S2 Underground

//The Wire//2000Z July 18, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: RIOTS BEGIN IN BANGLADESH. WIND TURBINE DEBRIS CLOSES NANTUCKET BEACHES. FINANCIAL DISCREPANCIES HIGHLIGHT TRUMP SHOOTING ISSUES.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

South Asia: Riots have emerged in Bangladesh following tensions that have been developing over the past few years. A few months ago, tensions escalated as students began to intensify protests against a controversial 1971 law that affects the hiring practices of civil servants. Those protests continue today, and have expanded to include most major universities throughout the nation. Conversely, as demonstrations have expanded, so has the crackdown, with clashes between protesters/rioters and police becoming increasingly more violent.

-HomeFront-

Massachusetts: Most of the beaches in Nantucket have been closed for cleanup operations as debris from destroyed wind turbines washes ashore. Last weekend, storm damage caused a catastrophic failure of turbine AW38 in the Vineyard Wind field which resulted in large fields of fiberglass and foam debris washing ashore over the past few days. 

Texas: Controversy has emerged following financial data that has come to light following the attempted assassination of President Trump. One day before the assassination attempt, Austin Private Wealth LLC (an investment firm located in the Austin area) disclosed a large put option against $DJT (Trump’s media group) of 12,000,000 shares. Some sources claim that this disclosure is a quarterly filing (which also included other positions, not just DJT), and therefore no nefarious activity occurred. However since these records have come to light, the company has amended the filing and issued a statement that a “clerical error” was the reason for such activity.

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

Analyst Comments: For many people, the financial data surrounding the attempted assassination of President Trump is suspicious. Of course, the potential for error always exists, and statistically speaking is often underrepresented as the cause for incidents like this.

More broadly, the fact that the company felt the need to address these claims is telling enough. Even as many financial advisors balk at the potential for nefarious activity in the financial sector regarding this incident, and scold any layperson who may think some investigation is worthwhile, the honest truth is that the majority of the entire financial sector is built on a bedrock of sketchy trades, or suspiciously-timed investment moves. Most of the time, investment groups can safely ignore claims of inside knowledge, even for high profile incidents involving politicians. In this case, the company responding to these claims strongly indicates that even the company admits this looks really suspect, and therefore an explanation was required. The company itself has not clarified whether or not the report filing was in error, or if those shorts had really been made, but backtracked on upon the failure of Trump’s assassination attempt. Many are asking the question of, if the assassination had been successful, and DJT crashed…would this “clerical error” have been corrected or would it have been tied up (or covered up) in some way? In any case, significant forensic analysis of this incident would be reassuring for what many laypersons not involved in the financial sector consider to be a smoking gun.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2300Z July 17, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: DETAILS OF TRUMP SHOOTING BEGIN TO CAST DOUBT ON OFFICIAL NARRATIVE. RUSSIA RESPONDS TO TRUMP SHOOTING. RUMORS CIRCULATE REGARDING XI JINPING’S HEALTH.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Far East: Last night, rumors began to circulate on social media regarding Chinese leader Xi Jinping allegedly suffering a stroke. Details are extremely unconfirmed, however reporting on Chinese media platforms suggests that Jinping suffered a stroke while on stage at the third plenary session of the CCP. Other contradictory claims have been made suggesting that he tripped and fell down a few steps while exiting the stage. Chinese state media hasn’t responded to any of these claims, nor have any solid sources emerged to corroborate this information.

Russia: The Kremlin has responded to Trumps assassination attempt with spokesman Peskov stating “After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena using legal instruments at first, courts, the prosecutor’s office, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in jeopardy”. AC: Though this line is quite characteristic of Peskov’s personality, the Kremlin stating such details openly, highlights the level of concern within the international community with regards to the domestic strife present within the United States. If the situation at home were not as dire, such a statement by the Kremlin would likely not have been made, nor would it have made sense. The matter-of-fact revelation that this is a ‘new normal’ within American politics may be a subtle dig at the United States, but a factual statement nonetheless. 

