The White House has rejected a report by noted investigative journalist Seymour Hersh that the US blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September.
“This is completely false and a complete fabrication,” Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the US National Security Council, said Wednesday. A spokesman for the CIA told AFP: “This claim is completely and utterly false.”
Hersh previously reported that U.S. Navy divers planted explosives on gas pipelines last June with Norway’s help in a White House-ordered and CIA-planned covert operation. The explosives were then detonated remotely in September. President Joe Biden wanted to prevent Russia from continuing to earn billions from the export of natural gas, writes the winner of the famous Pulitzer Prize.
influence of the Kremlin
The US also saw the pipelines as a means for the Kremlin to put pressure on Germany and Western Europe, which could weaken Western support for Ukraine. The idea to destroy the pipelines is said to have arisen in December 2021.
Hersh, an 85-year-old reporter legend, relies on a single source for his report. He published the report on his blog and not in a major US media outlet. Like the US government, Norway’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the report was “false”.
Explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines
In September, a total of four explosions in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in the Baltic Sea caused several leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which were being built to transport Russian gas to Germany. The pipelines were not in operation at the time of the explosions, but contained gas. Sweden says sabotage was behind the incident. Accordingly, explosive residues were detected.
Suspicion immediately focused on Russia, but Moscow denied any responsibility. Just a few days ago, Attorney General Peter Frank said in an interview that there was no evidence Russia was the author.
Russia, in turn, indicated shortly after the explosions that the United States could be responsible for the explosions. “The US president must answer whether the US has carried out his threat,” a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry said at the time.
Biden’s “suspicious” comments
The background was statements made by US President Joe Biden in February 2022 during a visit to Washington by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. A few weeks before the start of Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine, Biden warned that if Russia invaded the neighboring country, “there will be no more Nord Stream 2”. He “promised” that, the president emphasized, without giving further details. “We will put an end to this.”
Germany ended Nord Stream 2
At the time, the question was whether the US could try to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 AG operating company to prevent the pipeline from being commissioned. It was then that the German federal government put an end to Nord Stream 2: shortly before the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Berlin put the project on hold. Scholz reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
Hersh is a legend as a journalist, but not without controversy. He once denounced the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War and the US torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In recent years, however, he has also written heavily criticized texts. In 2013, for example, he wondered whether the Syrian government was responsible for the deadly use of poison gas.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
