Thanks to an open threat issued by President Biden, the question must be asked: Is the United States behind the two explosions that caused a massive natural gas leak into the Baltic Sea? The incident has cutoff Russia’s ability to deliver methane gas to Germany and other European nations.
The release of methane into the water and atmosphere is killing marine life and delivering a greenhouse gas pollutant into the atmosphere that would be gravely feared by believers in man-made global warming. The word “eco-terrorism” comes to mind the describe the act of sabotage, if that’s what the explosions were.
YouTube screengrab (cropped)
Powerful voices are blaming Russia. According to the Washington Post, which frequently serves as an outlet for the Intelligence Community:
Five European officials with direct knowledge of security discussions said there was a widespread assumption that Russia was behind the incident. Only Russia had the motivation, the submersible equipment and the capability, several of them said, though they cautioned that they did not yet have direct evidence of Russia’s involvement.
“No one on the European side of the ocean is thinking this is anything other than Russian sabotage,” said a senior European environmental official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal thinking about the leak.
One official said it might have been a message to NATO: “We are close.” Another said that it could be a threat to other, non-Russian energy infrastructure, since so many pipelines crisscross the Baltic Sea, including the one inaugurated Tuesday. A third noted that crucial internet data cables lie along the bottom of the sea, and there have been long-standing concerns that Russia has a submersible program that could cut them, causing communications chaos around the world.
But why would Russia want to preclude its ability to use the pipelines for leverage, threatening to further reduce – or increase – its delivery of natural gas? Russia could always cut deliveries without damaging the pipeline, after all, and maintain the ability to reward behavior it wants by increasing the delivery of gas. The explosions remove that lever from Putin’s grasp.
What raises intense suspicion on the United States is the very specific threat that President Biden issued against Nordstream last February 7:
Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades...then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it." Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since...the project is in Germany's control?" Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that."
This is not conclusive proof of US involvement, of course, but assuming Putin is not so stupid as destroy his own pipeline, it must raise grave suspicions in his mind that the US is behind the eco-terrorism. Sponsored by Revcontent