-HomeFront-

Pennsylvania: Details surrounding the attempted assassination of President Trump continue to worsen. Additional information released by authorities indicates that various entities at the event had identified the gunman as a threat and/or a suspicious person at least an hour before the shooting, and many minutes before Trump emerged on stage. AC: As more and more details come to light, the debate of “incompetence or malice” is beginning to tip in favor of the latter.

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

Analyst Comments: The rumors surrounding the health issues regarding China’s leadership are probably not true as right now many malign actors stand to benefit from circulating false rumors. However, this is worthy of being aware of considering the tumultuous international situation. This is not the first time that claims of health issues have been made with regards to Jinping, claims that have turned out to be false in the past. This history, combined with the significant secrecy surrounding the life of Jinping and the weak sourcing of this information in the first place, means that confirming this incident will be challenging. In any case, Jinping will have to make public appearances soon, so any attempt to cancel appearances may be a stronger indicator of a health incident really occurring.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2200Z July 16, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: HOUTHI ATTACKS CONTINUE TO ESCALATE IN RED SEA. USSS UNDER SCRUTINY FOR SECURITY CONCERNS EXPRESSED IN THE WAKE OF TRUMP SHOOTING.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Red Sea/HOA: Houthi attacks on commercial shipping continue to escalate. Yesterday afternoon, Houthi forces successfully attacked the M/V CHIOS LION, a Liberian flagged tanker. This attack was carried out via an Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) in a similar manner as the M/V TUTOR which was sunk a few weeks ago. AC: The status of the LION remains unclear, however the Houthis released a video of the attack, showing the detonation of the USV against the hull of the LION. From this footage, it is likely that the LION suffered extremely severe damage during this attack.

Admin Note: As a reminder CENTCOM and other US government agencies have modified the term “Unmanned Surface Vessels” to be “Uncrewed Surface Vessels”, due to the DoD’s policy on gender-neutral language. This policy to modify doctrinal warfare terms has been in place for some time, but frequently causes confusion among those who are unaware of the stripping of the suffixes “-men” or “-manned” from certain terms. Most of the time the acronym remains the same, however keyword searches throughout military doctrine are made more challenging by the altering of such language. This should be considered when conducting independent research.

-HomeFront-

USA: CNN has claimed that President Trump’s security detail has been increased due to an alleged Iranian plot on his life. AC: This is overwhelmingly likely to be a lie intended to detract from the security concerns observed over the past few days.

Texas: Recovery efforts continue in the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. Crime has increased substantially in some areas as many linemen have reported being attacked while trying to conduct repairs to electrical transmission lines.

Pennsylvania: Questions remain unanswered regarding the Trump assassination attempt, with what little information that has been released resulting in even more questions. For instance, the Director of the USSS has provided more information regarding the reasoning behind why no security presence was on the roof occupied by the shooter. USSS Director Cheatle stated that the pitch of the roof presented a fall hazard risk so it was not occupied by security forces before the incident, even though it was identified as a security risk.

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

Analyst Comments: Over the next few weeks, the USSS will likely seek to engage in narrative shaping to prevent the truth from coming to light. For one, the claims of the pitch of the roof occupied by the shooter being too steep and presenting a fall hazard are almost certainly false as that roof was less steep than an adjacent rooftop already occupied by a USSS CAT team. 

While the old adage of “never attributing to malice what can be ascribed to incompetence” is certainly true, we must ensure that the inverse is not attempted by the USSS within the information space. Over the past few years, it has become clear that the knee-jerk reaction by most federal agencies when faced with scrutiny is to lie, even regarding easily verifiable information. This, while not surprising, unfortunately influences the lessons learned by the average person who seeks to reduce the risk of tragedy occurring again.

Though purely speculative, it must be considered that lying so openly and deliberately about a roof pitch being too steep would bring about complaints of DEI practices, incompetence, etc….anything but malice. Somewhat ironically, the USSS lying to make themselves seem like incompetent diversity hires, because that narrative is somehow more palatable than the truth, is a concerning detail that is likely to be overlooked as all sides expre

//The Wire//2230Z July 15, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: MANY DETAILS REMAIN IN QUESTION FOLLOWING ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF TRUMP. POWER OUTAGES CONTINUE IN TEXAS. CHINESE NAVAL DRILLS CONTINUE IN PACIFIC.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Far East: Chinese Naval drills continue. A few dozen aircraft incursions occurred within the Taiwan Strait over the weekend as PLAN exercises continue throughout the Pacific.

