S2 Underground

Research Notes/Bibliography can be found here: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground 

Common Intelligence Picture: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=204a59b01f4443cd96718796fd102c00 

Border Crisis Map: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7f13eda1f301431e98a7ac0393b0e6b0 

TOC Dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ebe374c40c1a4231a06075155b0e8cb9/ 

00:00 - Global Overview 

01:04 - Saudi Arabia 

05:16 - Hormuz 

11:46 - Europe 

14:30 - France 

18:41 - HomeFront 

24:27 - 5th Generation Warfare 

26:24 - GhostNet 

Download the GhostNet plan here! https://github.com/s2underground/GhostNet 

The text version of the Wire can be found on Twitter: https://twitter.com/s2_underground 

And on our Wire Telegram page here: https://t.me/S2undergroundWire 

If you would like to support us, we're on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=30479515 

Disclaimer: No company sponsored this video. In fact, we have ZERO sponsors. We are funded 100% by you, the viewer. All of our funding comes from direct support from platforms like Patreon, or from ad revenue on YouTube. Without your support, I simply could not do this work at all, so to those of you who chose to support my efforts, I am eternally thankful. Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/S2Underground BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/P2NMGFdt3gf3/ Just a few reminders for everyone who's just become aware of us, in order to keep these briefings from being several hours long, I can't cover everything. I'm probably covering 1% of the world events when we conduct these briefings, so please remember that if I left it out, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's unimportant. Also, remember that I do these briefings quite often, so I might have covered an issue previously that you might not see if you are only watching our most recent videos. I'm also doing this in my spare time, so again I fully admit that these briefings aren't even close to being perfect; I'm going for a healthy blend of speed and quality. If I were to wait and only post a brief when it's "perfect" I would never post anything at all. So expect some minor errors here and there. If there is a major error or correction that needs to be made, I will post it here in the description, and verbally address it in the next briefing. Also, thanks for reading this far. It is always surprising the number of people that don't actually read the description box to find more information. This content is purely educational and does not advocate for violating any laws. Do not violate any laws or regulations. This is not legal advice. Consult with your attorney. Our Reading List! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/133747963-s2-actual The War Kitchen Channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYmtpjXT22tAWGIlg_xDDPA 

//The Wire//2300Z September 18, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: EUROPEAN ENERGY CRISIS CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AS WORLD LEADERS ATTEMPT TO MITIGATE EFFECTS OF DWINDLING SUPPLY. IRANIAN TARGETING ESCALATES IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ. SAUDI EFFORTS TO REPAIR EAST-WEST PIPELINE CONTINUE.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Europe: Throughout the continent, various world leaders are attempting to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis, which is rapidly increasing in severity due to Saudi oil shipments being largely cut off. Italy has reduced taxes on vehicle ownership, and earlier this week Spain introduced further reductions in their tax on diesel. France has indicated the desire to hold a G7 summit dedicated to addressing the energy crisis over the coming weeks, though no specific date has been announced.

Strait of Hormuz: Multiple explosions were reported overnight, as Iran struck ships attempting to transit via the Omani route. The UKMTO confirmed that at least three separate ships were targeted just north of the Musandam Peninsula, at least two of which were successfully struck last night. This afternoon, reports of 4x Iranian cruise missile launches were reported, targeting merchant vessels in the Strait. The status of these strikes is not known as of this report.

Analyst Comment: The exact timing of these reports is not indicative of whether or not all of these vessels were struck on the same night; at least one of these strikes could have taken place the day prior. Regardless, the United States probably tried to get another convoy out last night via the southern Omani route, continuing efforts to export crude despite ships getting struck on every single transit.

-HomeFront-

USA: Around the nation, commercial airlines are continuing to draw down flights, with Southwest, United and American Airlines announcing the cancellation of some of their cheaper routes due to the rising cost of jet fuel. Nationwide, diesel prices have continued to rise with the most significant price increases being noted in the midwest, as the Joliet Refinery remains offline.

Analyst Comment: Most airlines have already scaled back their flight plans, so the recent airline drawdowns are just the latest round of further belt-tightening as a result of the worsening energy crisis.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Some sources claim that Saudi Arabia has quietly requested a ceasefire with the Houthis, so that the Saudis can recover from the recent round of targeting. No one has officially acknowledged this request, and whether or not the Houthis will agree is unknown.

