Bush orders review of intelligence -gathering operations

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush has ordered a review of U.S. intelligence-gathering operations and has tapped CIA Director George Tenet to supervise the comprehensive survey.

Tenet will oversee the review of the Central Intelligence Agency operations, as well as other intelligence-gathering entities.

The order places Tenet, the last CIA director under former President Bill Clinton, in charge of appointing members of two commissions to study all U.S. intelligence-gathering operations.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president's review is a sign that he believes neither Tenet nor Clinton thoroughly evaluated the effectiveness or organizational structure of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.

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"The world has changed," one official said. "There are new challenges for U.S. intelligence-gathering and this is an attempt to see that U.S. intelligence is up to the task."

The officials said Bush's review is similar in spirit to the review he has requested of U.S. defense systems and spending.

The review will be carried out in two parts. One panel of government officials and one panel of non-government officials will scrutinize virtually every aspect of U.S. intelligence gathering, including the following: intelligence capabilities, the science and technology of spying, the fusion of multi-source data, new ways of approaching human intelligence and the consolidating of CIA activities and budgets.

Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be consulted on the findings of the intelligence review, the officials said.

Congress has been consulted about the president's plan and has responded approvingly, the officials said. Congress has long sought more accountability from the U.S. intelligence community, particularly when it comes to developing better ways to synthesize data collected by the CIA and other agencies, such as the National Security Agency.

The officials said Tenet will report back to the president at an undisclosed date this summer. At that time, an unclassified report on some of Tenet's findings is scheduled to be released. Bush is expected to receive a more comprehensive classified report.