Ireland: Unrest continues following months of increasing tensions brought upon by the establishment of migrant centers throughout the nation. Over the weekend protests intensified again in response to another migrant center being emplaced in Coolock.

-HomeFront-

Texas: Roughly 280,000 customers remain without power in the Houston area following the storm damage from Hurricane Beryl which made landfall last week. AC: So far at least 11 fatalities have been reported as a result of the hurricane, several of which were heat-related deaths.

Pennsylvania: Details of the attempted assassination of President Trump remain under scrutiny, with many questions remaining with major details of the event. The shooter has been identified by authorities as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. AC: In the fog of information warfare immediately after the shooting, several other names were also dropped on social media, prompting confusion for several hours as to the identity of the gunman.

This morning, President Trump called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to receive enhanced Secret Service protection “in light of what is going on in the world today”.

Wisconsin: Protests and demonstrations are underway in Milwaukee as the Republican National Convention begins. This morning thousands marched in opposition to Donald Trump becoming the nominee for the Republican party.

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

Analyst Comments: Some generations are faced with grand debates that define the era. This generation’s question will undoubtedly be “incompetence or malice?”. The details of the attempted assassination of President Trump have already surpassed the exceptionally questionable details of Dealey Plaza, with the only collection of details holding back the open idea that this was a government-sanctioned incident being the gross incompetence displayed by most of the security professionals during this event.

While the details of this assassination attempt will be debated for decades, the larger implications are exceptionally clear. This incident was without question intended to resolve differently than it did. Reflecting on what would have happened if the attack was a success, may be a rather sobering prospect but one which may offer operational benefit as the election inches closer.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

//The Wire//0030Z July 14, 2024//

//PRIORITY//

//BLUF: FOLLOW ON REPORTING CLARIFIES DETAILS OF TRUMP SHOOTING. NO MAJOR I&W’S YET OF STRATEGIC CONCERN FOLLOWING THE SHOOTING.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-HomeFront-

Pennsylvania: President Trump remains under medical evaluation following his assassination attempt this afternoon. Authorities have not commented on his condition other than to confirm that he suffered non-life threatening wounds as a result of the assassination attempt.

News footage following the incident indicates at least two people in the crowd were wounded by the shooter, one of which who has succumbed to their wounds. The surviving bystander remains in critical condition. Users on social media have posted footage of a body lying on the rooftop of a small shelter adjacent to the event venue, indicating the shooter sought and successfully occupied a vantage point that served as key terrain and offered line of sight to the stage.

-Strategic Indications and Warnings-

Pacific: The USCG has not provided any update in some time regarding the position of the Chinese PLAN Task Force currently operating in the Bering Sea. By last press release, the vessels were conducting maneuvers approximately 100nm north of the Aleutian Island chain, but that report is now stale by several days.

Homeland: NORAD has not provided any information regarding potential aerial threats within the past few hours, nor has the FAA issued any potentially concerning TFRs or airspace closures. HFGCS and BearNet traffic appears normal at this time. No sudden or concerning increase in military aviation has been noted within the past few hours.

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

Analyst Comments: Substantial efforts have been noted to manipulate the flow of information on social media following this incident, with the production of falsified information, along with the traffic from bots, being unlike any time period in recent memory. Some social media platforms are barely usable due to the intense posting by bots and those seeking to shape the narrative alike. Exceptionally violet rhetoric has been noted on social media following the attempted assassination of President Trump. This rhetoric includes mainstream media sources, which have sought to downplay the incident.

In the fray of the information space, minute details, however unorganized are important to consider (or at least log) for later corroboration. As such, the following data points are being noted for posterity, without being verified with any confidence:

-          A BBC interview with a man immediately following the incident indicates that the shooter may have been spotted approaching the venue long before the shots were fired. This witness suggests that the Secret Service had some limited advanced warning of the attack.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2300Z July 12, 2024//

//IMMEDIATE//

//BLUF: TRUMP SHOT AT PENNSYLVANIA RALLY.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-HomeFront-

Pennsylvania: A few moments ago President Trump was shot during a campaign rally in Butler. Live news footage of the incident indicates at least one round penetrated his right ear. Before being rushed off-stage Trump appeared to have survived the attack and was in good spirits. 

