Delta Green Agents involved with the Intelligence Community need to worry about the National Security Council's Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB). The IOB is a standing committee of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Keep in mind that the majority of agencies involved in espionage are not cleared for domestic operations. Even the NSA supposedly only monitors international calls with it's CARNIVORE/FILTER type systems.

The CIA cannot conduct domestic operations. This is prohibited by law, and CIA officers conducting operations inside the borders of the United States can be convicted and imprisoned, or at the very least, removed from their duties. The IOB exists to prevent this sort of thing, as well as looking into allegations of fraud, dealing with drug dealers, and using CIA front companies to enrich oneself at taxpayer expense.

Delta Green does all these things and more, in order to finance it's shadow war on the Mythos. It would seem that the IOB would have noticed at one point or another, but have been coopted into the Old Boy Network by ALPHONSE and his contacts. A friendly on the IOB would be a necessity for Delta Green's continued existence. However, should our man on the IOB retire, DG's black budget will be jeopardized.

This is as good a place as any to discuss the office politics of the CIA. The CIA is divided into two rival camps. The Directorate of Operations (where spies and Case Officers live) and the Directorate of Intelligence (where eggheads and Intelligence Analysts live). DO conducts your typical intelligence gathering operations, they go out and do a lot of dirty tricks, recruit agents, and overthrow unsuspecting regimes. DI is an intelligence consumer, they pour over all sorts of classified and unclassified data and try to make some sense of it.

The two camps, for lack of a better term, hate each other with an absolute passion. The Operations folks think the DI is a collection of Ivory Tower congential idiots incapable of producing results. Intelligence folks think the Operators are a collection of Snake Eating James Bond wannabes who come up with idiocy like poisoning Fidel Castro's cigar. They are of course, both right.

Currently, the CIA and the Intelligence Community of the United States as a whole is undergoing a transformation. During the Clinton-Gore years, a process of distancing the United States from the disreputable sources that are the bread and butter of human intelligence was begun. This over-reliance on technical collection began much earlier, but reached it's pinnacle with the policies of the Clinton administration.

Under the latest POTUS, George Bush, the emphasis on HUMINT is much stronger. This was given a serious impetus by the events of September 11th. The aggressive recruitment of spy rings and agents is now underway. In the world of Delta Green, this is both a bonanza and a disaster waiting to happen.

Delta Green is now in a position to gather information on international mythos cults, especially ones with a terrorist bent such as the Black Brotherhood and the Karotechia. Unfortunately, it also opens the possibility that many mythos sorcerers will become agents of the US Intelligence Community. This difficulty has been a minor problem in the past, with individuals like Skoptsi troubleshooter Fedor Berezhkov. Unless Delta Green gains some sort of offical standing, the only recourse is assassination.

This brings us to ALPHONSE, who seems to embody the best elements of both CIA Directorates. He was with OSS and CIG before it became CIA, having worked for Delta Green for the majority of his Intelligence Career. ALPHONSE organizes operations and analyzes data, as well as providing logistical support to cells in need of supply.

The problem with ALPHONSE is a significant one. What needs to occur is a smooth transition of ALPHONSE's duties. This is especially critical now that ADAM has been compromised by the Karotechia.

I think the key is to divide ALPHONSE's duties to various cell's, essentially reorganizing the upper hierarchy of Delta Green to meet the goal of eventual reinstatement as an offical organization. One Cell should be devoted to recruitment of highly placed Agents and Friendlies, and long-term management of Delta Green's covert resources. Another should be concerned with pure operational support, logistics and bureaucratic cover-ups. A third cell should shoulder the responsibility of analyzing data gathered from Delta Green operations and trying to come up with an idea of the bigger picture. A fourth cell would be concerned with organizational security and psychology, mostly to make sure the Analysis group don't lose their marbles and go bonkers.

This adds a lot of non-shooters to the mix, which is an unfortunate side effect of the overall goal of reinstatement as an official organization. If Delta Green is to become less of an outlaw group of rogues operating on the fringes of society, and return to a fully funded black operation, the hassles of bureaucracy must be faced and overcome. An official Delta Green will not be a lean core group of operators.