Otherwise, repairs continue on the East-West Pipeline, with satellite imagery indicating that Aramco is trying to lay new sections of pipeline bypassing the pumping stations that were destroyed. On the diplomatic front, the Saudis have pivoted to China for diplomatic solutions to the Houthi crisis, urging China to pressure Iran, to pressure the Houthis to stop their attacks. Similarly, Pakistan has increasingly indicated that they are interested in defending Saudi Arabia, with various diplomats and military leaders "pledging full support" for the Kingdom (though no specifics have been released regarding what this might entail). So far this afternoon, missile alerts were issued for Yanbu and Jeddah, however no impacts have been reported yet. In southern and eastern Yemen, the Houthi advance continues to expand, as they consolidate the ground taken over the past few days and dig in for the long haul.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2000Z September 17, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: SAUDIS CLAIM THAT THE EAST-WEST PIPELINE WILL BE REPAIRED SOON, DESPITE THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF SEVERAL PUMPING STATIONS. UNITED STATES WEIGHS MITIGATION ACTIONS TO PREVENT DIESEL CRISIS FROM EXPANDING. PRESIDENT XI AND PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA REPORTEDLY FELL ILL DURING BRICS SUMMIT.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

India: Multiple world leaders have reportedly fallen ill after attending the BRICS summit in New Delhi. Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the gala dinner and returned to China early, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also had to depart India early due to an unspecified illness. His Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, also fell ill at the same time, as has been confirmed by the South African government.

Analyst Comment: Right now, it's not clear as to if the illnesses are the result of malign action, or just the natural reaction to being in India. Multiple leaders from separate countries falling ill at around the same time is a big clue, but Chinese sources are speculating that President Xi might have had a stroke. At the moment, there is nothing confirming this as Xi's personal life tends to be extremely private, and there has been no official confirmation regarding why he departed the BRICS summit early.

Saudi Arabia: Repair work up and down the East-West Pipeline continues, along with repairs at Yanbu. Saudi forces have also requested air defenses from various European nations, as the United States has declined to become involved in defending their refineries.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Concerns continue to mount regarding the status of Senator Mitch McConnell. Yesterday, he was transported to the Capitol to vote on an agricultural spending bill, and footage of him continues to indicate that he is very visibly not well or coherent. Sen. McConnell has generally been conscious, but unresponsive to verbal comments made by journalists attempting to ask him questions.

USA: Around the nation, reports of gasoline and diesel shortages are beginning to manifest, as several gas stations have announced that they are out of gas. Gas stations in North Texas, Florida, and California have all reported being out of gas as of last night.

Analyst Comment: Right now it's hard to pinpoint exactly what is causing these specific shortages. To be sure, a handful of gas stations running out of gas is not indicative of a dire and imminent nationwide shortage; based on the EIA's Weekly Status Report, last week gasoline stocks in the US were only down 4.6% from what they were last year. However the empty pumps don't lie, and right now the most likely explanation for localized gasoline shortages is a combination of logistical issues delaying shipments to individual gas stations...and panic buying which will drain a gas station much faster than normal. Due to oil execs saying gas prices are going to increase over the next few days, people are probably trying to get ahead of the curve. Since most gas stations only have a day's worth of gas (and rely on nearly daily deliveries to refill their underground tanks), it doesn't take much of an increase in demand to generate a localized shortage.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Saudi oil contracts continued to be canceled as the scale of Houthi attacks continues to expand. All oil onloading at Yanbu has been halted for at least six days, and the only other source for Saudi exports is now through smaller ports, or through Ras Tanura via the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the devastation, some Saudi officials claim that the East-West Pipeline will return to at least 50% of it's capacity within a few days, though this appears to be wishful thinking at best. At the moment, formalized force majeure declarations have not taken place, but Aramco has "deferred" deliveries of crude for the rest of the month of September, and various contracts continue to be canceled.

As it stands, Saudi Arabia is seriously in trouble and it's extremely unlikely that Saudi Arabia will be exporting any sizable amount of oil for a while. European oil traders seem rather adamant that Saudi Arabia has already canceled most of their contracts with various customers for oil deliveries, however Saudi officials assure the world that everything is fine and they will be back to full capacity soon. Saudi sources have claimed that the SUMED pipeline (with it's capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day) can be used as a partial-backup to the East-West Pipeline being down. However there is one problem with this plan...geography. The SUMED pipeline is not in Saudi Arabia, it's in Egypt. And the only way that the Saudis can use this pipeline, is to load oil at Yanbu, sail it on ships across the Red Sea, and deposit the crude in Egypt to be sent down the pipeline. The single point of failure for this "backup" pipeline is the same point of failure for the East-West Pipeline...Yanbu. Which is currently offline due to Houthi strikes.

 Whatever the truth is regarding exactly how much oil is able to exit the Middle East, it will be discovered rather quickly as crude cannot be conjured up out of thin air, and at some point the sheer lack of volume will have to be acknowledged.

