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August 16, 2024 - 1:20pm
Could the people responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in September 2022 now also blow up the German coalition government? This is a question that certainly weighs heavily on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s mind as more evidence pours in, supporting the theory that sabotaging the natural gas connection between Russia and Germany was a Ukrainian operation.
There are still debates concerning to what degree the highest echelons of the Zelensky government were involved, but the Western press has this week published claims that Ukraine’s President did in fact approve such a plan and only withdrew his support as a result of US pressure.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “one of the most audacious acts of sabotage in modern history” was concocted “out of a night of heavy boozing and the iron determination of a handful of people who had the guts to risk their lives for their country”. What sounds like the plot of an episode of Hogan’s Heroes, however, might not entirely hold up under closer scrutiny. In particular, the allegation that governments — and not just private individuals — were involved is gaining traction. It is now hard to find anyone who’ll deny that there were debates among the Ukrainian leadership to strike against the pipeline; what’s more, there are suspicions that Poland was informed as well.
The latter suggestion is supported not only by Polish resistance to cooperate with German investigators, but by a now-deleted tweet from Radosław Sikorski — who has since become Poland’s Foreign Minister — thanking the US for blowing up the pipeline. Then there’s the failure of Polish authorities to act on an arrest warrant issued by Germany, calling for the detention of a Ukrainian citizen believed to be involved.
German authorities have clearly been working more diligently than expected on uncovering the plot, and one has to wonder whether the country’s government is itself happy about this. A popular immediate reaction to the news of Ukrainian involvement was to double down on the explanation that “Russia was behind it”. For instance, Gerhard Schindler, who was President of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) between 2011 to 2016, told the German Newspaper Die Welt that “the investigation results may point towards a Ukrainian group. But that does not mean that Ukraine was the client. From an intelligence perspective, there is much to suggest a false flag operation by the Russians. They are capable of it.”
Ironically, this view is allegedly supported by intelligence linking Ukrainian nationals to Moscow — but this information is provided by Polish intelligence services, which otherwise have not been particularly helpful with German investigations.
It is hard to overstate the implications of what potentially unfolded two years ago. That is: a plot to destroy critical energy infrastructure in a Nato member state (Germany), potentially abetted by another Nato state (Poland), and known to the leader of the alliance (the United States). Even the Wall Street Journal report admits that the attack was “an assault on critical infrastructure that could be considered an act of war under international law”.
While it is unlikely that Germany would declare war or invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, this will still have domestic implications. Political parties critical of unconditional support for Ukraine are already in the ascendancy, especially the Alternative for Germany and the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht, and will most certainly use these recent revelations in their campaigning.
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Subscribeit’s hard to take this story at face value. We are to believe that a bunch of people, their diving proficiency notwithstanding, took matters into their own hands and blew up some pipelines.
Germany was effectively attacked, whether with the approval of its lord and master the US, or as this investigation claims, by a nation the German taxpayer is at least in part supporting in the conflict. To call it an act of war is accurate. Will anything come of it?
Germany is an occupied country and a client state of the US. Whatever the people there think is irrelevant.
You make that sound like a bad thing. Ever since the Tuetonic people became a nation however they’ve proven to be an unruly neighbor I think it’s quite a positive thing Uncle Sam is keeping them calmed down.
The Americans have been justifiably complaining for years (long before Trump), that the Germans were freeloading off American defence spending. And Mr. Schmitt thinks it’s all America’s fault.
There’s no pleasing some people, is there?
It was the US’s decision, not Germany’s, to permanently occupy us by coercing West Germany to join NATO.
Of course the US wants more “efficiency” out of their puppet. Apparently self-immolating our economy to appease a very stupid proxy war 200 km from Moscow isn’t enough?
There is no good reason at all why Russia might have done this. It clearly doesn’t serve any of their strategic goals. Anyway, had they wished, as some suggest, to put pressure on Berlin in this way, all they would have had to do is turn off the tap at their end. The explanations offered by the Germans, Ukraine and the US make no sense.
“There is no good reason at all why Russia might have done this.”
Practice? On a thing that was no longer useful as Germany wasn’t buying Russian gas anymore
No they weren’t but they might have been tempted when they realised they were tanking their economy. Ukraine just wanted to help them stick to their resolutions. Keep temptation out of the way as you might to any addict.
They did the Germans a favour they can concentrate on 100% green energy. Isn’t that what they voted for? Aren’t they going to ban those far right AfD who think otherwise?
Poe’s Law in action.
Can you think of any good reason/s why America would do it/want it done, Hugh? (asking for a friend)……
To stop Germany trading with the enemy.
Same reason the US Democrats have been dabbling in Ukrainian politics since Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State and Biden Jr was collecting the bunce there for his Dad:
Money.
How much of the funding provided to Ukraine by Democrats in Congress in 2019 was recycled to their 2020 campaign via FTX?
Thanks to fracking, America has plenty of gas.
Sells for a nice price, especially to countries who follow the Settled Science™ that Ruinable Energy is the answer to every energy question.