Strategic Indications and Warnings of Note: 3x E6-B aircraft are airborne within US airspace at the moment. None appear to have diverted from their course or mission, with at least two of these airframes appearing to have conducted routine training exercises within the past few hours.

No abnormal HFGCS or BearNet traffic has been noted within the past hour.

Taiwan reports 30x PLA aircraft incursions over the past 24 hours, but nothing major within the past few hours.

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

Analyst Comments: More details to follow as additional information becomes public. No information regarding the status of the shooter has been released yet. President Trump has been evacuated to an unknown local medical facility (which will probably be followed up by evacuation to Pittsburgh, or by air to Cleveland, based on the trauma centers in the area).

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

Hey everyone, another week gone by, another week of interesting (and mildly concerning) events. As a side note I'm working on editing the next book club video on the Forgotten 500, along with the Debilitating Tools of War. Will have an update on those by monday, hope to have at least one most of the way edited by tonight.

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/oH1GfsnOxDw

00:00 - Northeast Region

04:32 - Southeast Region

13:22 - Southwestern Region

14:02 - Western Europe

18:42 - Far East

24:57 GhostNet Reports

27:05 Closing Thoughts

//The Wire//2100Z July 12, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: CHINESE ACTIVITY CONTINUES IN THE PACIFIC. AT&T REVEALS DETAILS OF 2022 CYBERATTACK.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Far East: Chinese activity continues to expand throughout the region. Yesterday, a USCG cutter began shadowing a PLAN Task Force operating off the coast of Alaska. Four PLAN vessels were conducting maneuvers in the Bering Sea within the US EEZ, but remained within international waters approximately 100 NM north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands.

-HomeFront-

USA: This morning AT&T revealed the damage caused by a major cyberattack and data breach that took place in late 2022. AT&T stated that the phone call logs and text message data of “nearly all” customers was compromised nationwide, encompassing roughly 110 million Americans. Hackers were allegedly able to access AT&T’s cloud server data, but AT&T claims that the content of data pertaining to phone calls and text messages stored on their servers was not compromised. AT&T also claims that customer’s names were not compromised, however this data could be easily obtained by other means. At least one person has reportedly been arrested in connection with this cyberattack.

AC: AT&T claims that this 2022 breach is somehow related to the recent Snowflake data breach incident, which has slowly increased in severity over the past month as forensic examination of the data cloud giant reveals the true magnitude of the breach.

North Carolina: The controversy surrounding a training product referring to peaceful pro-life groups has widened following additional information coming to light. The National Right to Life Committee (RTLC) has issued a statement in response to being categorized as a terror group, in which they mentioned that the logo on the controversial training slide had been retired some time ago. Subsequent investigation by users on social media found evidence of that training product being used years ago, with anecdotal testimony from soldiers familiar with the training product asserting that this Powerpoint slide deck has been in use for over a decade (though this latter claim cannot be independently verified beyond reasonable doubt). Fort Liberty (Bragg) has not responded to this latest information.

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

Analyst Comments: The Chinese activity in the Far East is probably related to a myriad of operational goals. First and foremost, China and Russia are currently conducting large joint naval maneuvers and/or drills (which itself is probably scheduled to coincide with American RIMPAC 2024 exercises) in the Pacific. However, activity not traditionally part of the exercises has been noted, such as the presence of PLAN vessels off the coast of Alaska. China’s long-standing deception doctrine heavily relies on the theory of blending real-world operational deployments, with training exercises. In theory, this would allow China to creep ever closer to war, under the guise of conducting training exercises. On that front, China has demonstrated significant gains. Right now, China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Shandong, is conducting maneuvers in the western Pacific, which is the first time China has projected this much naval power beyond the First Island Chain. However, as most of China’s real-world combat experience lies with the lessons learned during the Korean War, most of China’s military doctrine (especially amphibious operations or expeditionary campaigns) remains largely untested in the modern battlespace. This strategic ambiguity makes it challenging to discern the true likelihood of China’s aspirations being successful.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//

//The Wire//1830Z July 11, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF:  CHINESE ACTIVITY INCREASES SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE TAIWAN STRAIT. CONTROVERSIAL ARMY TRAINING PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS GROWING CONCERNS.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

France: A fire broke out in the spire of Rouen Cathedral in Normandy yesterday evening. The cause of the fire within this 12th century cathedral remains unknown.

