Some of the same coordination problems that troubled U.S. intelligence agencies before Sept. 11 and in the lead-up to the Iraq war may be emerging under America's new spy chief, intelligence professionals warn.

The concern is that the new intelligence director is not paying enough attention to the pressing need to pull together the 15 autonomous intelligence agencies. As a result, several current and former intelligence officials said, no one is in charge of the agencies, even after last week's announcement of a National Clandestine Service.

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the No. 2 official in the national intelligence director's office, acknowledged in an interview that he and his boss, John D. Negroponte, have "had a reasonably light hand" in managing the agencies. Hayden said his office was now ready to play a richer role in driving the 15 agencies in a unified direction.

But the intelligence office does not have much time left to prove critics wrong, said retired Adm. William O. Studeman, a former National Security Agency director who served on the presidential commission investigating intelligence failures in Iraq.

"They'll have about six months to a year honeymoon period to get their act together," he said. "Everybody wants to see them move with more speed."

The problem is not so much a lack of focus but that Negroponte, the first director of national intelligence, was given a broad job description and relatively weak powers to direct other agencies, said former senior CIA official Mark Lowenthal.

Negroponte's decision last week to replace the CIA's current espionage operation with a National Clandestine Service -- still headed by the CIA -- to manage all government spy efforts was "a ratification of the status quo," Lowenthal said. He said it would have been news had the CIA been denied that responsibility.

'Very difficult'

The president's appointment of Negroponte, a former ambassador to Iraq, and Hayden, who headed the NSA until earlier this year, was praised by intelligence experts. Negroponte, a career diplomat, brought policy experience, and Hayden knew the inner workings of intelligence collection.

Hired in April, Negroponte was given a Herculean job description: Be the president's chief intelligence adviser and manage all 15 intelligence agencies. The CIA director had previously filled the first role, but no one had tried the second.

Negroponte chose to concentrate on his role as the president's chief adviser and was successful in doing that, Lowenthal said, but it came at the cost of managing the intelligence agencies.

Those two roles are not necessarily incompatible, say intelligence professionals, but they require different skills -- analytical and managerial -- and both are time-consuming.

"This is about being given a very difficult job," Lowenthal said.

In creating Negroponte's job, Congress left vague whether the new intelligence director or the head of the CIA should advise the president. President Bush asked Negroponte to play that role.

"In some ... ironic way, they have basically replicated the problem that [former CIA director] George Tenet and [his deputy] John McLaughlin had," said Lowenthal, now president of the Intelligence& Security Academy, a national-security consulting firm.

Lowenthal used to tease McLaughlin that he was going to rent out McLaughlin's office because he seemed to spend more time in White House meetings than at CIA headquarters.

Management focus

Richard Falkenrath, a former White House homeland security aide, questioned whether the advisory role was "the best use of their time" because it was another layer between the president and intelligence analysts.

He said Negroponte and Hayden should capitalize on the chance to take hold of the intelligence agencies, because they have a "very weak" CIA director, a "somewhat weakened" secretary of defense and support from the president -- before their window of opportunity closes.

Hayden said he and Negroponte focused on the advisory role first because it could be accomplished with a small staff. Yet, he said, they would be measured largely on their management of the intelligence agencies.

Over six months, Hayden said, he and Negroponte have assembled a functioning staff; they have established their advisory role; and they are engaged in managing the agencies.

To advise the president, Negroponte draws on the intelligence of all the agencies.

Negroponte and Hayden are also producing a national intelligence strategy. The strategy so far focuses on emerging threats such as terrorism; security issues posed by countries such as China and North Korea; and nuclear proliferation, according to one person who has read it.

Negroponte's strategy is focused on "the right things," said one former top intelligence official who has read the proposal, but it's unclear whether the new director will be able to "herd all the cats" to follow through.

Scope of authority

The intelligence leaders have gotten high marks from members of Congress, such as Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, who praised the "top-notch team." Rockefeller is the top Democrat on the Senate's intelligence panel.

Last week, Negroponte asserted his authority over intelligence collected by government agencies when he made public an al-Qaida letter obtained in Iraq, said retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, who was President Jimmy Carter's CIA director.

But House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra of Michigan said he was concerned that the new director might still not have the support of the agencies he is supervising.

"I want a strong DNI," he said, using the Washington acronym for director of national intelligence. "I'm not always convinced that that perspective is shared by all of the other elements that might be affected by a strong DNI."

Lowenthal said part of Negroponte's problem was that Congress weakened the intelligence director's authority to direct other agencies, as part of a compromise to get their bill passed.

Turner said, "The law doesn't give [Negroponte] any specific authorities any more than I had when I was the director of central intelligence."

Negroponte needs more authority in budget decisions and should control the four main collection agencies in charge of eavesdropping, satellites, imagery and spies, said Turner.

'Turf battles'

In recent interviews, four experienced intelligence professionals questioned whether the new intelligence director would have the power to manage the agencies effectively because the 15 intelligence agencies still did not see Negroponte as their boss. They spoke anonymously because they now do business with their former employers.

"There is a serious disillusionment setting in," said one former top intelligence official who is a strong supporter of Negroponte. "It doesn't appear as though anyone is in charge."

Several former spies pointed to last week's announcement of a National Clandestine Service as an example.

A senior intelligence official told reporters that this service would not tell the FBI or the Pentagon "how to do their business."

Prolonged negotiations between Negroponte's staff, the CIA and other agencies over the plan was months overdue, which two former spies attributed to foot-dragging by the CIA. "The turf battles really have to end," said one.

CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck said, however, that it took time because "everyone involved is committed to getting it done right." Hayden said the negotiations were based on "almost all goodwill."

At the FBI, there is much tussling with the new intelligence director over control of key parts of its intelligence budget, said one former intelligence official.

At the Pentagon, Hoekstra said he was worried that military leaders were tucking intelligence operations into other programs to get out from under the thumb of the new intelligence director.

Members of Congress and current intelligence officials are also concerned about slow progress on creating a system for agencies to exchange information, which was perhaps the main lesson of the intelligence failures before the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Information sharing is an area where the progress has been slower than hoped," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who heads oversight for the intelligence committee.

Hayden said information sharing was an area where "we need to develop more velocity."

The only way to really know whether Negroponte and Hayden are taking charge, said Thornberry, is when they pick a battle with one of the agencies -- and win.

"At some point, the DNI's authority is going to have to be tested," he said. "It is only by going through those tests that you know for sure how it is working out."