Yes. This would be deemed heresy in almost all circles just now? We’re in an era that feels like the Red Scare of the 50’s, except that the proponents used to be the hippies.
Who has shared this opinion publically? I assume the Euros are obliged to accept without complaint, since they agreed to pipeline against US advice? What about trump?
At least back in the Cold War, spooks and State Department officials knew to shut the hell up and not to act super smug and coy on national tv after they pulled one of these ops. These days they are practically bragging about it instead of trying to obfuscate.
Cool story from Wm. Safire but it sounds like a modern scenario, a la Stuxnet, whereas miscellaneous Russians claim (easily found on Wikipedia) their OG pipes were not software-controlled back in 1982.
l do like the 40th anniversary angle of it -- but this Fleet Street suggestion that Putin bombed it is fairly ridiculous, Kuwaiti-incubator-to-floor-pipeline stuff. Impossible to credit anything reported now, you'd have to be already computer-chipped yourself.
It is certainly possible that this was US sabotage. But you purposely ignore that Russia has an economic interest here. They stopped supplies a few months ago on the flimsiest grounds and are arguably in breach of contract. The explosions create a force majeure that prevents any such lawsuits. You also fail to mention that the pipelines are not owned by Russia. They are owned by Swiss companies.
The Russians had tried to shut off the pipelines before, to get sanctions lifted by claiming an important component was being held up in Montreal over them. That the pipelines returned right as rain after three days seems to suggest they were making it up. The sabotage of the pipelines might have been a last-ditch effort to get people to lift sanctions.
In addition, most remember when someone bombed the pipelines from Russia into Georgia in 2006, cutting off gas to Georgia, just after they started trying to seek NATO membership.
Furthermore, the explosions occurred very close to the SwePol power line between Sweden and Poland. Another was closer to a different gas pipeline from Denmark. If they were using pipeline pigs to move the explosives in, they might have been trying to literally weaponize the gas pipelines to attack European infrastructure. Even if they weren't, taking out two birds with one stone is good.
Finally, Russia is the perfector of the Falsehood Firehose - trying to drown the truth in a flurry of conflicting lies and explanations which do nothing but obscure what really happened. When the news broke, suddenly there were stories claiming the US, Germany, NATO, Poland, or Ukraine were responsible for the explosion, mostly from Russian sources and useful idiots. Every time this happens, you can be sure that Russia is behind it.
William Safire was clinically insane. He was the one who deemed Bush The Elder's sensible speech in Kiev in 1991 "Chicken Kiev." The cruel name stuck and did indeed damage Bush politically (perhaps something that Dubya noticed?). In terms of adolescent jeering, Trump has nothing on Safire.
Wish I had seen this before I taught a class on evaluating sources today. You have random YouTube videos that are less crazy than the vast majority of news clips that cover this event. I love the historical context.
Is the underlying assumption that Russia shouldn't experience any serious consequences for its unprovoked attack on a neighboring sovereign country and the slaughter of tens of thousands of its civilians?
Yes, as a few people in Europe have been warning since at the outset before February, before 2022, before Minsk II, etc., et. al.
Peter Hitchens, winner of the prestigious Orwell Prize (ruffled many feathers) and social conservative brother of the late Christopher Hitchens, who still keeps his union card and who is also probably the most cogent and reasonable writer and commentator on this giant matter that we’re speaking of.
Because this is so serious, I am going to cross-post my substack article from yesterday. This is not opportunist. I never do this, but the times are not well. It’s up to the moderator. But alright:
Yes. This would be deemed heresy in almost all circles just now? We’re in an era that feels like the Red Scare of the 50’s, except that the proponents used to be the hippies.
Who has shared this opinion publically? I assume the Euros are obliged to accept without complaint, since they agreed to pipeline against US advice? What about trump?
At least back in the Cold War, spooks and State Department officials knew to shut the hell up and not to act super smug and coy on national tv after they pulled one of these ops. These days they are practically bragging about it instead of trying to obfuscate.
And -- Russia’s invasion of Nazi-governed Ukraine was entirely NOT provoked....
Cool story from Wm. Safire but it sounds like a modern scenario, a la Stuxnet, whereas miscellaneous Russians claim (easily found on Wikipedia) their OG pipes were not software-controlled back in 1982.
l do like the 40th anniversary angle of it -- but this Fleet Street suggestion that Putin bombed it is fairly ridiculous, Kuwaiti-incubator-to-floor-pipeline stuff. Impossible to credit anything reported now, you'd have to be already computer-chipped yourself.
It is certainly possible that this was US sabotage. But you purposely ignore that Russia has an economic interest here. They stopped supplies a few months ago on the flimsiest grounds and are arguably in breach of contract. The explosions create a force majeure that prevents any such lawsuits. You also fail to mention that the pipelines are not owned by Russia. They are owned by Swiss companies.
The Russians had tried to shut off the pipelines before, to get sanctions lifted by claiming an important component was being held up in Montreal over them. That the pipelines returned right as rain after three days seems to suggest they were making it up. The sabotage of the pipelines might have been a last-ditch effort to get people to lift sanctions.
In addition, most remember when someone bombed the pipelines from Russia into Georgia in 2006, cutting off gas to Georgia, just after they started trying to seek NATO membership.
Furthermore, the explosions occurred very close to the SwePol power line between Sweden and Poland. Another was closer to a different gas pipeline from Denmark. If they were using pipeline pigs to move the explosives in, they might have been trying to literally weaponize the gas pipelines to attack European infrastructure. Even if they weren't, taking out two birds with one stone is good.
Finally, Russia is the perfector of the Falsehood Firehose - trying to drown the truth in a flurry of conflicting lies and explanations which do nothing but obscure what really happened. When the news broke, suddenly there were stories claiming the US, Germany, NATO, Poland, or Ukraine were responsible for the explosion, mostly from Russian sources and useful idiots. Every time this happens, you can be sure that Russia is behind it.
William Safire was clinically insane. He was the one who deemed Bush The Elder's sensible speech in Kiev in 1991 "Chicken Kiev." The cruel name stuck and did indeed damage Bush politically (perhaps something that Dubya noticed?). In terms of adolescent jeering, Trump has nothing on Safire.
Wish I had seen this before I taught a class on evaluating sources today. You have random YouTube videos that are less crazy than the vast majority of news clips that cover this event. I love the historical context.
Thank you very much. It is never explained WHY such pathological hate of capitalist Russia and total support of Nazi-dominated Ukraine government !!
Stand with Russia – it fights for all of us against bipartisan fascist US/UK clique.
https://thedreizinreport.com/2022/10/09/war-crimes-2/
your article mentioned here at Unz review:
https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-of-pipelines-and-plagues/#comment-5580707
Is the underlying assumption that Russia shouldn't experience any serious consequences for its unprovoked attack on a neighboring sovereign country and the slaughter of tens of thousands of its civilians?
Yes, as a few people in Europe have been warning since at the outset before February, before 2022, before Minsk II, etc., et. al.
Peter Hitchens, winner of the prestigious Orwell Prize (ruffled many feathers) and social conservative brother of the late Christopher Hitchens, who still keeps his union card and who is also probably the most cogent and reasonable writer and commentator on this giant matter that we’re speaking of.
Because this is so serious, I am going to cross-post my substack article from yesterday. This is not opportunist. I never do this, but the times are not well. It’s up to the moderator. But alright:
https://cordua.substack.com/p/the-late-modern-era-all-the-things
Hitchens:
https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/