Nord Stream Destruction Disastrous for European Economy

Senior U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, whose exposé revealed that the U.S. bombed the Nord Stream pipelines, said in a recent interview that the bombings had brought catastrophic consequences for the European economy: “Russian gas, natural gas, has been supplying Germany and Western Europe with cheap gas for, what, a dozen years, and the economy has boomed based on cheap gas. Now, Europe is suffering. It is getting cold. They had a mild winter, but it’s getting very cold now, and leading companies are all getting [hurt.] The price of gas has gone up enormously […] The consequences of knocking out the pipeline, economically, are disastrous.”

Hersh said that, despite Germany’s halting of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, the U.S. government still wanted to blow up the pipeline before winter. The underlying logic was to put Germany and Western Europe’s backs against the wall, leaving these allies with no choice but to fully support Ukraine and the U.S.

Hersh continued that, in U.S. eyes, “that pipeline, the Russian gas, was a weapon for the Russians, and once you took away that weapon, if Germany could not open up the pipeline anymore, and [nor could] the European allies of NATO, well then, they’ll keep on supporting us in the war. They won’t have the option of saying, ‘We quit, we would rather have Russian gas than join you in a war that you can’t win,’ and that is what I think the dominant thinking was.”

As for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Hersh said that during the German reunification in 1990, as a condition for the Soviet Union agreeing to East Germany’s joining of NATO, the U.S. and the West promised that NATO would not expand an inch eastward. Hersh pointed out that, when NATO was established in 1949, there were only 12 member countries. And now, NATO’s scope expands the world.

Hersh said, “We start putting missiles on the border of Poland that we claim are defensive, but in half a day they can be turned into offensive weapons. There is no question about that. It’s a fact that they can be just converted. It will take some time. Half a day. But you can fire in seven minutes on Moscow, and that’s another reality. So, what I hate to see in the paper, in my old newspaper, for example, is they keep on describing the Russian attack as being without provocation. Unprovoked. Well, it was fully provoked.”

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Analysts in many countries consider Hersh’s revelation that the U.S. had blown up the Nord Stream pipelines to reflect a U.S. self-interest that pays no heed to the losses caused to its allies.

Independent American journalist Joe Lauria, who has worked for The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and other media, said in an interview on Feb. 19 that the West had collectively lost its voice when it comes to Hersh’s revelations. European countries, submissive to the U.S., have turned a blind eye to the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines that severely damages their European economy.

Lauria said, “Everybody is ignoring it, like it didn’t happen. The White House denied it, the Norwegians denied it. […] The United States has complete dominance on Europe. They are hurting the German economy, they are hurting Europe’s economy because of these sanctions that are not hurting Russia but are hurting Europe. And the Europeans just stand there and take it.”

During the Feb. 19 anti-war demonstration held in Washington, some Americans also expressed that it was obvious the U.S. had destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines out of self-interest.

One protestor by the name of Alexis said she thought this was effectively a war against Europe and that it was heinous of the U.S. to cut off Russian gas supplied to Europe.

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The U.S. has previously targeted civilian energy infrastructure for its own interests. In the 1980s, the U.S. participated in several plots to sabotage Nicaragua’s oil reserves and natural gas pipelines.

Nicaraguan political analyst Manuel Espinoza commented that the history of the CIA’s clandestine involvement in sabotage in Nicaragua is “very similar to what we’re seeing with Nord Stream. At first the CIA organized political attacks. The U.S. then made common cause with the opposition attacking the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Then they supported paramilitary groups known as the Contras to economically strike at Nicaragua’s fragile economy.”

Espinoza pointed out that the U.S. has always used force to stir up panic; by triggering local wars, the U.S. destroys economies and contains the development of other nations. The U.S. essentially violates international law to retain hegemony.

Espinoza continued that the purpose of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines “is to show the world that the U.S. still has control over the globe. Military force can be used at will, even though such use of force violates international law.”