Within the homeland, the United States has begun more serious mitigation efforts due to the Saudis being offline for presumably a long time. The Department of Transportation has issued a 90-day waiver for truckers carrying fuel, easing Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations to allow truckers to drive more hours in a 24 hour period. The White House is also still considering an export ban on diesel, in order to ease rising costs in the United States. If this were to be enacted, domestic prices would probably dip, but the shock to the system could result in unintended consequences in the long term.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2100Z September 16, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: OIL EXECUTIVES SOUND ALARMS REGARDING FUEL CRISIS, STATING THAT FUEL PRICES ARE LIKELY TO INCREASE SHARPLY AND IMMINENTLY. HOUTHIS SHOOT DOWN SAUDI FIGHTER AIRCRAFT. HELICOPTER CRASH REPORTED IN LOS ANGELES. DC POLICE UNION VOICES CONCERN WITH POLICE OFFICERS BEING SURVEILLED BY FLOCK SENSORS.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Europe: Fuel prices have begun to spike throughout the region, after Saudi Arabia announced that they will be halting all shipments of oil to the European continent. In Germany, the average diesel price is almost $11.00 per gallon nationwide, having increased steadily over the past few days. Other than diesel and gasoline, natural gas levels are also at the lowest level in years, with natural gas continuing to dwindle after Qatar shut down production after being targeted during the height of the war.

Red Sea/HOA: Conflict between the Saudis and Houthis has continued to escalate. Overnight, the Houthis shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter aircraft over Marib. The status of the aircrew is not known.

Analyst Comment: Several instances of fake or confusing videos regarding the crash have circulated social media regarding this shootdown. Due to several Persian websites using the Hijri Islamic calendar system for timestamping their articles, Google's auto-translate feature is mistranslating that date, and indicating that the video is from 2021. As a result, Saudis are claiming that the videos of the shootdown are either fake or from years ago. However, this is an error; the video is a new product released by official Houthi accounts and does appear to depict the shootdown overnight.

To the north, Houthi forces also hit Yanbu with substantial drone strikes overnight, with dozens of impacts being reported at the oil terminals. Satellite based fire detection sensors indicate that the port of Yanbu remained on fire throughout the night. Proper battle damage assessment will take a few more days to materialize, but as of this morning the Houthis have continued to press the attack, and have struck Saudi facilities regularly over the past few days.

Analyst Comment: Yesterday, rumors began to circulate that the Houthis have begun to lay mines in the Bab el Mandeb Strait, as a way of restricting travel through the waterway. As it stands, this is probably not true for many reasons. For one, the Houthis have historically not show interest in laying sea mines. Secondly, the Houthis have very carefully NOT instituted a blanket ban on travel through the Strait...they are only blockading Saudi ships. Everybody else is free to pass without being targeted or even contacted by radio. The Houthis are certainly still a threat to commercial shipping, and could possibly expand their blockade to include nations other than just Saudi Arabia, but there is very little chance that the Houthis have mined anything at present.

Middle East: This morning Fox News leaked details of an Iranian strike on a merchant vessel in the strait of Hormuz, which was struck last week while attempting to exit the Gulf. At the time, this vessel was not any different than the dozens of other strikes that have taken place, however Fox News reports (via unnamed leakers) that U.S. personnel were onboard this vessel at the time of the Iranian strike. The report has not explicitly stated whether or not these individuals were military service members, or were U.S. citizens/contractors crewing the vessel. However, several people were wounded as a result of the Iranian targeting, and are currently being treated at an undisclosed location in the region.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C - The Capitol Police Union has voiced outrage concerning the use of Flock cameras by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The Union alleges that Internal Affairs officers were using the intelligence collection sensor network to monitor their own officers without their knowledge. The Union also alleges that there are no guardrails for the use of this technology, nor is there any transparency on how these sensors are being used by the MPD.

Analyst Comment: As has been noted by nearly everyone who is not actively getting paid to promote these technologies, one aspect of tracking every human being in the country is that high ranking individuals (who might be prone to being blackmailed) are also caught in the sensor network's dragnet. As demonstrated by the DC Police Union (perhaps not in the way that they intended), nobody cares when the taxpayers are surveilled relentlessly...but the elites and most law enforcement agencies do care when they themselves are being monitored. The National Capitol Region (NCR) is a very sensitive area, and all elected officials might be a little upset to find out that every vehicle that arrives at their homes on Capitol Hill in the middle of the night...is logged by a private company that now has leverage over them, which would serve as rather powerful blackmail potential.

