tenet is a gruff, backslapping master of Washington, a man famously prone to chew an unlit cigar in meetings and schmooze with underlings at headquarters. Adept at defusing tense moments with a wisecrack, he knows how to keep both his employees and his bosses happy.

And that's what he did with his boss in the White House. From their earliest encounters, Tenet and Bush hit it off. Bush liked Tenet's unpretentious style and his gift for breaking down complex matters into digestible morsels of information. And while Tenet had difficulty getting face time with President Clinton, he presented Bush with an early-morning security briefing daily.