KGB

KGB was the Soviet Union's primary intelligence service. It is one of the three Allied Organizations appearing in Covert Action.
==In the Game==
The Soviet Union's KGB is an Allied Organization that appears in Covert Action.
As an ostensibly Allied Organization, it collaborates to a limited degree with Max Remington and the CIA. However, unlike MI6 & Mossad, the location of the KGB Offices in the current Theatre of Operations isn't automatically known, and must be discovered.
While it does not supply information voluntarily, the KGB does not participate knowingly in any Criminal Plot and does not field any Red Herrings. However, it is possible for an Inside Contact to be working for the enemy from within this organization.
==Historical Background==
:For more reading: KGB at Wikipedia
"KGB" is an abbreviation of the Russian for "Committee for State Security". It was, and some believe still is, a combination of a world-wide Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence agency, as well as an internal Secret Police tasked with maintaining loyalty within the oppressive Soviet Union.
The KGB was formed and reformed under various names since the beginning of the 20th century, solidifying a decade after the end of the second World-War.
Over the years, the KGB became the object of fear for many countries and organizations outside the Soviet Union, but was feared both by its own people as a ruthless state-police notorious for intimidation and oppressive tactics, and by the very government that operated it - the supreme Soviet - which it had a tendency to overthrow. In other words, it had so much power within the Soviet political and military structure that there was little stopping it from performing coup-d'etat, which it did on at least two occasions!
Both inside and outside the country, the KGB was the primary enemy of pretty much each and every intelligence agency that did not fall in line with the Soviets, and thus became a household synonym for fear and terror in the western world.
Until its official dissolution together with the Soviet Union itself, it fought one of the longest wars in modern times, known as the Cold War, against Western intelligence agencies such as the CIA and MI6. It was responsible for kidnappings, assassinations, assistance in overthrowing governments (including its own), and even in two major wars - the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan War of the mid-1980's. However, its primary successes came in the field of intelligence-gathering, as it had managed to implant spies in high-ranking positions within nearly every single Intelligence Agency in the world.
In 1991, just one year after Covert Action was released, the KGB made its last (failed) attempt at an internal coup-d'etat, to depose Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, just prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This was the last straw, and prompted the dissolution of the much-feared organization.
However, some believe that the KGB has never ceased to exist - it was simply reformed and made less conspicuous so that it could continue operating for Mother Russia's interests both within and without. Whether or not this is the case, it should be noted that the current President of Russia Vladimir Putin was a decorated member of this infamous organization.
Category:Organizations
Category:Criminal Organizations