WASHINGTON — Just as he was beginning to rejuvenate the beleaguered Central Intelligence Agency, R. James Woolsey is leaving it at perhaps one of its most critical times.
The nation's spy network, heralded during the darkest days of the Cold War, has been scorched by the espionage scandal involving Aldrich H. Ames and humiliated by widespread allegations of sexual harassment and male clubbiness.
It also faces the political reality of a shrinking budget and a new Republican Congress eager to plant its own imprint on the intelligence community in the years ahead.
Woolsey was the first CIA director from the outside to take the helm with the stated intent of moving the agency through the changes needed in a post-Cold War era. It is a job he will leave unfinished.
"These are tough changes ahead," Woolsey told The Times last month, describing the predicament of trying to boost the effectiveness and morale of a secret organization that has come sharply under fire.
"I've got to say things in a way that doesn't tell people that their institution is worthless and that it's fallen into such disrepute that it can't be repaired. So it's kind of a tough line I walk," he said.
"And the trick in all this is in walking the line of convincing people that there are some things that need to change, like greater counterintelligence awarenesses and less of a clubbish atmosphere. And that it's not true that once you're inside the door (at CIA headquarters) that you can be trusted with everything."
Indeed, the CIA is under public scrutiny like almost never before.
On Capitol Hill, Senate and House intelligence committees soon will be chaired by Republicans who have their own ideas on making the CIA more accountable to the public trust.
"I'm coming at this from a different perspective," said Rep. Larry Combest (R-Tex.), who will head the House Select Committee on Intelligence. "I'm going to come at this from a standpoint of how much do we need. I want to define the need for intelligence before I define its size. And there's no blank check on this anymore."
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who will head the Senate intelligence panel, promised to be equally vigilant. One of his great concerns is whether the Ames spy scandal and the allegations of sexual harassment are an aberration or part of deep structural failings inside an agency in serious need of rehabilitation.
