Lotsa inside-the-CIA and behind-the-curtains stuff in George Tenet’s book.

Understandably, media hype has focused on Tenet’s efforts to extract himself from the fall guy position into which he was shoved by Bush administration officials after no WMDs showed up in Iraq.

Tenet initially was targeted in Bob Woodward’s first war volume.  Now, belatedly, he responds.

But there’s a lot more than that in his book, including insights into the CIA culture, the agency’s relationships with the FBI, the pace and style of deliberations inside the White House.

And the exercise of individual power within the Bush administration. Sometimes in the shadows, where decisions already have been made without the knowledge of key players.

The CIA’s war in Afghanistan is an especially compelling chapter, even though many of the details previously have emerged.

With nighttime insertion of small teams of CIA operatives skilled in survival techniques and huge payoffs to Afghan warlords from suitcases stuffed with hundred dollar bills, this chapter reads like a spy novel.

As much as $1 million in cash was left behind on the table of an operative or informant as the CIA spread its anti-terror operations far beyond Afghanistan.

Tenet’s book vividly recounts the growing tension in the CIA as alarm bells began to sound prior to September 11 and the CIA chief details the frantic hunt for an invisible enemy hidden in the flood of terror traffic that flowed in after the attack.

Turning toward the broader war against terrorism, Tenet provides some of the names and information extracted from prisoners through the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.  That’s one of many euphemisms for torture.

Tenet says it was chilling to learn al-Qaida pulled the plug on a New York subway attack a few years ago because, according to an intercepted communication, they had something much bigger in mind.

That, he believes, is a nuclear bomb, if they can pull it off.

It’s a 500-pager, more than I’m usually willing to tackle, but I’m 300 pages deep and looking forward to what lies ahead.

The next compelling inside look should come from Colin Powell.  His recollections and reflections will be especially valuable.

Everyone’s gonna want to avoid being cast in a leading role if historians compose an  opera called “Mea Culpa.”

Did you know 48,000 employees of private military companies in the United States are deployed in Iraq?

They’re among 126,000 U.S. private contractors in the country.

Those figures are cited by Jeremy Scahill, author of the book “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.”

Some private contractors make more money in a month than many active duty soldiers earn in a year, Scahill says.

“Private soldiers whiz by in better vehicles, with better armor, better weapons, wearing the corporate logo instead of the American flag, and pulling in much more money,” Scahill says.

The private soldiers operate outside the rules of conduct imposed on U.S. soldiers, he says. They’re virtually unaccountable and their behavior helps shape Iraqi attitudes toward the United States, he says.

But, Scahill suggests, the greatest danger in this increasing reliance on a private force is that U.S. contracting of war “has intimately linked corporate profits to an escalation of war and conflict.”

Finishing up:

* “The Full Nelson,” a softball team composed of Senate staffers for Ben Nelson and Florida’s Bill Nelson, launched defense of its division championship last week.  First opponent: “Dam It,” the Army Corps of Engineers team.

* Chuck Hagel says Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid is “right to force the issue”on comprehensive immigration reform. Hagel is planning a town hall meeting on the topic in Lexington this month.

* Conspiracy theories to the contrary, Nelson learned of Tony Raimondo’s interest in a Senate race when a newspaper report was placed on his desk.

* Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, personally assured Jeff Fortenberry last week that the parliament would forego a summer recess to work on stabilizing Iraq and attempting to reach a political accommodation.

* When you land at the McCook Regional Airport in the future, you’ll be touching down at Ben Nelson Field. 

* Coming to Omaha on Friday: Bill Richardson, who will address a Young Democrats national conference. 

* Big week: Yanks-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers. And then the Red Sox come to Yankee Stadium.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.