Interesting take on the NYT’s piece of yesterday
There are only 2 real takeaways from this report to my mind..
Like all effective propaganda there is some truth, I see 2 as follows
– The US tacitly admits as a pro Ukrainian force they were the perps
– Russia didn’t destroy it’s own pipelines because that’s illogical as was obvious
And all the rest serves to muddy the waters
While I may see 2 truthful admissions, there are other ways of looking at the report- Such as why? And, why now?
Ukraine has flatly denied involvement and German media reports stressed that there’s no proof that Ukrainian authorities ordered the attack or were involved in it. Evidently, Kiev and Berlin (and Washington) prioritise that the business of war must continue as before. And neither is in a position to hit back in defence.
But Moscow is plainly derisive. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti, “Clearly, the authors (the US) of the terrorist attack want to distract attention (from their duplicity and guilt). Obviously, this is a coordinated stuffing in the media.”
So, as Lenin would have asked: ‘Who stands to gain?’ To be sure, what we have here is a high level leak planted in the Times by the US intelligence, which is non-attributable but probably serves as kite flying to see how far it will travel, especially in Europe, or, equally, it could just be, as Peskov put it, the stuff of “obvious misinformation campaign coordinated by the media.”
Either way, someone high up in the Biden Administration is playing for high stakes. This is taking place at a time when Biden himself has been implicated by Seymour Hersh for ordering the destruction of Nord Stream — an act of international terrorism —- and of course Biden is yet to announce his candidacy for the 2024 election.
As things stand, candidate Biden will not want the Nord Stream scandal to be another Albatross around his neck. The point is, if he stands for election, which he likely intends to, Biden can be sure that the scandalous Ukraine stories concerning him and his son Hunter Biden, dating back to his time as vice-president, will roar back to the centre stage.
The questioning that the US ambassador to Estonia Senator George Kent was subjected to by Senator Tom Cruz at the hearings on his appointment in Tallinn in December suggested that the Republicans have a lot of dope on Hunter Biden’s activities in Ukraine and are waiting for the right moment to strike.
Kent, a career diplomat and former deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs with three stints in Kiev — the second time as DCM from 2015 to 2018 and the third as Charge d’Affaires a.i, in 2021 during Biden presidency— is in Senator Cruz’s crosshairs.
Last week, again, Sen. Cruz returned to the topic. This time around, he tore into attorney general Merrick Garland accusing the Justice Department of leaking uncontrollably in a calibrated bid to save Biden’s reputation.
Conceivably, the implication by the Times report that a “pro-Ukrainian group” may have been behind the Nord Stream attack can be seen as a veiled threat to the powers that be in Kiev to understand which side of their bread is buttered if push comes to the shove.
So far, Zelensky has played ball. Biden is bending over backward to appease Zelensky, if the manner in which the move to sack the Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, a close ally of the president, was summarily shelved is any indication.
The western media was copiously reporting on a purge under way in Kiev but when the trail came to Reznikov and Zelensky dug in, the US inspectors deputed from Washington to investigate the corruption scandal in the defence ministry simply disappeared.
Indeed, Biden must willy-nilly remain in power beyond 2024 or else he becomes extremely vulnerable. Therefore, Biden desperately needs a second term. He cannot be too sure even if some other Democratic candidate wins in 2024. God forbid, if the Republicans seize the presidency, Biden and his family members will be fighting with their backs against the wall.
But there is also the flip side. Biden’s candidacy will bring Nord Stream, Hunter Biden, Ukraine war, et al, to the centre stage of the election campaign. Is it worth the risk?
Frankly, it is a ‘zugzwang’ for Biden. It is his turn to move, but all of his moves are so bad that having to move can lose the game — and in chess, there is nothing like “pass,” either.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream forms part of the Ukraine issue. Whoever destroyed that pipeline did it with the intention to eliminate any residual prospect left of a revival of the post-cold war Russian-German alliance in Europe built around the two countries’ energy cooperation and interdependency.
The Biden team in sheer naïveté thought that sabotage of the Nord Stream would be a geopolitical masterstroke to humiliate Germany and make it a vassal state, destroy all bridges leading from Russia to Europe, and consolidate the US’ transatlantic leadership. They overlooked, out of sheer hubris, that it still remained a cowardly criminal act.
Thoughts?
4 replies on “Did Biden Overplay His Hand Destroying North Stream Pipeline?”
Hi Penny:
Another excellent insight into the power plays at work re the Ukraine/Russia Imperialist resource grab by the usual suspects. It is crystal clear that this was, at root, an attack on Germany. Germany is never going to be allowed to get out from under the Wests’ WWII-imposed vassalage. The PerpZ decided to deprive it of the means to grow its economy and/or forge a mutually beneficial relationship with Russia.
England is the nub of the problem, IMO. Historically it has always been threatened by the idea of a German/Russian alliance.
Yes, England is a big part of this all- Because they have always been threatened by the thought of a German/Russian alliance.
It’s clear they are along side the US in all of this. But it’s the US that has the military might and global occupation bases- so they are still the bigger player in all this- IMHO
My thinking is the neo cons who run the present administration could care less what happens to the Biden(s), but don’t want to lose power. Would think they would be smart enough to know Biden doesn’t hold a chance at winning in 2024, so need another Dem to run. I read or heard somewhere recently Kennedy was going to run. This might be to put more pressure on him to drop the run, at least in the eyes of the Dem voters. Putting all the blame on Biden for everything to do with Ukraine, to make the rest of the party not look so bad.
Strange though now they are trying to make the public believe the same neo nazis that they claimed blew up the pipe line just got caught trying to blow up a grid in Baltimore. Is that to make their pipe line story more creditable to the public, or is it US is trying to find a way out of Ukraine. Could be Biden and Zelensky are both being thrown under the bus, as neither has use to them anymore. Z can spill the beans, all the easier to blame B for all.
Just a few thoughts that came to mind, but there truly are so many different A,B,C plans that they have up their sleaves.
Hi Rachel
Your right- there could be a number of different plans being considered.
And you’ve got some great thoughts above!
I did see the news about the neo nazis trying to blow up the grid in Baltimore?! Wondered if it was a false flag to lend credibility to this nonsensical story about the pipeline- oh rogue Ukrainians did it!
But blowing up the pipeline is not the same as whatever they claim occurred in Baltimore- I don’t think anyone believes the pipeline was done by anyone other than a state actor- but the media could spin some silliness to the masses- who wouldn’t bother to think for a second about anything.