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CIA loses two top leaders { June 5 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/05/politics/05INTE.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/05/politics/05INTE.html
June 5, 2004
Some Fear Power Vacuum as C.I.A. Loses Its 2 Top Leaders
By DOUGLAS JEHL
WASHINGTON, June 4 — The departure of George J. Tenet, the director, and James L. Pavitt, the clandestine services chief, from the Central Intelligence Agency removes the top two generals who have steered the nation's covert war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
As they step down this summer, the pair will leave what some in government worry may be a power vacuum, after a period in which an aggressive hand from Mr. Tenet and Mr. Pavitt has proven instrumental not only in directing the agency's own efforts, but in forging cooperation among disparate and rival departments involved in the fight.
Other agencies, including the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the new Terrorist Threat Integration Center, have often deferred to Mr. Tenet because of his energy and experience, as well as his close personal bond with President Bush, current and government officials say.
"People probably underestimate the impact that George Tenet has had on counterterrorism since 9/11," said Richard J. Kerr, a former deputy director of central intelligence. "I think he's held a lot of things together, held a lot of pieces together, and kind of acted as the senior guy in government. In that area he's really performed incredibly well."
The vacancies being left by Mr. Tenet and Mr. Pavitt will end a remarkable period of stability at the agency. When Mr. Tenet, 51, steps down on July 11, he will have presided for seven years, making him the second longest-serving director in the C.I.A.'s history. Mr. Pavitt, 58, whose retirement was announced Friday, has served in the C.I.A. for 31 years and, as the deputy director for operations, has led the agency's clandestine service for nearly five years, longer than anyone in three decades.
As Mr. Tenet's acting replacement, John McLaughlin, the deputy director of central intelligence, will remain in his current office and not move into the director's suite, intelligence officials said today. Stephen R. Kappes, a 23-year veteran of the clandestine service, was named by Mr. Tenet on Friday as Mr. Pavitt's successor. But he could well find himself replaced as deputy director for operations; under agency tradition, whoever becomes the next permanent intelligence chief would be expected to install his own team.
Shortly after he took office in 1997, Mr. Tenet signaled his solidarity with the agency's clandestine service by prominently featuring a portrait of a predecessor, Richard Helms, who is renowned within the agency for his enthusiasm for clandestine operations. And since Sept. 11, Mr. Tenet has convened a daily 5 p.m. meeting on counterterrorism in which he acts as the day-to-day commander of a covert war being fought by the C.I.A.'s paramilitary teams and case officers around the world. The approach has paid dividends in improving morale among the agency's operations branch, whose station in Baghdad is the biggest since the Vietnam War.
"Everywhere I have traveled in garden spots around the world — like Baghdad, Kabul and Amman — Tenet has been extremely highly regarded by our people in the field and the liaison services," said Rep. Jane Harman of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "He is regarded as a true hero."
Mr. Pavitt, a veteran spy who served in Vienna and Germany, among other posts, has been the tactical commander of the clandestine war, overseeing an operation in which intelligence officers have worked closely with military Special Operations Forces. The joint effort contributed significantly to the quick victory in Afghanistan in 2001, the capture of Saddam Hussein last year and the capture or killing of about two-thirds of those known to be top operatives of Al Qaeda at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The C.I.A. and people close to Mr. Pavitt have said that his retirement was not related to the resignation of Mr. Tenet, which was announced by the White House on Thursday.
Mr. Kappes, 52, is a former Marine officer who speaks Farsi and Russian, and has served at C.I.A. headquarters and overseas, in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe, according to an agency announcement. As associate deputy director for operations, he had been Mr. Pavitt's top deputy since 2002.
Both Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Kappes have been regular participants in the daily terrorism meeting, and have regularly filled in for their bosses in overseeing counterterrorism and other operations, according to intelligence officials. A senior intelligence official described them both as capable, experienced managers.
Still, one senior government official involved in intelligence issues described a sense of apprehension about what he believed would be a long, awkward lull ahead. "The election's coming up, and chances are slim that Bush will nominate anyone before the election, and what you end up with is McLaughlin being the acting," the official said. "I mean, he's a good guy, but it's not like having a real person there."
At a time when the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and the new homeland security department are still struggling to transcend their own rivalries to cooperate on counterterrorism issues, Mr. Tenet and Mr. Pavitt both had far more experience than officials like Robert S. Mueller III, who took over as F.B.I. director in 2001, two weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, and Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and current homeland security chief.
Most of the estimated $40 billion a year that the government now spends on intelligence is controlled by the Pentagon, and without Mr. Tenet in place the power balance in a rivalry between the C.I.A. and the Defense Department may tilt more toward Stephen Cambone, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, congressional officials said.
As the new acting intelligence chief, Mr. McLaughlin, a 32-year veteran, brings a deep wealth of experience, but most of it comes from within the agency's analytical branch. The cerebral, almost scholarly culture there is a far cry from the more secretive spirit of the operations directorate. Only in 2000 did he leave the analytical area to become the deputy director of central intelligence.
Before Mr. Tenet was named director of central intelligence, he too served as deputy director, and he served as acting director for six months, from January to July 1997, after the resignation of John M. Deutsch. Even if a new intelligence chief is confirmed early next year, Mr. McLaughlin would be likely to serve for at least seven months as acting director.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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