Far East: Chinese activity in the Taiwan Strait substantially increased overnight. 66x PLA aircraft and 7x PLAN vessels were reported to be operating in the area by Taiwanese forces. AC: This is a significant increase in one day’s observed PLA activity, with some sources claiming it’s a new record for the number of PLA aircraft observed in single day.

South Pacific: Conflict and civil unrest reignites in New Caledonia as demonstrations against French forces increase. Riots have increased over the past few days in response to a police shooting on the outskirts of the capitol of Noumea.

-HomeFront-

North Carolina: Controversy has erupted following a training event at Fort Bragg (currently named Fort Liberty, due to the revisionist name-change DoD policy). Leaked images of Powerpoint slides used during the training event indicate that units are labeling peaceful pro-life groups as terrorists, not just “extremists” as they were previously categorized. The leaked training product makes many false claims, and is directly hostile towards Constitutionally protected activities such as peaceful protests, picketing, etc.

Following this controversy, an official statement by the XVIII Airborne Corps (posted on the Fort Liberty Facebook page) has disavowed the training product and the ideology contained on the slides. However, as these slides came from the unit responsible for installation access and security, it is not clear as to if gate guards were using this guidance to conduct unlawful, ideologically-motivated searches, flag certain license plates in their databases, or otherwise commit other Constitutional violations. It is also not clear as to if military law enforcement were using this guidance in the gathering of intelligence on US Persons as defined by EO 12333 or DoD Regulation 5240.01, which specifically states that Defense personnel “may not investigate U.S. persons or collect or maintain information about them solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment or the lawful exercise of other rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”

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

Analyst Comments: Many may not see the value in the significance of a Powerpoint presentation that was prepared by a random soldier, and already disavowed by higher leadership. However, this scandal is par for the course with regards to the recent ideological indoctrination that has run rampant through the military over the past few years. As the election creeps closer, and the inevitable militarization of our nation’s Capitol comes to fruition during this time, it would be wise to consider the atmospherics of how soldiers in some units view Constitutionally protected rights.

Though this specific situation is a somewhat minor case study and must be treated as such, in a larger sense this is not an isolated incident. In all likelihood these highly controversial Powerpoint slides are probably a holdover recycled from the “Extremism Standdown” that swept through the DoD a couple of years ago. As a reminder, this was an 8-10 month training campaign to push the one-sided idea that most conservative ideas are extremist in nature. Whether this latest anti-conservative, anti-American scandal is representative of an escalation of official DoD policy remains to be seen, but this indoctrination would hardly be surprising at this point….the jump from labeling peaceful American citizens as “extremists” to labeling them as “terrorists” seems to have occurred

//The Wire//2100Z July 10, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF:  US COMPLETES WITHDRAWAL OF ONE BASE IN NIGER, ADDITIONAL DRAWDOWNS CONTINUE. 911 CALL CENTER OUTAGE ISSUES CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE MIDWEST.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Niger: American forces have departed from Base 101 in the capitol of Niamey, following the mandate that forces the withdrawal of American forces within Niger. American forces are still in the process of withdrawing from Base 201 in Agadez, which is scheduled to be completed by the September 15th deadline imposed by Nigerien forces.

-HomeFront-

Nebraska: Several counties reported 911 call center outages overnight. No cause was given for the outage, and most services have since been restored.

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

Analyst Comments: The situation with regards to 911 call center outages in Nebraska (and parts of other Midwestern states) has been contentious for some time. This latest outage comes one day after Nebraska files a formal complaint against Windstream, the telecom company responsible for 911 call center operations. This more recent complaint is in reference to the 911 call center outages of last year.

Analyst: S2A1

//END REPORT//