How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline
Comment of the Day

February 15 2023

Commentary by Eoin Treacy

How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline

This article from Seymour Hersh’s Substack may be of interest. Here is a section: 

In December of 2021, two months before the first Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Jake Sullivan convened a meeting of a newly formed task force—men and women from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, and the State and Treasury Departments—and asked for recommendations about how to respond to Putin’s impending invasion.

It would be the first of a series of top-secret meetings, in a secure room on a top floor of the Old Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House, that was also the home of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). There was the usual back and forth chatter that eventually led to a crucial preliminary question: Would the recommendation forwarded by the group to the President be reversible—such as another layer of sanctions and currency restrictions—or irreversible—that is, kinetic actions, which could not be undone?

What became clear to participants, according to the source with direct knowledge of the process, is that Sullivan intended for the group to come up with a plan for the destruction of the two Nord Stream pipelines—and that he was delivering on the desires of the President.

Eoin Treacy's view

Pardon the pun but these are bombastic claims. I do not contest that the idea to get rid of Russia’s direct route to export gas into Germany was discussed. I’m sure it has been a major topic of conversation for US planners over the last decade, as shale gas production ramped higher. However, that in no way supports the contention that the USA did in fact blow the pipelines up.

There is no doubt that the editorial quality of the mainstream media has taken a beating over the last decade. That’s doubly true since many people now get their news from Twitter or TikTok. However, the fact this story was not in a newspaper that could exert full editorial control is a red flag to my mind.

Perhaps more importantly, if this claim were true, it would result in a major breakdown in the NATO alliance. Cutting off the import capabilities of a major ally is an act of war against Germany, not just Russia.

It is risible to think Germany would knowingly accept the cost of dealing with this condition. The country had to spend $83.3 billion on energy subsidies in 2022. To think any country would accept a threat to their sovereignty like that stretches credulity to breaking. 

I am a strong advocate for freedom of speech. However, that is married with the freedom to question and particularly so when there is no supporting evidence in the reactions of interested counterparties.
European natural gas prices have fully unwound the 2021/22 spike and is now testing support in the region of the 1000-day MA. At some point European countries will need to start buying again for the winter of 2023/24. That will support prices.
Europe has already made the institutional decision to try and avoid energy imports altogether. Carbon credits continue to firm within their range and break above €100 is looking more likely than not. 

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