California: Yesterday evening, a helicopter crash was reported in Los Angeles. An NBC news helicopter crashed while covering a motor vehicle accident in the neighborhood of Chatsworth. The incident was captured live on air as the helicopter crashed, and both crew members were killed during the impact. One bystander on the ground was also killed after being hit by the debris from the crashing helicopter. No word yet on what caused the crash, but early indications suggest the helicopter may have suffered from engine failure or a catastrophic loss of power, which resulted in a loss of lift.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Continuing the trend, the energy crisis is worsening by the hour, with some industry professionals stating that the exponential curve of escalating problems has arrived. Yesterday Tom Kloza, the Chief Energy Advisor for Gulf Oil, stated that sharp increases in gasoline and diesel prices are expected over the next few days. Other oil executives have corroborated these sentiments as well, with several alarming statements being made over the past 24 hours. Mike Wirth, the CEO of Chevron, stated that the fuel crisis has officially arrived, and will be compounded by most mitigating efforts used to keep prices low, being expended due to the war lasting so long. China has also reversed course over the past couple of weeks and is now buying up as much crude as possible, from any source they can get it from. Most of China's "teapot" refineries (i.e. the cluster of smaller independently-owned refineries in Shandong Province) are now increasing purchases of oil, in a market that is already quite strained. This is a not-so-subtle indicator that China thinks that right now is the cheapest oil will be for a while. Yesterday, oil futures in Shanghai traded at $129 per barrel...a full $8.00 higher than the absolute peak prices observed during the height of the war months ago.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2000Z September 15, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: SABOTAGE ATTACKS STRIKE DUTCH RAIL NETWORK. JOLIET REFINERY OFFLINE DUE TO UNPLANNED POWER OUTAGE. SAUDI ARABIA ANNOUNCES COMPLETE HALT TO EXPORT OPERATIONS IN YANBU, FURTHER SEPTEMBER CONTRACTS FOR OIL WILL NOT BE DELIVERED. LIBYAN OIL FIELDS SHUT DOWN DUE TO WORKER PROTESTS.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Russia: Yesterday evening the conflict escalated, as Ukraine continued to target Russian petroleum infrastructure. The Syzran Refinery was struck by Ukrainian drones, which heavily damaged the facility.

Analyst Comment: This series of attacks was notable as they occurred immediately after President Trump announced that both sides had agreed to not target each other's energy infrastructure. About six hours after this ceasefire was announced, it was broken by Ukraine's attack on this refinery. As of this report, Russia had not retaliated yet.

Lithuania: NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept an unidentified drone within Lithuanian airspace. The drone, which Lithuanian officials claim was Russian, originated from Belarussian airspace, and was shot down near the region of Kaunas.

Netherlands: Early this morning a series of sabotage incidents were noted throughout the nation's rail network. Malign actors located all around the country placed metal pipes across the tracks at more than 20x locations. These pipes contacted both rails, tripping the sensors which register train movement on a particular section of track. This prompted automated systems and network operators to shut down much of the rail lines around the country, while authorities inspected the tracks.

Analyst Comment: As discovered by ecoterrorists within the United States years ago, this is an effective way to shut down a rail line, because it tricks the automated sensors along the line into thinking that a train is on the track. When replicated at dozens of locations along a national rail network, the entire country can be effectively shut down without any explosives or kinetic attacks being used. No word yet on who caused this specific attack, but it does fit the historical trend of various ecoterrorist groups, which have used similar tactics over the years.

Libya: This morning, Libyan officials announced the shut down of most of their oil fields, after the security guards at their main oil fields have begun protests related to pay issues. The Petroleum Facilities Guard, a quasi-militia force that has provided security for the oil fields since the collapse of the Gaddafi government years ago, has essentially taken the oil fields hostage, in order to demand higher pay for their security forces.

Analyst Comment: For the context of how much this matters, Libya has been exporting a little more than a million barrels of oil per day, roughly 85% of which gets sold directly to Europe. By comparison, Venezuela exports about the same amount. As such, security guards taking over random oil fields in northern Africa has effectively canceled out any perceived benefit that the capture of Venezuelan oil has made to the global oil markets.

Middle East: Overnight targeting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia resulted in more Saudi oil facilities being struck. Combined with the attacks over the weekend, a total of three major pumping stations along the East-West Pipeline have been completely destroyed, and several other larger refineries have been hit hard by Houthi missiles and drones. The Abha Bulk Plant was struck and remains on fire as of this afternoon, and facilities continue to be taken offline due to the constant exchange of fire between the Saudis and Houthis.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - This morning Senator Mitch McConnell made his first public appearance since his illness struck months ago, with Capitol Police escorting him from his residence to the Capitol. The media was present as Sen. McConnell was brought out of his residence, and the footage indicates that he was visibly not well or coherent as he was put inside the vehicle transporting him to the Capitol.

