Would-Be CIA Authors Warned

WASHINGTON – The CIA (search) is drafting new rules for agency employees who want to write books.

It follows the publication of a controversial critique of the War on Terror (search) by a counterterrorism official who headed the unit tracking Usama bin Laden (search).

A CIA spokesman says the new procedures are not intended to change the standards for publication, but rather are aimed at ensuring that the rules on the book are enforced in a uniform way.

Under the current system, agency employees can write books or articles that must be cleared by the chief of their office to guard against release of classified material. The publication also can't be harmful to the CIA.