Nord Stream pipelines attacked, possibly sabotaged: Did Biden give the order?

Several theories have been floating around about the Nord Stream pipelines as explosions cause several holes in both. Here's the story on that.

Several news outlets reported a possible attack on both Nord Stream pipelines near Bornholm, Denmark after leaks were reported on Monday. Swedish and Danish seismology data seemed to show the possible culprits for the leaks to be underwater explosions of unknown origin. Seismologists in Norway and Finland also detected the unusual activity.

"There is no doubt that these were explosions," said Bjorn Lund of Sweden's National Seismology Centre, having measured the second explosion as resembling a magnitude 2.3 earthquake.

Danish authorities warned ships to steer clear of the area near Bornholm while the crisis is ongoing. Damage to local wildlife is also feared in the wake of the explosions, the extent of which is unclear.

Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, seemed to believe that these explosions might have been a deliberate operation by hostile actors, stating, "We cannot rule it [sabotage] out. It is too early to draw conclusions yet, but this is an extraordinary situation. It is an unusual situation. And there are three leaks. Even with some distance between them. So it is hard to imagine that what is happening is a coincidence.” Many others also seem to think this isn’t merely a freak occurrence.

Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change, while on Timcast IRL on Tuesday, stated that a Twitter poll on the incident with 10,000 total votes had some interesting results. 71% of people said the U.S. did it, while only 12% believed Russia is responsible. Additionally, 12% of people also believed other foreign actors could have done it, while only 5% of respondents believe that the pipeline leaks are a legitimate accident. Theories have begun surfacing about the possible origins of such an attack being potentially perpetrated by the United States as footage of Joe Biden speaking back in February resurfaced.

During a joint press conference with Germany’s Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, Joe Biden answered a question posed by a journalist asking what might be done if Russia were to invade Ukraine, which as we all well know, they have done so since then.

Joe Biden responded, even though the framing of the question almost made it seem as though it might be directed at Scholz instead of Biden, ”If Russia invades — that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine again — then there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2, we will bring an end to it,”

The reported then followed up, asking, ”But how will you do that since the project is under Germany's control?”

Joe Biden’s next answer reiterated the first succinctly without going into specifics, replying, “We will, uh, I promise you we will do it,” a smug smile accompanying Biden’s words. It’s chilling to go back and watch it after these explosions occurred, needless to say.

Chancellor Scholz attempted to smooth it over by bringing up sanctions, but Biden's words carried much more weight and implied — both in tone and his manner — that mere sanctions didn't seem to be what Biden had in mind at the time. If the U.S. had a hand in this attack, that omen was correct.

The idea that Biden might’ve given the order himself to attack the Nord Stream pipelines holds more water when you look into BALTOPS — short for Baltic Operations — which is an annual joint military exercise for NATO nations. What makes this interesting is the fact that this year’s BALTOPS exercises took place near Bornholm, Denmark — the very location of the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines. Russia sent two Karakurt-class corvettes ( small missile ships ) to shadow these exercises.

”In support of BALTOPS, U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet partnered with U.S. Navy research and warfare centers to bring the latest advancements in Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) mine hunting technology to the Baltic Sea to demonstrate the vehicle’s effectiveness in operational scenarios.” states the Strike Force NATO website in a news entry on BALTOPS 22. Is there any chance that kind of tech might’ve been able to plant something on the pipelines since the damage was shallow enough that even conventional human divers could reach the pipelines? It might be hard to do that without the Russians knowing with normal divers, but what about submersible drones? It really makes you think.

On the other side of the theory train, there is the Russian false flag attack theory, which states that Vladimir Putin — with his reputation for using Russia’s significant market share in natural gas as a weapon — may have given the order himself to attack the pipelines.

One reason some suspect Russia themselves might have conducted a false flag attack on the Nord Stream pipelines is because of Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy company that holds a controlling stake in both pipelines. The pipelines, while currently inactive due to Russia's decision to cut gas deliveries to Europe, still contained Russian natural gas at the time the sudden decline in pressure took place. There isn't nearly as much drama if you attack your own infrastructure, after all. At least until you use such a false flag attack to justify further aggression. But I am only speculating.

The fortunes are currently in Russia’s favor as a result of these attacks, however, as news of the possible sabotage of the pipelines began to spread, gas prices got a bump of 12%. With further sanctions on the horizon one has to wonder if this occurrence wasn’t a response to such efforts. “Extortion” is a word that has been floated in regard to Russia’s energy embargo, as well.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki slammed Russia and characterized the leaks as “an act of sabotage,” declaring it to be the death throes of Russia’s dominant era in the sphere of natural gas coming to an end.

"An era that was marked by blackmail, threats and extortion," Morawiecki stated.

Surprising no one, Ukraine believes also that Russia had a hand in the attacks on the pipelines. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak characterized the alleged attacks as “an act of aggression” toward the European Union, which is still suffering massively from Russia’s ongoing energy embargo that started in August. The official reason Russia cut off the gas to Europe was “closing for repairs”. Very snarky. It’s entirely possible that the explosions give them a reason to leave Europe, quite literally, out in the cold this winter.

Investigations are still ongoing, but this is a terrible scenario when you put it in perspective. The current stay of execution feels quite tenuous. It almost doesn’t matter who is really responsible, but who world leaders with their fingers on their respective triggers blame for it.

It never hurts to plan for the worst case scenario.