J. Cofer Black

hen Cofer Black testified in September 2002 before a joint congressional committee investigating the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington a year earlier, the committee offered to let the veteran Central Intelligence Agency agent speak from behind a screen so that his face couldn't be seen.

Black refused. "Normally, I would have accepted," he testified. "This hearing is more important. I do not want to be only a voice. The American people need to see my face. I want to look the American people in the eye."

He was at the hearing to explain publicly why the CIA had failed to head off the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks and didn't warn other agencies of the threat. Four months earlier, Black had completed a three-year stint as director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center.

Asked about working with other nations' intelligence agencies, Black gave this answer: "This is a global war and we are involved in essentially intelligence combat. When you go to war, it's usually a good idea to have as many allies on your side as you can. There is a commonality of interest here: Most countries are against terrorism, and we in the CIA have developed a constellation of allies that, certainly as I speak right now, is extremely effective."

About two weeks later, President Bush nominated Black to be the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, a high-ranking post that the department's Web site describes as coordinating work with other nations to fight terrorism.

Black joined the CIA in 1974 and worked for most of his career in the Operations Directorate, winning the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and other awards for his work overseas and at home. Reportedly, he played a role in France's capture of the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal. He was deputy chief of the Latin America Division before heading the Counterterrorism Office.

Although his visage was kept out of the public eye during his CIA career, Black's photo now appears on the State Department Web site for the entire world to see.