(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ukraine Invasion Day 353: "Nord Stream 2 is now a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.” [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-10 Disinformation remains the coin of the realm as Seymour Hersh floats a conspiracy theory about who sabotaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. What came next was stunning. On February 7, less than three weeks before the seemingly inevitable Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden met in his White House office with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who, after some wobbling, was now firmly on the American team. At the press briefing that followed, Biden defiantly said, ...the sabotage all but guarantees that gas prices will be uncomfortably high for Europeans until spring. With scant evidence from the seabed, a breakthrough may rely on intelligence service wiretaps and human sources. But so far, American and European intelligence agencies have not publicly shared any data that they might have collected. “It’s very fascinating, but it’s very complex,” Mr. Engelbrekt said. “And it’s very difficult without access to some of these data points to start eliminating actors and motives.” www.nytimes.com/... Twenty days earlier, Undersecretary Nuland had delivered essentially the same message at a State Department briefing, with little press coverage. “I want to be very clear to you today,” she said in response to a question. “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” [...] Several of those involved in planning the pipeline mission were dismayed by what they viewed as indirect references to the attack. “It was like putting an atomic bomb on the ground in Tokyo and telling the Japanese that we are going to detonate it,” the source said. “The plan was for the options to be executed post invasion and not advertised publicly. Biden simply didn’t get it or ignored it.” Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges believes that information proving Sy Hersh's conclusions about US involvement in the Nord Stream explosions will definitely appear..... pic.twitter.com/etWiH3msDm Biden’s and Nuland’s indiscretion, if that is what it was, might have frustrated some of the planners. But it also created an opportunity. According to the source, some of the senior officials of the CIA determined that blowing up the pipeline “no longer could be considered a covert option because the President just announced that we knew how to do it.” The plan to blow up Nord Stream 1 and 2 was suddenly downgraded from a covert operation requiring that Congress be informed to one that was deemed as a highly classified intelligence operation with U.S. military support. Under the law, the source explained, “There was no longer a legal requirement to report the operation to Congress. All they had to do now is just do it—but it still had to be secret. The Russians have superlative surveillance of the Baltic Sea.” seymourhersh.substack.com/ x State Dept. Denies Latest Allegations that US Government Blew up Nord Stream Sy Hersh charges the US military was behind the explosion. Ned Price dismisses claims despite US government statements. Says administration abides by WPR: Full video:https://t.co/1B7IQnPUXQ Clip: pic.twitter.com/hy8JnzZzxQ — Sam Husseini — subscribe: husseini.substack.com (@samhusseini) February 9, 2023 The Nord Stream attack has been a wartime mystery , prompting finger-pointing and speculation about how — in an era of constant satellite surveillance, in the midst of an energy crisis and with Europe on alert because of the war in Ukraine — a vessel could creep up on a crucial energy conduit, plant a bomb and leave without a trace. [...] After the blasts, Poland and Ukraine openly blamed Russia but provided no evidence. In an interview, Daniel Stenling, Sweden’s top counterintelligence official, declined to speculate on a perpetrator. But he placed the Nord Stream attack squarely in the context of increasingly brazen Russian espionage. “In the big context of the war in Ukraine that is ongoing, it’s very interesting and very serious,” he said of the blasts, repeatedly emphasizing growing threats from Russian spycraft and cyberattacks. [...] Just about everyone else in Europe, along with the United States, objected. A senior Polish official even compared the pipeline deal to the pre-World War II pact between Hitler and Stalin that carved up Poland. Sweden objected to part of the project that was planned near its coastline, arguing that it could enable Russian surveillance. But the biggest argument was that Nord Stream would make Europe too reliant on Russian gas, giving Moscow a lever over the European Union with its ability to turn off supplies. Many European governments and experts see Moscow as the most likely saboteur. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has used gas as a political lever in the past and there is evidence that he saw Europe as vulnerable. www.nytimes.com/... [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/10/2152292/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-353-Nord-Stream-2-is-now-a-hunk-of-metal-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/