Peter Myers Digest: NATO conducted exercises using deep-sea equipment in the area where Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were sabotaged
(1) NATO conducted exercises using deep-sea equipment in the area where Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were sabotaged
(2) Terror attack against energy infrastructure in international waters; NATO likely used underwater drones
(3) USS Kearsarge was in the area. Polish MEP Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted thanking the US for destroying the pipelines
(4) Putin blames sabotage on “Anglo-Saxons”; Biden denies it
(5) Despite ‘green’ credentials, Biden gave go-ahead to huge Methane release
(6) Infrastructure will now be targeted in future conflicts
(7) Putin: “the Anglo-Saxons believe sanctions are no longer enough and now they have turned to subversion”
(8) Michael Hudson: Instead of panic, there has been a great sigh of diplomatic relief, even calm
(1) NATO conducted exercises using deep-sea equipment in the area where Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were sabotaged
https://www.rt.com/russia/563741-nato-underwater-drones-nord-stream/
29 Sep, 2022 15:22
NATO tested underwater ‘equipment’ close to Nord Stream – Moscow
In June, the military alliance experimented with unmanned subs near the island of Bornholm
– © defense.gov
NATO conducted exercises using deep-sea equipment in the area where gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were detected this week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. She added that the entire Baltic Sea is “packed full” of the bloc’s military infrastructure.
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Thursday, Zakharova dismissed any allegations that Russia was behind the incident. “May I ask you a question? When exactly did Russia decide it wanted to stop supplying energy to Europe?” she asked.
Zakharova said NATO was engaged in military activities close to the location where the leaks were found, noting that it might have presented an interesting “opportunity” for the bloc.
“So, maybe the NATO bases never conducted exercises there, while American soldiers have never been stationed on the territory of nearby countries?” she quipped, adding that this summer “in the area of Bornholm, Denmark, NATO conducted exercises that used deep-sea equipment”.
Zakharova was apparently referring to Exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 22 in the Baltic Sea, which took place in June 2022 and were meant to demonstrate the military bloc’s “mine hunting capabilities,” according to the statement by the US Navy at the time. In particular it sought to experiment with Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) by deploying them off the coast of Bornholm island.
<https://www.rt.com/business/563725-peskov-nord-stream-relaunch/>
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Kremlin comments on fate of Nord Stream
Zakharova urged Washington to offer “an explanation” and “confess” to the truth, saying that the US had left that job to Poland’s former foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, who earlier “thanked” the US for destroying the pipeline.
NATO said Thursday that the pipelines were damaged in what appeared to be a “deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage,” promising to meet any attack on its critical infrastructure “with a united and determined response.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the Nord Stream leaks as a probable “terrorist act” which is unlikely to have been possible “without the involvement of some state power.”
On Monday, Denmark reported leaks from the pipelines after the operator reported a loss of pressure on both Nord Stream 1 and 2. Danish and Swedish authorities later said there had been a series of undersea explosions near Bornholm. In total, there have been four gas leaks detected in the Nord Stream system.
(2) Terror attack against energy infrastructure in international waters; NATO likely used underwater drones
Escobar: Nord Stream Sabotage Propels ‘Disaster Capitalism’ To New, Toxic Level
FRIDAY, SEP 30, 2022 – 12:20 PM
Authored by Pepe Escobar,
The sabotage of the Nord Stream (NS) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipelines in the Baltic Sea has ominously propelled ‘Disaster Capitalism’ to a whole new, toxic level.
This episode of Hybrid Industrial/Commercial War, in the form of a terror attack against energy infrastructure in international waters signals the absolute collapse of international law, drowned by a “our way or the highway”, “rules-based”, order.
The attack on both pipelines consisted of multiple explosive charges detonated in separate branches close to the Danish island of Bornholm, but in international waters.
That was a sophisticated operation, carried out in stealth in the shallow depth of the Danish straits. That would in principle rule out submarines (ships entering the Baltic are limited to a draught of 15 meters). As for prospective “invisible” vessels, these could only loiter around with permission from Copenhagen – as the waters around Borholm are crammed with sensors, reflecting fear of incursion by Russian submarines.
