Well, I just got done reading some books on the US intelligence community and had some thoughts on how it can apply to Shadowrun. Of course, previous FASA canon does not exactly make ones job easy, the illogic of the whole setting starts to seriously impede any logical work in this area. I'll try to ignore my **EXTREME** reservations about the standard SR setting and try to present some adaptations and thoughts on the nature of intelligence collection and organization in the Sixth World. I'll leave separating the fact from fiction to the reader ;)
INTELLIGENCE
"Intelligence" can be defined simply as the "products
resulting from the collection, evaluation, analysis, integration
and interpretation of all available information which concerns
one or more aspects of foreign nations or of areas of operation
which is immediately or potentially significant for planning."
I won't bore you with a breakdown of the intelligence cycle at this time.
UNITED CANADIAN-AMERICAN STATES (UCAS)
The UCAS "inherited" the majority of the original intelligence
apparatus of both the old United States and Canadian governments.
With the reorganization following the secession of the CAS the
UCAS Central Intelligence Agency was expanded and reorganized.
Among the most sweeping changes was the revocation of its limitation
against domestic intelligence collection. The CIA still lacks
any powers of arrest.
Central Intelligence Agency
Date Founded: 1947
Mission When Founded: Coordinate and advise of the NSC
(National Security Council) on intelligence issues and centralize
intelligence collection and analysis.
Mission Today: Essentially unchanged, but has absorbed
most of the service intelligence agencies and functions.
Jurisdiction: Anywhere in the world involving national
intelligence efforts, also has limited jurisdiction within the
UCAS in support of other intelligence operations.
Headquarters: Langley, VA. South of Washington.
Annual Budget: Unknown
History/Profile: The CIA was reorganized in the National
Security Act of 2043 and was given additional powers via Presidential
Directorate 20-A in 2044 and various Executive Orders between
2050 and 2055. PD 20-A remains classified to this day and has
not been released (many speculate it involves the formation of
the rumored "destabilization" section of the CIA).
The CIA is the primary government agency involved in intelligence analysis, clandestine human intelligence, and covert action. It remains the primary policy setter in the research and development of aerospace reconnaissance platforms (in conjunction with the NRO) and has been heavily involved with the exploitation of MANINT (Mana-Derived Intelligence) techniques.
The Director of the CIA is also the Director of Central Intelligence, and thus responsible for the entire intelligence effort of the UCAS. Under the DCI is the Deputy Director of the CIA, who actually handles most of the day-to-day operations. Under the Deputy are five additional Deputy Directors who are in charge of a respective Directorate and five Offices that are directly subordinate to the Deputy Director of the CIA. The current DCI is Warren Kibold and his Deputy is Diane Gardner.
The five Directorates of the CIA are: Administration, Development, Intelligence, Operations, and Thaumaturgy. The Offices are those of Comptroller, Inspector General, Legal Liaison and Public Affairs.
The actual operations of the CIA are clouded by secrecy, major intelligence failings during the Ghost Dance War have made the modern CIA very insular and paranoid. Combined with a much more conservative government the CIA has remained shielded from public scrutiny.
Although the extent of the CIAs operations may never be known there has been CIA complicity accused in conjunction with several anti-NAN guerrilla groups and several high-profile killings of Seattle pro-secession leaders. It is also rumored to be heavily involved with Ares, and some have gone so far as to accuse Ares of being a CIA front company. Ares certainly is the megacorporation most involved with the CIA, notably in research and development and convenient use of extraterritorial property as staging areas for covert actions.
Based on sketchy analysis of the CIAs operations, most agree
their mission seems to be the following:
1) Destabilize the Native American Nations by supporting both
indigenous insurgency movements and covert direct action against
important assets.
2) Prevent Seattle from seceding.
3) Penetrate the Aztlan and Tir Tairgire governments in support
of destabilization operations.
The CIA is renowned for their extensive use of psychotropic conditioning and inventive utilization of magical assets in performance of their missions. Since the Ghost Dance War the CIA has devoted massive resources to developing its own magically-active assets and is rumored to work in cooperation with Ares in various magical research and development projects.
CONFEDERATE AMERICAN STATES (CAS)
Although the secession from the UCAS was relatively peaceful to
outside observers it caused what amounted to a civil war in the
intelligence community. When the dust settled comparatively few
intelligence agents remained in the CAS, and even fewer actual
intelligence assets remained in CAS hands. In particular, in the
months preceding the secession the UCAS had dismantled and moved
most collection stations in what would be CAS territory and suspected
CAS sympathizers were usually reassigned to less-security conscious
stations.
In fact the greatest blow to the CAS national intelligence program is that is has no access to orbital assets of its own and the major intelligence agencies have faced crippling intrusions from Aztlan.
Office of National Intelligence Concerns (ONIC)
Date Founded: Unknown
Mission When Founded: Organize and direct all Confederate
intelligence agencies and provide support to the various internal
security organizations.
Mission Today: Essentially unchanged
Jurisdiction: Anywhere outside the borders of the CAS
Headquarters: Laredo, TX
Annual Budget: Unknown
History/Profile: ONIC is the largest intelligence agency
in the CAS, but also the newest. It was formed from the remnants
of the various UCAS intelligence assets that remained in CAS hands.
For precisely this reason it has a reputation of being unpredictable,
unreliable, and generally aimless.
When Texas seceded from the CAS to prosecute its war against Aztlan the ONIC was directed to withhold support from Texas as part of a move to force the state back into the CAS. This was only partly successful since over half the ONIC were sympathizers with Texas. During the Texas-Aztlan war the ONIC conducted numerous covert actions without the approval of the CAS government.
The ONIC is on comparatively good relations with the UCAS intelligence services (many of the agents served together during the old days of the United States) and it is a "known secret" that the UCAS has agents in the ONIC. This has led to some embarrassment for the CAS government and it is expected that there will be a purge of the ONIC in the near future.
Without national-level reconnaissance platforms the ONIC has instead concentrated on covert direct action and human intelligence to fulfill its mission. However, in practice the ONIC tends to favor direct action to human or technical intelligence. This has given agents of the ONICs Operations Division a reputation as "cowboys."
The primary target of ONIC efforts is Aztlan and the Caribbean League. ONIC agents are actively involved in pirate-hunting and various operations in support of anti-government forces in Aztlan.