25th March 2023 – (Beijing) U.S. President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines to pressure German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to provide more weapons to Ukraine, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. In an interview with China Daily, Hersh revealed that Biden ordered the mines to be triggered in late September after the American-backed war in Ukraine reached a stalemate. The net effect was the cut off of a major power source through Western Europe, creating a crisis in the region.
Hersh, who has been a journalist for over 50 years, believes the purpose of the intelligence community’s mission with the Norwegians was to provide Biden with an option to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from going to war by threatening to destroy the pipelines. The pipelines were filled with Russian gas, and the explosion resulted in unprecedented damage to three lines of Nord Stream. The blasts were later confirmed by Swedish prosecutors as an act of sabotage, leading to criminal charges of international terrorism by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office.
Hersh, who famously wrote about the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, is not surprised by the US government’s stupidity. He is convinced that the US Navy divers planted explosives under the Nord Stream pipelines with Norwegian assistance under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 exercise last June. Biden personally authorized the operation after nine months of discussions with security officials in his administration, according to Hersh. However, The New York Times reported that a pro-Ukrainian group acting without US authorities’ knowledge could have committed the sabotage. German investigators identified the vessel used by the saboteurs as belonging to a company rented by Ukrainian citizens and registered in Poland, according to Germany’s Die Zeit weekly.
The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage created a crisis in Europe, and Hersh believes Biden will face criticism for his actions. The German Chancellor has repeatedly opposed providing more weapons to Ukraine, and the pipeline sabotage was a move to pressure Germany to change its position. The impact of the sabotage was significant, with the European Union struggling to find alternative sources of energy to replace the lost gas supply. The crisis also highlighted the risks of relying on a single gas supplier, particularly when that supplier is Russia.