Did the US Government Blow Up the Nord Stream Pipelines?

A few days ago, I tweeted that peace in Ukraine should be the objective of anyone who cares about human life.

I don’t see this as a controversial statement in the least, yet some people see things differently. One reader expressed shock that I believed the US government was behind the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, as was claimed by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Sy Hersh.

“Last June, Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.

Two of the pipelines, which were known collectively as Nord Stream 1, had been providing Germany and much of Western Europe with cheap Russian natural gas for more than a decade. A second pair of pipelines, called Nord Stream 2, had been built but were not yet operational.”

It wasn’t just Hersh’s reporting that made me suspect the US was behind the attack, which the US denies.

In February 2022, shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden appeared to threaten to destroy the pipeline if Russia attacked Ukraine (1:30 mark).

Biden: "If Russia invades...there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."

Reporter: "How will you do that, exactly?"

Biden: "I promise you, we'll be able to do it (smiles).

None of this is definitive proof that the US government is behind the attack on Nord Stream 2, but I think it’s the likeliest scenario.

I’ll offer more elaboration soon (hopefully this weekend)