“They didn’t attack Russia – they attacked Europe”

On 7 February of this year US President Joe Biden promised that if Russia were to invade Ukraine that he would shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. That is the 11-billion-dollar pipeline project that connects Russian gas from Russian territory through the Baltic Sea into a German terminal from where it would be distributed various European customers. Well today it appears that Joe Biden has made good on his promise. There was an explosion on an underwater section of the pipeline in Danish territory Waters near the Danish island of Bornholm that basically shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. A Danish F-16 fighter flight nearby saw a massive one-kilometre diameter bubble of gas coming up through the surface. Russia has indicated that this is going to take some time to repair – months if not even longer. The same time that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was sabotaged there were two similar explosions on pipelines belonging to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. That is the pipeline that was completed in 2012 and provide Europe with significant amounts of Russian gas. Who’s to benefit from this? Some people are accusing Russia of sabotaging itself because that in effect is what this would be an act of self-sabotage. Russia has no interest in doing this and indeed, the Russian energy security policy is talking about hoping to resurrect the ship into Russian gas Russian energy to Europe not to permanently prevent this. Now it’s clear that the United States has followed through on its promise – to do what? Attack Russia? They didn’t attack Russia – they attacked Europe, they attacked Denmark, they violated Danish territorial Waters. They attacked Germany, they attacked Switzerland, the Nord Stream 2 companies headquartered in Switzerland. They attacked Europe because this is what it’s about. This is about the United States using Russian energy as an excuse to constrain the economy of Europe at a critical time in order to ensure the dominance of American hegemony. Not only in Europe but around the world.  •

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgYo0BNEIYs of 29 September 2022

* Scott Ritter is a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer whose career spans more than 20 years and includes stints in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control agreements, on US General Norman Schwarzkopf’s staff during the Gulf War, and later as the UN’s chief weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991–1998.