by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
For the good of humanity, this has got to stop. The United States and Russia both keep raising the stakes, and if we keep repeating this cycle it will end with a nuclear war that could ultimately result in billions of deaths. Unfortunately, leaders on both sides do not seem interested in peace at this point. The votes that Russia just conducted in four disputed territories were inevitably going to raise tensions even higher. Of course the western powers have been greatly escalating matters themselves. Over the past couple of months, NATO has gotten far more deeply involved in the conflict in Ukraine, and now the war is starting to spread beyond Ukrainian borders.
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Everyone agrees that the damage caused to the Nord Stream pipeline system was an act of sabotage. As I discussed yesterday, an explosion that registered 1.9 on the Richter scale was followed by a second explosion that registered 2.3 on the Richter scale. These explosions were absolutely huge, and that suggests that this was a military operation.
Many in the western world are blaming Russia for the sabotage, but why would they blow up pipelines that they spent so much time and energy constructing and that have enabled them to make giant mountains of money selling natural gas to Europe?
The Russians have already been punishing the Europeans by restricting the flow of gas through those pipelines. There was certainly no need to blow them up.
If it is ultimately proven that the Russians did this, it would be one of the stupidest geopolitical moves that I have ever seen.
Of course there is someone else that could have done it.
On Friday, September 23rd the following statement was posted on the official White House website…
The United States will never recognize Ukrainian territory as anything other than part of Ukraine. Russia’s referenda are a sham – a false pretext to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force in flagrant violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter. We will work with our allies and partners to impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia. The United States stands with our partners around the world – and with every nation that respects the core tenets of the UN charter – in rejecting whatever fabricated outcomes Russia will announce. We will continue to support the Ukrainian people and provide them with security assistance to help them defend themselves as they courageously resist Russia’s invasion.
So Joe Biden promised to impose “swift and severe economic costs on Russia” on Friday, and then on Monday both Nord Stream pipelines were blown up.
And by now you have probably already heard that Joe Biden threatened to attack the Nord Stream pipeline system before the war in Ukraine even started…
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.”
Biden had obviously been discussing this option with his advisers, and one of those advisers named Victoria Nuland also made a similar threat prior to the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict…
“If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”
Some enterprising reporter needs to ask the Biden administration if they were responsible for the sabotage.
Of course they will probably deny it even if they ordered the attack.
But it is interesting to note that the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group entered the Baltic Sea in early September…
The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) with the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) concluded two successful training events with the Swedish Armed Forces and Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG) 1 while operating in the Baltic Sea, Sept. 4, 2022.
Unfortunately, the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group didn’t leave the Baltic Sea area right away.
In fact, it is being reported that this task force didn’t actually leave the Baltic Sea until a few days ago…
The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) have departed the Baltic Sea and are in the English Channel. The ARG includes USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), USS Arlington (LPD-24) and USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44). Kearsarge and Gunston Hall completed port calls in Gdynia and Gdansk, respectively, last week.
This would have given them plenty of time to plant explosives on the Nord Stream pipeline system if they were inclined to do so.
In addition, we have learned that the U.S. Navy was testing “the latest advancements in unmanned underwater vehicle mine hunting technology” in the Baltic Sea during the month of June…
A significant focus of BALTOPS every year is the demonstration of NATO mine hunting capabilities, and this year the U.S. Navy continues to use the exercise as an opportunity to test emerging technology, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Public Affairs said June 14.
In support of BALTOPS, U.S. Navy 6th Fleet partnered with U.S. Navy research and warfare centers to bring the latest advancements in unmanned underwater vehicle mine hunting technology to the Baltic Sea to demonstrate the vehicle’s effectiveness in operational scenarios.
Experimentation was conducted off the coast of Bornholm, Denmark, with participants from Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport, and Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring all under the direction of U.S. 6th Fleet Task Force 68.
Our Navy seems to have spent a lot of time in the Baltic Sea lately, eh?
Needless to say, the Russians are very angry about what has happened, and they have called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council…
“Russia has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with sabotage against two lines of the Nord Stream. We expect it to be held tomorrow,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, one of Russia’s top representatives at the U.N., wrote on his Telegram channel, according to a translation.
Shortly after issuing the statement early Wednesday, the French delegation to the U.N. confirmed to him that a meeting would indeed take place on Friday – a tacit acknowledgement of the panic that the explosions and subsequent leaks have caused.
It will be very interesting to see what transpires at that meeting.
Let us hope that the truth about all of this eventually comes out.
But even more, let us hope that cooler heads start to prevail and that leaders on both sides start to push for peace.
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