ISSUE #120: Nord Stream leaks: A sabotage?
Nord Stream is a name given to the pair of natural gas pipelines, named as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, that were built to deliver the Russian gas to the Western Europe under the Baltic Sea. Both of these pipelines have been central to the energy standoff between Russia and Europe since the former invaded Ukraine, and why wouldn’t they?
Because both pipelines have the capacity to transport hundreds of millions of cubic metres of gas each day to the European countries, but the flow of gas from these pipelines was stopped as Germany cancelled the Nord Stream 2 project as Russia’s tensions with Ukraine were rising and Russia turned off the gas valves of Nord Stream 1 in late August. But both of the pipelines were filled with gas.
Now that you have an ideal understanding of what Nord Stream is, let’s delve into what has brought them into headlines again.
On Monday, a gas leak was observed in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which was followed by two more gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline several hours later and a large white circle of frothing water was formed as shown in the top most picture.
This was not the first time that someone tried to blow up the pipelines, but the only difference this time is that the pipelines have indeed been blown up.
In 2015, an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) , aka underwater drone, was found laden with explosives near the Nord Stream 1 pipeline when the pipeline’s annual integrity assessment was being carried out.
“Since it was within the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) approximately 120 km away from the island of Gotland, the Swedes called on their armed forces to remove and ultimately disarm the object,” read a 2015 article.
So, it’s quite clear that the pipelines had been under radar for quite some time.
This is significant because it happened at a time when the relations between Moscow and the Western governments are deteriorating quickly, and an incident like this only serves as a cause of further escalations as both factions are accusing each other of a possible sabotage.
Unless you are among the ones who think it happened by accident, which it didn’t, there is a stronger possibility that someone is behind this who stands to gain a lot from such an action.
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times, it's enemy action.” - Ian Fleming
WHO CARRIED OUT THE ENEMY ACTION?
The Nord Stream projects have always been opposed by Central and Eastern European countries as well as the US because of their concerns that Europe is “over reliant” on the Russian gas which would lead to an increased Russia’s influence in the region. Also, the pipelines were built to directly transport the Russian gas to Germany with no need to pay transit fees for the use of existing pipelines in countries like Poland and Ukraine.
In one of the interviews from 2014, Condoleezza Rice - who served as the US Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009 - said, “You want to change the structure of energy dependence. You want to depend more on the North America energy platform ... to have pipelines that don't go through Ukraine & Russia.”
More recently, both Biden and Victoria Nuland said that Nord Stream 2 will not continue if Russia invades Ukraine, and after seven months of invasion, we have results in front of our eyes.
You can also add Mike Pompeo’s, former US Secretary of State, “We will do everything” [to stop Nord Stream 2 project] to this list.
What would you make of all this? If you are a big proponent of the US empire and your cognitive dissonance stops you from being more suspicious of the US than Russia, consider this: Let’s say I go on a national media channel and openly say that if my neighbor ever passes in front of my house, I’m gonna kill him. After 7 months, if the dead body of my neighbor was found in the street and a video footage of him passing in front of my house also got leaked, who do you think the police is going to arrest first i.e; be suspicious of?
Even if this doesn’t help, let’s consider this: When solving mysteries, you look for who has more to gain from something you're trying to solve the mystery of.
Does Russia gain anything, even a bit, from destroying the pipelines it owns? The pipelines which it invested billions of dollars in? The pipelines which were a long term asset for the country as they were bringing billions of dollars in revenue each year? The pipelines which were a key leverage against Europe? The answer to all these questions is no, no, no, and NO. A destroyed pipeline is of zero benefit to Russia as it can no longer use them to gain negotiation power. This is so elementary that I feel dumb while explaining this.
Every argument of those who say that Russia blew up its own energy infrastructure eventually boils down to, “Putin is crazy, we can’t know why he does what he does. He ordered his intelligence and the navy force to conduct such a task because he’s BONKERS.” This is their response whenever you ask them why would Russia do this.
Now, let’s do it with the US. Does the US gain something from blowing up the pipelines? After thinking critically on this for a minute, you’d realize that the US has A LOT to gain from doing this. It can blame Putin for “weaponising” energy and paint him as a bad guy in the eyes of the Westerns. It can escalate the war and use the explosions as a cause of the escalations. It can make the continent more dependent on the private American corporations. It can sell its expensive oil and gas for the sake of profit.
This is where the pipelines were hit:
So, the ruptures in the pipelines occurred near the Danish Island of Bornholm.
You’d be surprised to know that in June of this year, NATO conducted its annual BALTOPS military exercise in the Baltic Sea and the exercises had significant focus on using US Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) to clear sea mines. Still not surprised? I bet you will when you know that these experiments were conducted right off coast of the island we talked about above.
Hell, the member of the European Parliament even posted a photo of gas leaking from the pipelines with the caption, “Thank You, USA.”
This is not to mention that Germany was warned by the CIA of a possible attack on the pipelines weeks in advance. Isn’t it amazing to have the capability of predicting the future with 100% precision? It certainly is.
“But isn’t Germany the ally of the US? Why would the US betray its ally?,” you might ask.
Yes, it’s an ally of the US, but only on the papers. In practice, the US only has interests.
If attacking Germany’s energy infrastructure comes up with the possibility that the US can maintain its imperial hegemony over the world, only an idiot would believe that the US won’t do it because Germany is “an ally.” That’s as childish as thinking the lion would prefer grass over meat.
“But Harry, how attacking Germany’s energy infrastructure furthers the US’s imperial agendas?”
The rise of Germany as a financier of the entire Eurozone can’t be ignored. Over the decades, it has financed the Eurozone with around 1.24 trillion Euros; thanks to the surplus it generates from having access to the cheap Russian gas via the now-destroyed pipelines and exporting lots of industrial products.
That for the US is unacceptable because when you’re an imperialist, you have to make sure that none of any other power structures manage to increase its influence over any area of significance.
Yes, as of recently, the Russian gas wasn’t reaching Germany but that could have changed any time if the pipelines remained functional. Now, there is no way that the destroyed pipelines can deliver gas to Germany directly even if its politicians want it.
And we shouldn’t forget that this is one little part of the long term neoconservative plan for the continued US supremacy over the world.
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