UNATCO bulletin terminal

The UNATCO bulletin terminal is a terminal appearing in Deus Ex. It can be found in the break room in UNATCO HQ.

The first six bulletins are available during the player's first visit to UNATCO HQ. The next four appear during their second visit. The last topic is available during the player's escape.

Terrorism -- Crime or Conscience?
The question must be asked: is the global rise of terrorism a haphazard response to a decimated economy or is there a pattern? Does UNATCO face coordinated ideological opposition?

Some groups -- Silhouette in France, for instance—have declared a "Meme War," or "war of meanings" in their terminology. They spread e-mail and pamphlets that lampoon the U.N.'s proposal for a one-world democracy, a tedious exercise in rudimentary propaganda. With sophistries and doublespeak, they portray "freedom" as "obedience," "democracy" as "tyranny," and UNATCO as the perpetrator of terrorism—an idea as shocking as it is reprehensible.

Other organizations, such as the self-proclaimed revolutionary National Secessionist Forces (NSF) in the U.S., claim allegiance to the Meme War, but are in fact no better than common criminals. They desire territory and wealth at the expense of society at large. Their "civil war" is merely a smokescreen for criminal activity.

Any population can be quickly turned against such "revolutionaries" simply by educating them about the U.N.'s policies and goals.

-- Joseph Manderley, Director, UNATCO

Terrorism -- Threat Profiling
Symbolic attacks—the Statue of Liberty bombing, the desecration of the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin, the department-store shooting-sprees on Orchard Road in Singapore—are the recourse of the weak. They serve only to call attention to a group or cause that is of no more than marginal interest to the public.

But what distinguishes true terrorist activity is its gradual escalation towards genuine acts of war. Fringe groups now have access to technology that allows direct assaults on governments, including the classic trio of nuclear, biological, or chemical weaponry (NBC). But aside from direct assaults on a nation and its people, indirect attacks can cause considerable collateral damage—rogue software can disrupt financial markets, communications, and military operations, while encryption programs allow terrorists to coordinate smuggling operations in secret right over the Net! Drugs, guns, illegal immigrants, and even heavy equipment such as armored vehicles and cruise missiles are routinely traded across borders, aided and abetted by such software.

UNATCO—the first organization with the technology, manpower, and authority to cope with such threats—is an idea that is long overdue.

-- Joseph Manderley, Director, UNATCO

Know Your Enemy -- NSF
The National Secessionist Forces (NSF) remain a very real and increasingly widespread terrorist threat. Ten years ago, in response to the Sporting Weapons Act of 2042, splinter groups from nearly every state militia refused to surrender their rifles, grenades, land mines, and other "collectibles" prohibited by the Act. Unified under the charismatic leadership of Leon Woods, these isolated fanatics eventually formed the NSF with Woods assuming the rank of General. Their intended goal: the "liberation" of Washington, Montana, Oregon, and Northern California.

While Woods died during his infamous "last stand" in 2045, his war machine continues what can only be termed an occupation of the United States, aided by an encrypted network designed by dissident computer scientists from San Francisco and Seattle. Currently, the UNATCO Cryptography Division has had minimal success in cracking their communications, requiring more direct intelligence gathering techniques to be utilized.

The U.N. has declared war on the NSF.

Know Your Enemy -- Silhouette
Famous for inserting 20th-century style commercials into the Net broadcast of the World Cup in 2050, Silhouette favors "feats of spectacle" over violence.

"Printed circuits, part of this nutritious breakfast," the announcer told children in one of the World Cup commercials. "You ain't mech 'til you eat mech. [A mech boy chews a memory chip.] Boys who eat organics get stomped by their posthuman classmates. [Mech boys in UNATCO helmets and metal boots take turns kicking another boy.]"

Despite their numerous pranks, these intellectuals, artists, and labor organizers pose a serious threat. They are well-armed and have been linked to the murders of numerous European politicians and journalists. They will not hesitate to use lethal force.

Know Your Enemy -- The Triads
UNATCO surveillance of Hong Kong is currently a high priority given the renewed threat of Chinese organized crime in the form of the Triads. Despite being a model of prosperity and technological leadership for decades, Hong Kong persists as a haven for organized crime. The Triads, namely the Luminous Path and Red Arrow, vie for control of the ten-trillion credit shipping business, much of which supplies greater Asia with pirated technology, illegal drugs, and weapons.