It's quite possible that ALPHONSE's removal as nominal head of Delta Green will result in the IOB becoming an unfriendly source of compromise for Delta Green. It's almost a certainty that the IOB was instrumental in the Senate Investigation that shut down Delta Green.

However, if Delta Green can recruit member's of the IOB as friendlies, then it would become possible to shatter Majestic by way of Senate Investigation Committee. This becomes a certainty if Delta Green regains offical status and manufactures a scandal for Majestic that forces the United States government to disband them.

This would only occur after a long and tumultous political war with Majestic. The basic strategy for such a war would be to support Gavin Ross (MJ-3) in his efforts to replace alien-friendly members of the Majestic Steering Comittee. I forsee serious difficulties for such an endeavor. The Mi-Go will likely be exposed to the Steering Committee, driving their more unstable members over the edge. Their Grey deception will falter, and even their "harvest" story will be exposed as a lie to the more humanocentric members of the comittee.

The opening battle of the war would be to place Admiral Harley Patton of the Office of Naval Intelligence into the Majestic-10 seat. MJ-10 SIDEKICK deals with gathering intelligence on alien activieties in allied nations. With a Delta Green friendly in charge of SIDEKICK, Delta Green will be allowed to take on a more international role. This seems like an ideal situation.

The problem with exposure of the Mi-Go is that they will undoubtedly take steps to gain a more significant stranglehold over members of the Majestic Steering Committee, possibly going so far as to use biological controls on members, replace them with clones, or worse, with alien imposters. It is also possible that select members of Majestic will be recruited into full blown Mythos worship.

The growing influence of Yuggoth will undoubtedly make it clear to Gavin Ross, Adolph Lepus, and Delta Green that Majestic must be shut down, or even purged in order to safeguard the human species. Once this is obvious to all, then an incident can be staged to bring in the IOB and ultimately, a Senate Investigation. The result will be a newly formed Delta Green, and a disbanded Majestic.

The GREY WAR will be won with more than a few well placed bullets, it will be won in the political arena. Such a victory will open up a new era for Delta Green, and provide vistas for vast anti-mythos activity on a previously unthinkable scope. This raising of the stakes comes just as the ENDTIMES approaches. And greater challenges yet await this supposed new incarnation of Delta Green.

With their primary human allies crushed, the Mi-Go will turn to other sources to continue their exploitation of humanity. Nyarlathotep will be waiting for just such an opportunity. The many organizations linked together by the Cult of Transcendance will provide the Mi-Go with an international brotherhood of mythos worshippers ready to make exactly the sort of Devil's Bargains that the Mi-Go require. While not as impressive as the treaties and trillion dollar budget that Majestic has. The international scope of TRANSCENDENCE should make up for the loss of military and intelligence community resources that Majestic currently provides to the Greys.

Meanwhile, the administrative portion of the newly reconstituted Delta Green will undoubtedly be overseeing the dismantling of the Majestic infrastructure, and the reapportionment of all the Black Projects under Majestic's umbrella. This process will resemble one of Stalin's Purges, especially if ruthless people like Gavin Ross and Adolph Lepus are involved.

Some Majestic Sub-Projects will have to be shut down with extreme prejudice, while others (like OUTLOOK) can be turned against the mythos. For example, OUTLOOK's stress cascade models are perfect for destroying mythos cults. The trick for Delta Green is to determine which sub-projects can be used against the mythos, and which cannot. Restraining a murderous psychopath like Lepus will be the greatest challenge here.

In conclusion, the sub-plot of Bureaucratic Misadventure can be used for comic relief, as a foil for over-eager cowboy operators, as a roleplaying challenge, and as a outlet for the transformation of Delta Green into a 21st Century group of global policemen. The ups and downs of including such a thread into DG games can provide rich reward to Case Officers and Agents alike.


Credits: The Man in Black