10
Feb
2023
According to US journalist Seymour Hersh, citing a source "with direct knowledge of the operation's planning," plans to blow up the two Nord Stream pipelines began in December 2021, a good two months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At that time, a specially formed working group came together in Washington, in which, under the direction of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, employees from the US General Staff, the CIA and the State Department, among others, explored possibilities for destroying the Nord Stream pipelines. It quickly became clear that this was at the direct request of the US President, reports Hersh's source.[1] A CIA working group then dealt with the operational planning, which reported at the beginning of 2022 that a possibility had been found for the clandestine implementation of the project. However, those involved were dismayed when shortly afterwards, on February 7, 2022, at a joint press conference with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Joe Biden said that “there will be no more Nord Stream 2” in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. : "We will put an end to it."[2] According to Hersh's source, several CIA employees complained at the time that the planned action was no longer classified.
According to Hersh, employees of the Norwegian secret service and soldiers of the Norwegian Navy were involved in the practical preparation of the blast and its actual implementation. The conditions for this were created by the increased US military presence in Norway and the extremely close military cooperation with the armed forces of the country from which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also comes.[3] According to Hersh, Norwegian marines chose the most appropriate attack site; With their knowledge of the Baltic Sea, they also helped to prepare the necessary camouflage for the explosives that were to be attached to the pipelines, but at the same time urged that at least selected government employees in Denmark and Sweden be briefed on the basics of the operation so as not to endanger them – not even after the fact by investigating the attack. In fact, it is not only astonishing that almost nothing has officially become known about the reconnaissance work - in contrast to the wild, often unfounded speculation with which Russia has been willingly blamed for attacks in recent years. Sweden's excessive secrecy is also astounding: The country does not even inform allied NATO countries about the results of its investigations.[4]
According to Hersh's source, divers attached the explosive device to the pipeline strings during exercise BALTOPS 2022. The Bundeswehr was also involved in BALTOPS 2022. Popular descriptions of the course of the maneuver say that the armed forces involved tried new high-tech methods, including technologies to increase the range of underwater drones. There has sometimes been speculation about the use of such drones to prepare for the attack; Hersh doesn't. However, he could point out that, according to the official description of the maneuver, naval divers laid dummy explosive devices during the exercise, which then had to be defused ( german-foreign-policy.com reported [5]). This would easily leave room for inconspicuous placement of the explosive devices on the Nord Stream lines. Hersh reports the divers and explosives were brought to the scene on a Norwegian ship. Research by independent journalists revealed yesterday that a minesweeper from Norway did indeed pass very close to the crime scene in June; it did not stop directly there, but only a few nautical miles away in several places. According to Hersh, the explosive device was eventually detonated by a detonator that responded to a sonar buoy. This had been dropped by a Norwegian maritime reconnaissance aircraft not far from the scene of the crime.[6]
Hersh's research is received with great interest worldwide - even in countries that are closely allied with the USA. The conservative London Times, for example, devoted a detailed and fair article to Hersh's revelations.[7] The newspaper published an article last week pointing to western perpetrators; Among other things, she quoted the former BND chief August Hanning as saying that there were "reasons" for the USA, Ukraine, Poland and Great Britain to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines.[8] At the end of 2022, two leading US newspapers, the Washington Post and the New York Times, devoted extensive articles to the attacks and explicitly pointed out that there was no evidence whatsoever of Russian perpetrators. Instead, it was said, numerous government officials on both sides of the Atlantic believed the attack must have been carried out by a Western country.[9]
Leading German media, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with questioning Hersh's research and supporting the US government's claim that it had nothing to do with the attack. For example, citing an employee of the University of the Federal Armed Forces, it is said that "the laying and clearing of mines" has been part of the program at BALTOPS "for years"; moreover, it is "at least difficult" to "carry out a covert operation" during a multinational maneuver.[10] These are "inconsistencies" that - it is said - speak against Hersh's research. This is not true: the fact that an operation is 'difficult' does not preclude it from being carried out. Elsewhere it is said that the lack of reporting on the investigation of the attack so far is due to the fact that what can actually be "proven" is "only made public".[11] Years before the start of the war, leading German media repeated every tangible accusation against Russia, even if there was not the slightest evidence for it.[12]
The flat partisanship for the Western powers, which the leading German media also cultivate in the Ukraine war, not only catches the eye; it has now also been documented in detail in a study. A study published in December by three communication scientists states, for example, that the leading media “clearly overwhelmingly” support the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine; military support is also widely presented "as more sensible than diplomatic measures".[13] Anyone who refuses the delivery of heavy weapons or even shows reluctance is attacked as a "hesitant". As early as June, the former editor-in-chief of the Greens-affiliated taz, Bascha Mika, criticized: “Press representatives are romping about like heroes in trenches, roll over when demanding even heavier weapons, drive the government along because of alleged hesitance and mock about the Sipri Peace Institute's warning of a nuclear war.”[14] Such agitation has long since stopped permitting critical research – including the bomb attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.
[1] Seymour Hersh: How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline. seymourhersh.substack.com 02/08/2023.
[2] Remarks by President Biden and Chancellor Scholz of the Federal Republic of Germany at Press Conference. whitehouse.gov 07.02.2022.
[3] Seymour Hersh, How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline. seymourhersh.substack.com 02/08/2023.
[4] S Crime scene Baltic Sea .
[5] BALTOPS 22: A perfect opportunity for research and testing new technology. sfn.nato.int 12.06.2022. p "Goodbye, Nord Stream" (III) .
[6] Seymour Hersh, How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline. seymourhersh.substack.com 02/08/2023.
[7] Marc Bennetts: Who attacked the Nord Stream pipelines? thetimes.co.uk 02/02/2023.
[8] Emanuele Midolo: US bombed Nord Stream gas pipelines, claims investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. thetimes.co.uk 02/08/2023.
[9] S Crime scene Baltic Sea .
[10] Pascal Siggelkow: What's up with the Hersh report about US sabotage? tagesschau.de 09.02.2023.
[11] Jan Schneider: Nord Stream: The silence after the explosion. zdf.de 09.02.2023.
[12] p The new Russia strategy and In the spiral of escalation (II) .
[13] Prof Dr Marcus Maurer, Dr. Jörg Hassler, Dr. Pablo Jost: The quality of media coverage of the Ukraine war. Research report on the first findings. October 15, 2022.
[14] Bascha Mika: Corona, war, inflation: unsettled country. fr.de 20.06.2022.