ANALYSIS – In at least two prior analytical pieces, I concluded that Russia was likely not behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline. In one piece, I argued that pro-Ukrainian groups may have been behind the attack.
I also hinted at British and Polish involvement and U.S. knowledge of the sophisticated clandestine sabotage. I noted clearly that “likely, the U.S. was aware but turned a blind eye.”
However, I generally discounted direct Ukrainian military participation, largely because of the difficulty of the operation. I didn't believe they had the expertise.
Perhaps I shouldn't have underestimated their undersea special operations capabilities. Or maybe I overestimated the difficulty of the mission.
Either way, now, according to The Washington Post, the U.S. had intelligence of a detailed Ukrainian plan to attack the Nord Stream pipeline, built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, three months before they were damaged by explosions.
And the American Intelligence Community (IC) must have briefed the president, or at least his National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan.
In other words, Joe Biden likely knew well in advance that “the Ukrainian military had planned a covert attack on the undersea network, using a small team of divers who reported directly to the commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Yet, some Biden administration officials initially suggested that Russia was to blame for what Biden called “a deliberate act of sabotage,” promising that the United States would work with its allies “to get to the bottom of exactly what … happened.”
Was Biden clueless (which he often is), or did he know and spread disinformation anyway to help Ukraine?
The newspaper cited information allegedly leaked online earlier this year by a U.S. Air National Guard member who had access to large amounts of highly classified materials.
The leaked documents indicate that an unnamed European intelligence agency told the CIA in June 2022 about a plan by Ukrainian special operations forces to blow up the pipelines.
They were sabotaged on September 26, 2022.
The European intelligence report was shared on the chat platform Discord, allegedly by Airman Jack Teixeira. The Post reportedly got a copy from one of Teixeira's online buddies.
The Post report is supported by information gathered by German investigators that a six-person team using false passports took a large sailboat from the German port of Rostock in Sep 2022 to undertake the operation.
The European intelligence emphasized that the attackers were not rogue operatives but reported directly to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine's highest-ranking military officer.
He was put in charge to deliberately keep the nation's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, out of the loop.
As The Post reported, this “would have given the Ukrainian leader a plausible way to deny involvement in an audacious attack on civilian infrastructure that could ignite public outrage and jeopardize Western support for Ukraine — particularly in Germany, which before the war got half its natural gas from Russia and had long championed the Nord Stream project in the face of opposition from other European allies.”
The Ukrainian divers apparently caused the three underwater explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines leaving only one of the four gas links in the network intact. The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark.
Both countries said the explosions were deliberate but have yet to determine who was responsible.
Washington and NATO called the incident “an act of sabotage.” Moscow blamed the West, accusing investigators of dragging their feet and trying to conceal who was behind the attack, and now we can see the Russians may have been right.
According to The Post:
…several countries have quietly suggested that Ukraine was behind the attack but have resisted publicly saying so over fears that blaming Kyiv could fracture the alliance against Russia. At gatherings of European and NATO policymakers, officials have settled into a rhythm; as one senior European diplomat said recently, “Don't talk about Nord Stream.”
Now we may know why.
The questions for Biden are: “What did you know, and when did you know it?”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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So Biden correctly let the Russian pipeline get blown up. It just goes to show that, every once in a while even a blind hog finds an acorn.
Big Deal!! War is a Ruthless “Sport”. One of the first things ya do is destroy all the enemy’s money making infrastructure that you possibly can. In this case the Nord Stream Pipelines 1&2. Does anyone remember the big Gasoline Shortage/Price Hike after the Arab Israeli. War in the 1970s. Why do you think there was a shortage and gas went up so much? Costs a bunch to replace pipelines blown to bits by Israeli Aircraft, maybe? Same deal here!!