WASHINGTON — The Pentagon conducted a war game in 2018 that pitted armed forces against a youth uprising dubbed "Zbellion," according to documents obtained by the Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act.
The troubling revelation came days after Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urged states to "dominate the battlespace" in dealing with Black Lives Matter protests.
Esper later withdrew the comment and signed orders to remove paratroopers from Washington, DC.
The war game envisioned members of Generation Z — radicalized by the Great Recession and student debt — would start a nationwide uprising in 2025.
The rebels would see themselves as "agents for social change" with the goal of helping to "move the world forward." According to the scenario, an insurgent group called Zbellion would start a protest movement in Seattle.
From there, civil unrest would spread to New York City; Washington, DC; Los Angeles; Los Vegas; and Austin.
The military expected tech-savvy insurgents to launch cyber attacks against financial institutions to redistribute wealth, to fund their colleagues, and to "spread a call for anarchy."
