(PatriotWise.com) — A report in 2014 by political scientist John Mearsheimer predicted that the US would collude with Norway to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea. Mearsheimer’s theory was recently echoed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh who said that US divers planted two remotely controlled bombs under the pipelines in June 2022.
The Nord Stream pipelines carry Russian gas to northern and Western Europe and have been supplying gas to Germany for more than a decade. According to Hersh’s theory, Biden wanted to deny Putin the ability to weaponize the lines to gain political clout during his war on Ukraine. The US had apparently believed that without the pipelines, Russia would be down by billions of dollars that it would have used for its war in Ukraine. Destroying the lines would also end the European dependency on Russian gas.
In response to the Hersh report, the Kremlin has reiterated its belief that the United States is responsible for the sabotage.
The Biden administration has denied any involvement.
The pipelines were severely damaged in September 2022 and it remains unclear who was at fault. Russia immediately blamed the United States, while Sweden and Denmark both carried out investigations. Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen said, “These are deliberate actions, not an accident. The situation is as serious as it gets.”
There are four Nord Stream pipelines, two of these are known as Nord Stream 1 while the others, which are non-operational, are Nord Stream 2. The pipelines have been viewed by Washington as an example of Russian dominance in Europe. Nord Stream 2 would, the US believed, double both Russia’s income and increase its power in Europe.
In February last year, President Biden held a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and told reporters that if Russia invades Ukraine, there would be no Nord Stream 2. “We will bring an end to it,” the President said, but did not provide further details.
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