Illinois: Yesterday evening the Joliet Refinery was shut down due to an undisclosed power outage caused the majority of hte facility to shut down. Emergency flaring was observed by locals as the entire refinery was shut down. As of this morning, the refinery is still offline, and is expected to be down until later this week.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: The shutdown of multiple major refineries around the world over the past 72 hours is exceptionally concerning, and will have serious impact the longer these refineries and pumping stations remain offline. As nearly all refineries in the U.S. have been redlining at their absolute maximum production level for months now, it is absolutely certain that mechanical issues will emerge; when we run American refineries this hard for this long....things break.

However, the other side of COIN is the passive understanding that right now, American refineries are ripe for malign action. This has been true throughout the war, but right now, any malign actor so interested can cause a lot of problems which are compounded by the effects of the war dragging on for so long. When refineries are being run at 100%, when the supply of crude is already spread thin, and when the Strategic Reserve is dwindling...there is less room for error, and the smallest effort from a malign actor can snowball and have more catastrophic effect than would be achieved during peacetime.

This morning, Saudi Arabia announced that they will not be able to meet their September contracts for oil, due to the strikes on the East-West pipeline, and continued Houthi targeting. Oil onloading at Yanbu has completely shut down, and right now, the main way for the Saudis to export oil, would be to sneak tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which they have been trying to do. However, with Iranian missiles continuing to fly, the global energy crisis is becoming more desperate by the hour. Libya is also offline for completely unrelated reasons, and now a major American refinery is offline too. All of these incidents would be very important even in isolation, but since they are taking place all at the same time, the negative affect to the global energy market becomes that much more significant.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//1800Z September 14, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: DAMAGE TO SAUDI PIPELINE WORSE THAN INITIALLY SUSPECTED. SAUDI FORCES PRESENT INDICATIONS OF MILITARY ESCALATION IN YEMEN, STRIKES IN SANAA REPORTED. COSTCO BEGINS RATIONING OF KIRKLAND BRAND MOTOR OIL.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Saudi Arabia: Over the weekend the scale of the damage to Saudi petroleum facilities has become more clear, with high resolution satellite imagery confirming catastrophic damage at several refineries and pumping stations. To the south, the refineries close to Yemen suffered the most damage. Farther north, the East-West pipeline is also much more heavily damaged than disclosed at first, and early estimates indicate a recovery time of several weeks at minimum.

Overnight, Saudi forces retaliated by conducting strikes in Sanaa. Locals report Houthi positions being struck in the Bir Zehr neighborhood near the airport, along with other sites around the capital city.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - While taking questions onboard Air Force One, President Trump was asked about Flock cameras and similar technologies. During his response, he stated that he "likes" the surveillance sensors.

Analyst Comment: This is the first concrete statement indicating the current administration's stance on a major issue that has swept the nation, in the lead up to the midterms.

USA: Around the nation, the impacts of the energy crisis are beginning to manifest with random shortages. Costco announced that they would be rationing purchases of motor oil, limiting purchases of their 10-quart full synthetic motor oil to two units per person, per week.

Analyst Comment: Even since the early days of the war, random shortages of petroleum products have quietly been increasing in severity. Many manufacturers have changed blends (of synthetic products), and many commercial vendors have had a hard time keeping certain weights of motor oil in stock. Now that a major retailer at the consumer level is impacted, other vendors will probably follow suit.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Within Saudi Arabia, indications and warnings are growing suggesting a major Saudi campaign against the Houthis is developing. Troop movement and various armored columns have been observed along the Saudi border regions with Yemen since the United States declined to become involved in the Saudi/Houthi conflict. It's too soon to tell if the Saudis are going to launch a proper ground invasion; right now they are mostly just staging and conducting airstrikes in Sanaa.

