The Wire - December 2, 2024

//The Wire//2300Z December 2, 2024//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: ALEPPO OFFENSIVE CONTINUES, ADDITIONAL AXIS OF ADVANCE OPENS TOWARDS HAMA. HUNTER BIDEN PARDONED. TENUOUS CEASEFIRE IN LEBANON COLLAPSES.//
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-International Events-
Syria: The advance on Aleppo continues, with rebel forces (mostly HTS) now controlling most of the western half of the city. The airport in Aleppo is also now controlled by rebel forces, to include a few major Syrian Army (SAA) depots and the complement of fighter aircraft that were abandoned by the Army as the airport was being overrun.
Over the weekend, a separate axis of advance was observed maneuvering toward Hama, another major city just north of Homs. This southern advance now threatens the logistical corridor used by the Russian Naval base in Tartus, Russia’s only direct access point for the Mediterranean Sea that does not involve going through the Turkish Straits.
Lebanon: The ceasefire has collapsed following targeting in Lebanon this afternoon. Today, Hezbollah launched two rockets toward Israeli positions, prompting Israel to renew aerial targeting efforts. AC: Both sides claim the other broke the ceasefire first; Hezbollah claims their rockets were the retaliation for earlier Israeli targeting, while Israel omits any previous targeting that they have conducted after the ceasefire was brokered.
-HomeFront-
Washington D.C. – Yesterday afternoon President Biden pardoned his son Hunter for any and all crimes he has committed from January 1, 2014 until December 1, 2024. This afternoon the White House confirmed that this will not be the only pardon issued by President Biden before leaving office, and that other pardons are currently in the works.
Also in Washington, this morning mainstream media (citing unnamed sources) have claimed that the United States is preparing another $725 million aid package to Ukraine, which allegedly includes military aid in the form of Anti-Personnel Landmines (APLs).
Florida: Controversy has erupted following some of the more contentious cabinet appointment choices that Donald Trump has announced as his administration takes shape. Over the weekend the incoming Trump administration announced the nomination of Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the DEA. AC: Chronister has gained infamy over the years for his draconian policies during the COVID era, which included the arrest of a local pastor who dared to hold Church services in violation of social-distancing orders. Chronister is also a supporter of transgender ideology (and law enforcement taking part in it via various social events celebrating social degeneracy), and has been a champion of DEI initiatives, to include the early release of violent criminals who have gone on to immediately reoffend.
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Analyst Comments: Online, the reaction to Hunter Biden’s pardon has been mixed. Most people seem to be reflecting on the hypocrisy of Joe Biden pardoning a family member when he explicitly stated that he would not do that, while many others have taken the perspective that Biden’s act was a respectable one. However, for those equating Biden’s act as one of a father doing anything to save his son, one detail might derail that wholesome thought. Hunter’s pardon was a blanket amnesty, covering anything Hunter might have done over a period of 11 years. Considering the potential crimes that he may have committed that we will never even know about (because no investigation will ever be conducted now), this distinction is important and has a wider range of implications than a simple case of corruption. For instance, if we were to find out that Hunter Biden was the kingpin of the Epstein human trafficking network, he’s already been pardoned for it. Though no one actually expects any member of society’s elite to actually serve a sentence for a crime they have committed, by issuing a blanket pardon the investigations into other crimes (and any quasi-realistic hope of any sort of truth coming to light) are effectively shut down. This means that there may be substantial crimes (and victims) that we will never even know about in the first place, and untold levels of corruption that cannot be stopped because the American people simply won’t ever know about it. Wanting Hunter to serve the sentence for crimes that he was convicted of in court is largely irrelevant; framing the issue in terms of hypocrisy and honor is missing out on the larger concerns. Far more concerning are the smaller details of his specific corruption and crimes that he was never even criminally charged with that could have been investigated if a blanket pardon had not been granted.
If Hunter was found guilty of something Joe Biden himself was also involved in, such as the Burisma/Ukraine connection, this pardon effectively silences those investigations too. As such, this pardon probably isn’t really about Hunter at all; after all no one has prosecuted Hunter for the disturbing content found on his laptop. In reality, this is probably more about Joe Biden insulating himself from at least one avenue of prosecution that could not be quelled by the standard power and influence that former Presidents within the Democratic Party usually have. By framing the issue as Joe Biden doing “anything to save his son” is rejecting the other side of the coin…that there are many others that would also do anything to save their sons (and daughters) from the Biden family. Negating this latter idea would also be a disservice to the lives lost in Ukraine, as now that any potential corruption investigation has been shut down, we may never know the full extent of what really happened in Ukraine.
Analyst: S2A1
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