Germany and Europe pay Russia for the gas that runs through the pipeline. America wanted to cut off that money.
Does “asking for a friend” in brackets mean “not a real question”? You could consider how much the US is making from sales of LPG to Europe as a result of the Nordstream pipelines being destroyed for a start.
The Wall Street Journal article is sloppy journalism that reflects its new leadership’s Fleet Street roots. There are some real weak spots in the reporting. It may be just a concocted story — hard to tell.
But it sounds plausible, and a lot more likely than Seymour Hersh’s claim that the American CIA did it. Or that the Russians themselves did it and are now trying to blame the Ukrainians. Neither of those stories has the ring of truth.
Can we really trust the WSJ?
Putin is fine about blowing up his own people as a false flag operation, not blowing up his own pipelines.
A generation from now Germany will be the economic, political and cultural basket case of Europe. Germany’s birthrate has plummeted to near that of Italy. Energy costs have soared. Political leadership is rudderless. As German industrial leadership continues to offshore their investments – particularly to China – Germany’s cradle to grave social contract will no longer be sustained.
The story peddled by the WSJ is utter nonsense, nobody with modicum of intelligence can give it any credence. And to pretend that the WSJ is an independent journalistic product which independently researched the facts and just happens to publish this story now is equally nonsense.
So the far more intriguing question is – why this explosive poppycock? And why now?
So is it or isn’t it a criminal charge against a Ukrainian being made by the German State??
Cognitive dissonance on your part maybe?
If proven to be sanctioned by Zelensky then this is an act of war against an ally. Suprised loss of German “support” might be the only consequence. When one considers the economic consequences to Europe in terms of forward optionality I would expect something more muscular.
Something like the Ribbentrop Molotov Pact you mean?
What if it was sanctioned by Biden?
Um… what German support for Ukraine? They’ve barely contributed a thing.
What planet are you on? Apart from the US, the number one contributor to Ukraine (including military aid) has be Germany.
https://www.statista.com/chart/28489/ukrainian-military-humanitarian-and-financial-aid-donors/
Why is anyone even looking for the Nordstream bombers? As far as I am concerned, they are heroes who did the world a favour! If anyone finds them, please buy them a beer from me!
We’re lucky to have Martin M to set us straight…
A man who never met a Russian he didn’t hate. Probably just a man who never met a Russian period.
I have met the occasional one (in the Seychelles mostly, funnily enough – they seem to congregate there), but they are mercifully thin on the ground in my country of residence. My maternal grandfather met quite a few though, courtesy of 7 years in a Siberian POW camp.
A lot of people seem to think that Europe is not buying Russian natural gas any more. That’s false. Russia decided to cut back on its supplies, but Europe is still buying all that Russia will sell it.
In fact, believe it or not, some natural gas is still flowing from Russia through Ukraine pipelines to Europe. That deal goes through the end of this year, and Ukraine has no plans to renew it.
Turkey and Azerbaijan are also “laundering” natural gas that comes from Russia to supply Europe. Everyone knows it is happening, but no one stops it.
Ukraine should look at “interdicting” supplies at the Russian end then.
Why? Ukraine would lose more by doing that than it would gain. A lot of people seem to think that Ukraine enjoys wide support around the world. Certainly that’s mostly true in Europe and North America, with a few exceptions.
But Russia has a lot of support from China, India, Africa and Latin America where Russia has historical ties. Ukraine cutting off the flow of natural gas and other resources to those countries would do a lot of harm to Ukraine’s efforts to build support. Even in Europe, countries still depend heavily on Russian natural gas.
Seymour Hersh reported on how the Biden Administration planned and executed the bombing of the pipeline over a year ago. The intelligence community with the help of the MSM have been trying to discredit his reporting ever since, including planting stories about how Ukraine did it.
Seymour Hersh’s reporting had weak sourcing. He had one unnamed source and no corroborating evidence to back that person’s story up. There was no need for anyone to try to discredit his reporting. It had no credit to dis, being no more than rumor.
Nord Stream 2 was the tool of the German fanatics of two different flavors. For the Drang Nach Osten fanatics is was the stranglehold on Poland and Ukraine, enduring dream of Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. For green fanatics it was the great instrument of green washing, pretending that they are saving the planet, while in fact making Germany totally dependent on Putin. Both kinds greatly contributed to the Putin invasion of Ukraine and they can just go straight to hell. Whoever was responsible for blowing up NordSream 2 deserves our grattitude. Chapeau bas!
The ongoing nord stream debacle knows no end. It wasn’t ukraine, then it was ukraine, then it wasn’t ukraine, now apparently they are sticking it on ukraine again.
Ukraine did not have the capability to carry out the attack, that is what the original media reports said.
I have a hard time believing Ukraine could pull it of without outside help. Someday we will know.
The “outside help” would be keen for the actual explosives to be placed by Ukrainians though.
If it doesn’t undermine German support for Ukraine something is seriously wrong with Germany.
Something is seriously wrong with Germany if it buys Russian gas. Trading with the enemy is never a good idea.