However, the United States is not fully hands-off with this conflict either; last night planewatchers observed a sharp increase in cargo flights to Camp Lemonnier...which is the central hub for most American activities in the region. This base, is also extremely close to Yemen, and well within range of even short range munitions. As the crow flies, less than a hundred miles of airspace separate this base from the Houthi missile launch sites along Yemen's Red Sea coastline. As a result, it is very likely that the United States is planning for escalations in the region, which could result in very substantial American positions being targeted. Since the Saudis have begun bombing Sanaa once again, Houthi targeting will continue to hit Saudi petroleum industry, but if the US is to become roped into this more directly, it will probably involve the American presence in Djbouti.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

Research Notes/Bibliography can be found here: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground 

Common Intelligence Picture: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=204a59b01f4443cd96718796fd102c00 

Border Crisis Map: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7f13eda1f301431e98a7ac0393b0e6b0 

TOC Dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ebe374c40c1a4231a06075155b0e8cb9/ 

00:00 - Global Overview 

01:07 - Homeland Cyberattacks 

03:08 - The Houthis 

05:19 - The Gulf 

08:35 - Tanker War 

13:12 - Energy Crisis Deepens 

17:20 - Closing Thoughts 

Download the GhostNet plan here! https://github.com/s2underground/GhostNet The text version of the Wire can be found on Twitter: https://twitter.com/s2_underground 

And on our Wire Telegram page here: https://t.me/S2undergroundWire If you would like to support us, we're on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=30479515 

Disclaimer: No company sponsored this video. In fact, we have ZERO sponsors. We are funded 100% by you, the viewer. All of our funding comes from direct support from platforms like Patreon, or from ad revenue on YouTube. Without your support, I simply could not do this work at all, so to those of you who chose to support my efforts, I am eternally thankful. Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/S2Underground BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/P2NMGFdt3gf3/ Just a few reminders for everyone who's just become aware of us, in order to keep these briefings from being several hours long, I can't cover everything. I'm probably covering 1% of the world events when we conduct these briefings, so please remember that if I left it out, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's unimportant. Also, remember that I do these briefings quite often, so I might have covered an issue previously that you might not see if you are only watching our most recent videos. I'm also doing this in my spare time, so again I fully admit that these briefings aren't even close to being perfect; I'm going for a healthy blend of speed and quality. If I were to wait and only post a brief when it's "perfect" I would never post anything at all. So expect some minor errors here and there. If there is a major error or correction that needs to be made, I will post it here in the description, and verbally address it in the next briefing. Also, thanks for reading this far. It is always surprising the number of people that don't actually read the description box to find more information. This content is purely educational and does not advocate for violating any laws. Do not violate any laws or regulations. This is not legal advice. Consult with your attorney. Our Reading List! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/133747963-s2-actual The War Kitchen Channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYmtpjXT22tAWGIlg_xDDPA 

//The Wire//1500Z September 11, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: HOUTHIS STRIKE SAUDI EAST-WEST PIPELINE IN MAJOR MISSILE BARRAGE OVERNIGHT. HOUTHIS ALSO EXERT CONTROL OVER BAB EL MANDEB, AFTER CAPTURING ISLANDS THIS MORNING.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Saudi Arabia: Overnight Houthi forces conducted major missile and drone strikes on the Saudi East-West Pipeline. Local sources claim that the pipeline was struck in 8x different places, which resulted in major damage to the pumping and control stations along the entire pipeline network. A smoke plume roughly 80km long was observed on satellite imagery, along with a substantial column of smoke being observed from the ground.

Analyst Comment: While the Saudis have not explicitly confirmed this, it is almost certain that this pipeline network is offline, and will be so for some time. These two pipelines were the main avenue of bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, so if the Houthis took them offline, this will have an immediate and devastating impact to the global energy crisis.

Yemen: Throughout the evening, the Houthis continued their advance, seizing more islands in the southern Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb Strait. Perim Island (also known as Mayyun Island) fell to Houthi control overnight, further cementing Houthi control of the entire coastline along the Red Sea.

Analyst Comment: The seizure of these islands means that the Houthis don't have to rely on drones anymore...they can hit passing ships with coastal artillery and smaller weapons systems.

Europe: Ukrainian attacks on Russia oil infrastructure continue, with major strikes being reported at the Saratov Refinery overnight. A nearby Ozon warehouse was also struck during the attack, and remained on fire throughout the morning.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Mainstream media has reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman (MBS) called President Trump twice yesterday in order to urge the United States to intervene and coordinate strikes on Houthi positions. According to witnesses (which cannot be corroborated), President Trump declined to get involved with the Houthis again, however CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper flew to Riyadh to conduct emergency coordination efforts.

New York: This morning remembrance events began in Manhattan, as the world reflects on the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Vice President Vance is expected to speak at the National September 11 Memorial, and various other officials are expected to make appearances at the various memorial sites throughout the day.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Due to the events in the Middle East over the past 48 hours, energy prices are likely to climb higher and the immediate concerns are purely a logistical numbers game. Before the war, 20 million barrels of crude transited through the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, we found out that on average, the United States has only been able to recover half of that capability during the "ceasefire" (under the best possible conditions). If the Houthis managed to take out the Saudi East-West Pipeline for a long time, that would mean the loss of the main pipeline bypassing the Strait, and therefore the loss of 5 million barrels per day from the global market. Since traffic through the Strait itself has been minimal over the past few days due to Iranian and American targeting, this is going to snowball into a much more serious problem very soon.

