By Renee Parsons
As most observers of American politics may agree that the Biden Administration has a tendency to screw up everything it initiates – the boomerang of the sanctions against Russia being one stupendous example as well as Russia’s military conquest in Ukraine which led to the ultimate annexation of historic Russian territory. Instead of taking down Russia’s economy and creating a world-class crisis, the ruble is solid as western economies are in the final throes of fiscal and societal collapse, grasping at EU straws to remain relevant.
Nevertheless, the implications of the recent remotely detonated explosions of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, as part of the let’s-blame-Russia-for-everything game lies a horrific reality of exactly how far US foreign policy has declined when its European allies may be tools to salvage the floundering Empire. It would be no surprise for the Biden Administration to be narrow minded enough to destroy the pipeline without thoroughly thinking through the implications of what the destruction of NS will bring to US allies: no gas/no heat/no electricity/no fertilizer/no food/no modern convenience.
Some might call it ‘bad karma’ of which there is no doubt; these people cannot seem to do anything of civic value but most importantly, have exhibited no sense of a moral compass. Domestically speaking, the Biden inner circle of criminal neocons, globalist elites and political anarchists, continue to weaponize the American legal system, with no conscience, no respect for Constitutional law, American tradition, custom or history, as the wheel of unintended consequences, otherwise known as the American voter, is about to retrieve their country from the grasp of an illegitimate gang of felonious thugs.
While speculation immediately focused on Russia, there is now general agreement that the senseless bombings were the result of a deliberate act of sabotage with Poland’s former defense minister Radek Sikorski almost immediate twitter ‘Thank You USA’ while citing US President Joe Biden speaking to reporters on February 7, “If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.“
In addition, there is no dispute that the CIA warned Germany within weeks of a possible pipeline attack perhaps as a covering their butt tactic. Then almost immediately, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken wasted no time to brag that destruction of NS provided the US with a ‘tremendous opportunity’ to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy” and provide Europe with American LNG. The US has long opposed creation of the NS.
Only a political novice or intense Russia-phobe could seriously assert that Russia blew up its own pipeline when it could have just as easily flipped a switch. It is of course too vile to consider the notion that the US would consciously undermine its own allies who have willfully played second fiddle to the Empire for decades. Regardless of who and when the culprits may be acknowledged, the unprecedented attack on Russian infrastructure and European sovereignty by virtue of the impact on all European states is undeniable as those who stand to gain from the attack may continue to avoid public condemnation.
At the same time, Ukraine submits an accelerated NATO application as Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg suggested that NATO countries will not in any way recognize Russian sovereignty over the four newly declared annexed territories and yet suggests that “NATO is not a party to conflict.” In other words, as long as Ukraine is not a bona fide member of NATO, there is no obligation on the part of NATO’s thirty members to initiate a massive war against Russia except that a NATO presence encroaching on Russian borders would cross a red line. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that by supplying Ukraine with weapons, NATO members were already committed to the conflict.
Essential questions remain: what ‘state actor’ has the sophisticated equipment and technical skill to accomplish a massive underwater explosion of 500 kg of TNT at a depth of 80 meters to cause the equivalent of a magnitude 2.3 earthquake? Who would benefit from thwarting the private German-Russian discussions attempting to resolve outstanding NS issues?
Perhaps it was coincidental that the USS Kearsarge, the Navy’s Amphibious Assault ship, was on an international training exercise in the Baltic Sea with Sweden amid a historic visit to Finland during the time of the explosion. On September 21st, unconfirmed reports claimed that the Kearsarge was tracked 30 km from Nord Stream 1 and 50 km from Nord Stream 2 with an assertion that its transponder was frequently turned off. The Russians have the necessary satellite and electronic monitoring to confirm any suspicions. The Kearsarge is a state-of-the-art ship, fully equipped for command and control missions to support Navy Seal, Special Forces operations and helicopter deployments, with its homeport at the Norfolk Naval Station which is also home to NATO North America.
While the newly opened Baltic Sea Offshore pipeline built to provide gas between Poland and Denmark with access through Sweden was curiously not attacked as NS, the Germans remain silent and Americans sit outside the loop begs the question whether any other NATO members are more knowledgeable.
Will Russia follow through on its earlier promise to defend all ‘liberated’ Russian territory including the NS pipelines or the Kersh Strait Bridge as well as to hold ‘foreign actors’ responsible for any military incursion against Russian sovereignty?
Renee Parsons served on the once prestigious ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, staff in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC.