Bush Considers Replacing Tenet More Quickly

Another critical assessment of the administration's performance is expected early next month in a new book whose author is to be identified as "Anonymous," government officials and the book's editor said. The book is described by government officials as being sharply critical of the Bush administration's use of intelligence to justify the Iraq war, and was written by a senior intelligence analyst and cleared for release by the C.I.A., the government officials said.

The book, "Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terrorism," is to be released Aug. 1 by Brassey's, and is the second book by the author, after "Through Our Enemies' Eyes." Its existence was first described in the British newspaper The Guardian on Saturday.

The book's editor, Kristina Davidson, described it as "a very serious look at the cultural, bureaucratic and institutional impediments to our fighting the war on terror." Ms. Davidson said it took the C.I.A. four months to grant its approval after the book was submitted for review in January.

As described by the editor and government officials, the book's thesis reflects the views of many within the intelligence community, but some government officials have expressed surprise that the C.I.A. had authorized its release. The agency has the right to review any book written by an employee before publication.

A C.I.A. spokesman, Bill Harlow, declined to comment on the book or on the possibility that Mr. McLaughlin might be replaced as acting director this year. A spokesman for the National Security Council, Sean McCormack, also declined to comment on any White House discussions on whether to select a new intelligence chief.

Mr. McLaughlin, a 32-year veteran of the C.I.A., has been a hands-on manager at the agency since Mr. Tenet appointed him as deputy in 2000. His many admirers within American intelligence agencies say he is deeply steeped in the war on terrorism and other critical issues facing the agency, and far better suited to manage the agency, at least in the short term, than any figure brought in from the outside.

But few within the administration have described Mr. McLaughlin as a candidate to succeed Mr. Tenet on a permanent basis. And some senior intelligence officials have suggested that no interim director, no matter how able, could ever wield the clout that a permanent director could muster.

On June 3, the day that Mr. Tenet announced his resignation, Mr. Goss told an interviewer that he would consider serving as intelligence chief if Mr. Bush asked him to do so. Mr. Goss's office did not reply Monday to a request for comment.

Mr. Cox, the California congressman, is the fourth-ranking Republican in the House leadership, and serves as chairman of the House Policy Committee. He is 51 years old, and served in 1998 as chairman of a select committee that examined commercial ties with China amid concerns about industrial espionage.

Among others mentioned as possible candidates by one senior House official was Robert M. Gates, who served as deputy national security adviser and director of central intelligence under the first President Bush. Mr. Gates is now president of Texas A & M University, where he is under contract, a spokesman for the university said.