On the retail side of the equation, prices for gasoline and diesel spiked yesterday afternoon throughout the United States. As diesel has been experiencing a global shortage (and thus was more strained already), several new records were set overnight. According to GasBuddy, a total of 28x states reported all-time-high diesel prices topping $6.00 per gallon. This brought the national average for diesel over $6.00 for the first time in history. At the more extreme ends of the spectrum, several gas stations in California reported maxing out their displays for diesel. The price was stuck at $9.999 simply due to the digital display on the gas pump not having the space for an extra digit, which would have brought the price into double-digit territory. As the scale of the attacks on the Saudi pipeline become known over the next few days, the impact to the global energy crisis will become more clear, but as it stands, the events in the Middle East are continuing to develop by the hour, with new records being reached every day.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2100Z September 10, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: HOUTHIS MAKE MAJOR TERRITORIAL GAINS AS SAUDI-BACKED FORCES COLLAPSE OVERNIGHT. TRUMP AND NETANYAHU BEGIN INCREASING STATEMENTS REGARDING IRANIAN NUCLEAR AMBITIONS. DAMAGE REPORTS EMERGE AFTER THE ESCALATION OF TARGETING THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST YESTERDAY.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Middle East: Following the large-scale missile strikes in Jordan, a more clear picture of the damage caused by Iran has emerged. MSM reporters with access to closed-sources stated that a total 8x F-15 fighter aircraft were damaged, most of which have been returned to service since the strikes. One additional A-10 ground attack aircraft sustained damage during the strikes, and was damaged beyond repair. In the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian forces have posted a video of the destruction of an American Saildrone Explorer Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV), with the video evidence confirming that the vessel caught fire as a result of the attack.

Yemen: The Houthis have continued their advance on Yemeni government positions, after the Saudi-backed government forces attempted to kick off a renewed ground offensive a few days ago. Houthi forces conducted an attack of their own, which has resulted in major gains being made by Houthi forces over the past 24 hours. The Houthis made advances of several hundred kilometers (in some cases), which concluded with the capture of the city of Mocha. The mass surrender and disbandment of several pro-Saudi factions has been reported as Houthis forces have made some of the most significant advances of the past few years.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - President Trump stated that if the Republicans win both the House and the Senate in midterms, he plans to issue a $5,000 payment to every American.

Separately, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that Iran is once again attempting to build nuclear weapons, which President Trump also alluded to by recent statements regarding Pickaxe Mountain, where digging and possibly fortification activity has allegedly been observed.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Even though the war in Yemen has been largely classified as a tribal conflict that most people have not cared about for years, the developments in Yemen over the past week have been rather important when viewed in conjunction with the Gulf War. Time and time again, an extremely complicated series of interconnected geopolitical developments can be boiled down to rocks on the beach. In other words, geography and weather are nearly always the most important aspects of any military efforts that are undertaken. If both features can be read correctly, success can be obtained. If analyzed incorrectly (or if ignored altogether) geography can humble the strongest military in the world.

Saudi Arabia (much like the United States) is learning this lesson the hard way right now.

The town of Mocha was previously contested, but mostly held by Yemeni government forces, which were still clinging to the notion that they (not the Houthis) controlled Yemen, despite the Houthis controlling most major cities and the capital. Most importantly, it is a coastal port city, which allowed Saudi Arabia to land supplies to fight the Houthis. As of this morning, this city appears to be in Houthi control. Whether or not they can hold it after they advanced into the town, is anyone's guess. Controlling the port facilities themselves, while a very small port, is still a major loss of cargo offloading capability that the Saudis were counting on to wage their war against the Houthis. In hindsight, it was probably unwise for the Saudis to bomb dirt next to a runway in Sana'a two weeks ago, because it has snowballed into them losing their main foothold in Yemen on the Red Sea. Even worse, some reports emerged this morning indicating that Houthi forces have captured Zuqar Island, in the southern Red Sea.

