Suppose the war in Ukraine has taught us anything. In that case, it’s that foreign policy, when not dictated in concrete and clear terms, leads to messy conflicts that inevitably lead to escalation – regardless of competing and relevant motivations.
As I write this article, an invasion billed by our highest-ranking military strategists to last only 72 hours is well into year two. Additionally, the Russian mercenary Wagner Group temporarily advanced on Moscow in what Western media described as a military coup, only for Wagner to turn back.
While the Twitter-verse is all abuzz with positivity, I can’t help but wonder if:
- will whoever might replace Putin be better or worse
- how accurate is this reporting
- is this orchestrated by Putin himself
- or worse, is this directed by our government
The point is deciphering the truth from international performance art is getting damn near impossible. Case in point, one of the most compelling whodunits – who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipeline?
Belgian MP humiliates the #Belgian parliament for its silence over the #NordStream pipeline sabotage. https://t.co/WxEbEmAdzv
— tim anderson (@timand2037) June 23, 2023
A brief recap
Allow me to catch you up on the Nord Stream pipeline saga. Last September, mysterious explosions rocked the Russian-owned Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea that were set to run gas into Germany.
Almost immediately, fingers pointed at our bad guy du jour, Vladimir Putin. It didn’t matter to all the experts and world leaders that it made no logical sense for Mr. Putin to blow up his own pipeline that was set to earn him and his efforts oodles of rubles, allowing him to sustain his operations and continue his influence into Europe.
Sweden and Germany took point on the investigation and, much to the dismay of all of us wanting answers, have taken their sweet time wrapping this investigation up. Since their investigations, however, little by little information has come to light.
Needless to say, nobody is claiming Russia blew up their own pipelines because that’s obviously not what happened. Some speculated and even claimed they had proof that it was a Western country that sanctioned and planned the sabotage.
RELATED: How the Game Works: New York Times Suggests Nord Stream Sabotage Responsibility Remain Secret
Award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that an unnamed American intelligence source divulged that the Biden administration orchestrated and executed the sabotage. Then the Swedes and Germans broke the news that six Ukrainians were working for what appears to be a pro-Ukrainian group that blew up the pipelines.
The first question is…did the Ukrainian government not only know about it but sanction the act of undersea sabotage?
JUST CURIOUS
Are we any closer to finding out who blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.
Causing one of the biggest ecological disasters in modern history.
Funny how all the eco warriors are completely silent on this one, Eh
pic.twitter.com/sSeXLvpx0F
— G-MAN (@GavinClimie) June 24, 2023
Called it
First, let me say that for everyone who ever called me a Russian sympathizer or Putin apologist for suggesting when the attacks on Nord Stream happened Ukrainian involvement, I’ll be waiting patiently for your apologies. Like me, a small group of experts and journalists thought Ukraine had something to do with the sabotage.
However, Ukrainian adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said right after the attack:
“Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I have to say: Ukraine has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups.’”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has always been steadfast in his denial, including in a recent interview when he said of the claim Ukraine was involved in the explosions:
“I am president and I give orders accordingly. Nothing of the sort has been done by Ukraine. I would never act that way.”
RELATED: New York Times Claims ‘Pro-Ukrainian’ Group Sabotaged Nord Stream Pipelines
Perhaps Volodymyr is telling the truth, or maybe he’s just that good of an actor.
The scarier option in that scenario is that he didn’t know about it, which means every warhawk’s new hero isn’t actually in charge of anything.
Lindsey is now saying any attack on a nuclear facility near Ukraine would constitute an attack on NATO
Nobody wants this to happen more than Ukraine & their DC money laundering machine
We now know Ukraine & Biden teamed up to take out the Nordstream pipeline, so what would stop… https://t.co/5UbXsdFWKY
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) June 23, 2023
Who is in charge?
This brings me to the latest alleged development. Apparently, the Dutch warned the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that Ukraine was planning to attack the pipelines last June but had opted to abort the attack.
The Dutch claimed they received intelligence that the Ukrainian military was planning the attacks but had opted to reconsider and eventually canceled the plot. The story goes that the CIA took that information and warned Ukraine not to attack the pipeline in the future.
If all that is true, it appears Ukraine decided to flip the middle finger to its biggest ally and supporter and merely delay the attack, using a Ukraine-aligned group instead of the Ukrainian military. On the one hand, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think the CIA is orchestrating this entire ball of yarn in an attempt to distract from the very possible scenario that the Biden administration orchestrated this watery intrigue.
RELATED: White House Denies Explosive Report That the US Sabotaged Nord Stream 2
But let’s say this story is true; what does this ultimately mean, and why should you care? It means that Ukraine can either not control forces within its borders or actively supports actions that the United States government and NATO have warned explicitly against.
This leads me to my final point, this has happened before and is actively happening again.
Just imagine how much data the Biden administration has on the Nordstream 2 pipeline bombings…
As they sat on the implosion of a truck-sized submersible in the middle of the ocean
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) June 22, 2023
World War III
For those of us who love history, this all looks familiar. One merely has to recall the beginnings of World War I to smell the familiarity of blind escalation sucking in larger nations into a global battle.
German investigators believe the Ukrainian team that blew up the Nord Stream pipelines used Poland as an operating and logistics base. Poland is a NATO country, which, if this is true, makes things awfully sticky for Europe and the rest of us that are in NATO.
A new lead in the Nord Stream case speaks of Poland's assistance in bombings – WSJ
“Ukrainians from the Andromeda yacht, which was involved in the destruction of the gas pipeline, are residents of Poland with accounts in local banks,” writes the Wall Street Journal, citing… pic.twitter.com/BQ6BGsVcN5
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99880) June 23, 2023
It’s also interesting to note that the originally planned sabotage was scheduled for June 2022. Specifically, that attack would happen directly after the NATO exercise named Baltic Ops, which occurred directly above the pipelines.
Why, Ukraine, you sly fox…had you gone through with that initial plan, you might’ve set up NATO nicely as the ones who blew up the pipeline. What a way to escalate the conflict into a World War.
I don’t fault Ukraine for doing what they deem necessary to expel Russia from their lands and protect their borders…hell, I wish we’d be more aggressive with our border. However, I do fault our country and the West in general for allowing us to be played into entering a war that not only benefits us little but is also not on our terms.
Hold onto your butts; by this time next year, I predict we’ll have ‘boots on the ground’ as we used to say in my military days – and the powers that be will tell you that it’s the right thing to do.
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