The idea that a US president commissioned a move aimed at a close ally, however, remains taboo in the West<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack on the Nord Stream pipelines commissioned by US President Joe Biden was primarily aimed at Germany rather than Russia, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has claimed. The decision to destroy the key pipelines was prompted by US fears that Berlin might not follow Washington\u2019s lead amid the Ukraine conflict, Hersh wrote in a new article on the affair on his Substack blog on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sabotage of the pipelines was ordered weeks before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022, Hersh wrote, adding that the American operatives assigned to it believed it was meant to deter Moscow. The attack on the pipelines was ready by late May, but \u201cthe plan was called off on short notice by Biden,\u201d the journalist claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, the team was tasked with planting explosives on the pipelines, which could be detonated remotely at a later date, he said. The timing of the attack, which ultimately occurred in late September 2022, appeared to be aimed at Berlin rather than Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBiden\u2019s timing seemed aimed at Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz. Some in the CIA believed that the president\u2019s fear was that Scholz, whose constituents were lukewarm in their support for Ukraine, might waffle with winter coming on and conclude that keeping his people warm and his industries prosperous was more important than backing Ukraine against Russia,\u201d Hersh wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The destruction of the pipelines played a major role in Germany\u2019s economic hardships \u2013 the country, which once \u201cdominated the world\u2019s markets with its luxury cars and industrial machinery\u2026 is now in a process of what some have called rapid deindustrialization,\u201d Hersh said. Apart from this, Germany has experienced a surge in popularity of right-wing parties, including Alternative for Germany (AfD), and its economic woes have contributed to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Washington\u2019s \u201cmost controversial factor in Germany\u2019s recent hard times\u201d \u2013 the Nord Stream sabotage \u2013 remains largely ignored in the West, according to the journalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the ten months since I published my first account of the Nord Stream sabotage the German government and media, as in the United States, have either ignored or provided alternate accounts of the how and why the pipelines were destroyed. The idea that a sitting US president would deliberately destroy a vital source of energy and of a close ally has been, as Freud would say, taboo,\u201d Hersh wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The veteran journalist provided his first detailed account on the pipeline attack on February 8, 2023, publishing a lengthy article relying on anonymous sources \u201cwith direct knowledge of the operational planning.\u201d The allegations prompted strong denials from Washington, with US National Security spokesman John Kirby dismissing the report as a \u201ccompletely false story\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March that he \u201cfully agrees\u201d with Hersh\u2019s findings, suggesting the attack only benefited Washington to reinforce its position as a competing gas supplier to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n