|
|
How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline
Hersh, Seymour
http://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-streamDate Written: 2023-02-08 Year Published: 2023 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX24846 The New York Times called it a "mystery," but the United States executed a covert sea operation that was kept a secret - until now. Abstract: - Excerpt: There was a vital bureaucratic reason for relying on the graduates of the center's hardcore diving school in Panama City. The divers were Navy only, and not members of America's Special Operations Command, whose covert operations must be reported to Congress and briefed in advance to the Senate and House leadership, the so-called Gang of Eight. The Biden Administration was doing everything possible to avoid leaks as the planning took place late in 2021 and into the first months of 2022. President Biden and his foreign policy team National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Victoria Nuland, the Undersecretary of State for Policy had been vocal and consistent in their hostility to the two pipelines, which ran side by side for 750 miles under the Baltic Sea from two different ports in northeastern Russia near the Estonian border, passing close to the Danish island of Bornholm before ending in northern Germany. The direct route, which bypassed any need to transit Ukraine, had been a boon for the German economy, which enjoyed an abundance of cheap Russian natural gas enough to run its factories and heat its homes while enabling German distributors to sell excess gas, at a profit, throughout Western Europe. Action that could be traced to the administration would violate US promises to minimize direct conflict with Russia. Secrecy was essential. Subject Headings |