Most disturbing of all, the Triads preach an ethic of technopiracy that has found enthusiastic support among small shopkeepers and businessmen who often aid the gangsters and buy their bootlegged software. Gullible and greedy, this army of middlemen remain insensitive to how their violations of intellectual property and copyright laws damage the global information economy.

Know Your Enemy -- Other Threats
UNATCO operatives have identified over 1250 terrorist organizations active in the world today, some too small to currently present a serious threat, but all eager to see one or more governments topple.

Groups such as the Templars (Europe) and "X-51" (Western U.S.) will be dealt with in subsequent volumes of "Know Your Enemy."

Know Your Enemy -- Templars
There is some debate as to whether the Templars should be considered a "terrorist" organization because they do not employ the typical tools of terrorism. But make no mistake, the Templars are just as dangerous as any other group that might use guns and bombs to intimidate the free citizens of a country—only the Templars wield blackmail and extortion as their weapons. Supposedly the direct descendent of a so-called "secret society" with its roots in the medieval Crusades, the present-day Templars are mainly concerned with increasing their own bank accounts in elaborately illegal financial manipulations that have left entire markets collapsed in their wake.

The Templars are currently classified as inactive after being successfully diminished by a combined UNATCO/Interpol raid on their Paris headquarters in 2051; however, several key Templar figures are still at large and may attempt to reform the organization under a new designation.

Know Your Enemy -- X-51
Little is known about "X-51" aside from their involvement in all manner of illegal research, much of it proscribed by worldwide concordes over the last fifty years. Computer profiling shows a high likelihood that X-51 was responsible for the SoCal disaster that submerged much of southern California, though the exact nature of the experiment that led to the tragedy is still unknown. Little other information is available on the overall objective of X-51, if any exists.

X-51 is believed to be led by Gary Savage, a scientist previously employed by the United States government for a variety of black projects until he disappeared under mysterious circumstances several years ago. All agents are advised to be vigilant for any indications as to the whereabouts of Savage or other members of X-51, and report them immediately to their operator or immediate superior.

Stopping Terror -- A New Perspective on Freedom
When one maniac can wipe out a city of twenty million with a microbe developed in his basement, a new approach to law enforcement becomes necessary. Every citizen of the world must be placed under surveillance. That means sky-cams at every intersection, computer-mediated analysis of every phone call, e-mail, and snail-mail, and a purely electronic economy in which every transaction is recorded and data-mined for suspicious activity.

We are close to achieving this goal. Some would say that human liberty has been compromised, but the reality is just the opposite. As surveillance expands, people become free from danger, free to walk alone at night, free to work in a safe place, and free to buy any legal product or service without the threat of fraud. One day every man and woman will quietly earn credits, purchase items for quiet homes on quiet streets, have cook-outs with neighbors and strangers alike, and sleep with doors and windows wide open. If that isn't the tranquil dream of every free civilization throughout history, what is?

-- Anna Navarre, Agent, UNATCO

Terrorism -- War Without Fronts
How do we fight an underground threat, one with no defined territory, base, or—often—known leader? We look to military history.

The casebook example of how to manage civil unrest is the Hamlet Evaluation System (HES) developed by the United States military during its occupation of South Vietnam in the 20th Century. Since population centers in that country contained both Communist rebels and loyal citizens, the towns were ranked on a scale from 1 to 5, five being the safest. The monthly reports of local commanders, useful in Vietnam for maintaining contour maps of ideology concentration, have provided many components of the UNATCO Sector Field Report.

The modern UDU (UNATCO Deployed Unit) has been modeled on the CAP (Combined Action Platoon) deployed in Vietnam, a 15-man rifle squad responsible for a single hamlet. CAP-protected villages typically earned a 2.95 HET score, compared to a 1.6 average in the same region. CAP units performed in many mission roles, but they primarily worked with indigenous police to strengthen ideological ties. Like CAP units, UNATCO teams are primarily concerned with building safe communities.

-- Joseph Manderley, Director, UNATCO

Hong Kong in Turmoil
DISSEMINATE TO ALL AGENTS

In the last twenty-four hours the political situation in Hong Kong has deteriorated rapidly and local authorities seem powerless to contain the chaos. A recent hit on the Lucky Money Club by suspected members of the criminal "Luminous Path Triad" was only the opening salvo in an escalating war between unidentified members of local criminal organizations. Casualties have included not only targets of opportunity, but also government facilities and urban infrastructure; both Hong Kong police and military are on heightened alert. As the situation develops and we receive further reports from UNATCO field ops this information will be updated.