If this island can be held, this will be a major problem in very short order. This island offers superior command and control of the southern Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait. It's also a mountain that is hard to attack, but easy to defend. The Houthis did conduct their own version of an amphibious assault with small boats, landing on the island this morning, however this assault was probably not necessary because most of the pro-Saudi, pro-Yemeni Government forces stationed on these islands immediately defected and/or surrendered, because these islands were being supplied by the port of Mocha...when Mocha fell, the islands were cut off within hours. As far as what military advantage this island offers, it's mostly beneficial for projecting power out into the Red Sea. There is a helicopter base on the island, but minimal port facilities and structures. If the Houthis can hold this terrain for a few months, and dig in, this island could probably be a very effective base from which to launch drones and missiles, which could threaten maritime shipping quite significantly over the next few months. At this rate, the Persian Gulf being mostly shut off to the United States Navy is not the only complicating factor...this morning's advances are setting the stage for the Red Sea to be cut off as well, as the Houthis now have the terrain and logistical
 capability to create a lot of problems throughout the region.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//1300Z September 9, 2026//
 //ROUTINE//
 //BLUF: INTENSE FIGHTING REPORTED IN MIDDLE EAST. IRAN CAPTURES HIGHLY CLASSIFIED AMERICAN DRONE SUBMARINE. UNITED STATES TARGETS 5X MORE TANKERS IN GULF.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

 
 -International Events-

Middle East: Major escalations were reported around the region, as the fighting on both sides has intensified back to levels not seen since the height of the war in April. From the United States, attacks on merchant shipping have continued. Overnight, a total of 5x civilian tanker vessels were targeted, some of which were sunk. As of this morning, the full list of ships struck by the United States since yesterday evening is as follows:

M/T RIESCO (IMO: 9251822) - Sunk, Gulf of Oman
M/T DERYA (IMO: 9569700) - Disabled, Kharg Island
M/T HORIZON 1 (IMO: 9130456) - Disabled
M/T KAVIZ (IMO: 9282041) - Disabled
M/T CHARMINAR (IMO: 9318022) - Disabled

From the Iranian side, attacks also escalated sharply overnight, targeting merchant shipping and American bases around the region. These attacks occurred in multiple waves, with the initial waves of missiles being intended to soak up missile interceptors before the most significant second and third waves. As a result of this coordination, substantial missile strikes were reported at Muwaffaq al Salti Airbase, many of which were confirmed to have hit the base. Video evidence from locals confirms that a total of 4x ballistic missile warheads impacted the base. Prince Hassan Airbase was also targeted in a similar manner.

Aside from the targeting of American bases, Iran has claimed to have attacked over 20x commercial vessels in the region overnight. The IRGC-N also claims to have targeted two American Destroyers, the USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG-53) and the USS DELBERT D. BLACK (DDG-119). CENTCOM denies that either vessel was hit, but did confirm that evasive action was required, and the United States struck more civilian ships in retaliation.

Within the Gulf, Iranian forces also posted photo and video evidence confirming that Iran has captured a highly classified Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). One American Dive-LD drone submarine was captured intact by Iran, which was likely being used by the United States to conduct highly precise scans of the seafloor throughout the region, probably in conjunction with mine clearance operations in the Gulf. This platform is one of the most capable submersibles used by the U.S. Navy, and was originally unveiled by Anduril last year.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: A full-blown return to the war is probably already underway throughout the Middle East, and all indicators support a widening and/or intensification of the fighting (at least for the time being, as the Tanker War continues). Last night's targeting efforts on all sides were the most significant seen since the height of the war a few months ago. During the attacks in Jordan, the Iranians appear to have used cluster munitions, though the type is not known (these could have been dozens of bomblets, or these could have been inert devices intended to soak up interceptor missiles so that the actual munition penetrates defenses). The last time this type of munition was used was during the targeting of Israeli military bases during the opening days of the war.

Based on the footage observed overnight, dozens of PAC-2 missiles were spent attempting to intercept Iranian missiles, with just one night of fighting probably expending more munitions than have been used over the past 2-3 months. Locals report that by the time the final waves of Iranian missiles arrived in Jordan, zero interceptors were even launched. As a reminder, based on the recent reports of munitions stockpiles, the US has largely expended most of the newer PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot system, and have been down to mostly the older PAC-2 missiles for several months. The PAC-2 missile is physically larger than the PAC-3, so each PAC-2 battery can hold fewer missiles than one equipped with PAC-3 canisters. The standard Launching Station holds four missile canisters, which can hold either 4x PAC-2 missiles...or 16x PAC-3 CRI missiles. This means that a Patriot system that has been depleted of the PAC-3 missiles, has to mostly rely on a mix of PAC-2 missiles, which reduces the overall total number of interceptors that could be launched during an engagement. This major logistical detail appears to have worked in Iran's favor during last night's attacks, as locals report that over one hundred PAC-2/3 missiles were fired to intercept the dozens of Iranian missiles that targeted American bases throughout Jordan.

Analyst: S2A1
 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269
Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.
//END REPORT//