Swedish seismologists registered two underwater explosions on Monday – one of them estimated at 100 kg of TNT. Yet as much as 700 kg may have been used to blow up three separate pipeline nodes. Such amount could not have possibly been delivered in just one trip by underwater drones currently available in neighboring nations.
The pressure on the pipelines dropped exponentially. The pipes are now filled with seawater.
The pipes on both NS and NS2 can be repaired, of course, but hardly before the arrival of General Winter. The question is whether Gazprom – already focused on several hefty Eurasian customers – would bother, especially considering that Gazprom vessels could be exposed to a possible NATO naval attack in the Baltic.
German officials are already spinning that NS and NS2 can “potentially” be out of commission “forever”. The EU economy and EU citizens badly needed that gas supply. Yet the EUrocracy in Brussels – which rules over nation-states – would not follow, because they have been dictated themselves by the Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder. A case can be made that this Euro-oligarchy should one day be tried for treason.
As it stands, a strategic irreversibility is already self-evident; the population of several EU nations will pay a tremendous price and suffer serious consequences derived from this attack, short, medium and long term.
Cui bono?
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson admitted that was “a matter of sabotage”. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen admitted “it was not an accident”. Berlin agrees with the Scandinavians.
Now compare it with former Polish Defense Minister (2005-2007) Radek Sikorski, a Russophobe married to rabid US “analyst” Anne Applebaum, who merrily tweeted “Thank you, USA”.
It gets curiouser and curiouser when we know that simultaneously to the sabotage the <https://www.baltic-pipe.eu/>Baltic Pipe from Norway to Poland was partially opened, a “new gas supply corridor” servicing “the Danish and Polish markets”: actually a minor affair, considering months ago their sponsors were in trouble finding gas, and now it will be even harder, with much higher costs.
NS2 had already been attacked – in the open – all along its construction. Back in February, Polish ships actively tried to prevent the Fortuna pipe-laying vessel from finishing NS2. The pipes were being laid south of – you guessed it – Bornholm.
NATO for its part has been very active on the <https://seapowermagazine.org/baltops-22-a-perfect-opportunity-for-research-and-resting-new-technology/> underwater drones department. The Americans have access to long distance Norwegian underwater drones which can be modified with other designs. Alternatively, professional navy clearance divers could have been employed in the sabotage – even as tidal currents around Bornholm are a serious matter.
The Big Picture reveals the collective West in absolute panic, with Atlanticist “elites” willing to resort to anything – outrageous lies, assassinations, terrorism, sabotage, all out financial war, support to neo-Nazis – to prevent their descent into a geopolitical and geoeconomic abyss.
Disabling NS and NS2 represents the definitive closure of any possibility of a German-Russia deal on gas supplies, with the added benefit of relegating Germany to the lowly status of absolute US vassal.
So that brings us to the key question of which Western intel apparatus designed the sabotage. Prime candidates are of course CIA and MI6 – with Poland set up as the fall guy and Denmark playing a very dodgy part: it’s impossible that Copenhagen was not at least “briefed” on the intel.
Prescient as ever, as early as in April 2021 Russians were <https://vz.ru/society/2021/4/14/1094528.html> asking questions about the military security of Nord Stream.
The crucial vector is that we may be facing the case of a EU/NATO member involved in an act of sabotage against the number one EU/NATO economy. That’s a casus belli. Outside of the appalling mediocrity and cowardice of the current administration in Berlin, it’s clear that the BND – German intel – as well as the German Navy and informed industrialists sooner or later will do the math.
This was far from an isolated attack. On September 22 there was an attempt against Turkish Stream by Kiev saboteurs. The day before, naval drones with English language IDs were found in Crimea, suspected of being part of the plot. Add to it US helicopters overflying the future sabotage nodes weeks ago; a UK “research” vessel <https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/rrs-sir-david-attenborough/current-location-ship-tracking>loitering in Danish waters since mid-September; and NATO tweeting about the testing of “new unmanned systems at sea” on the same day of the sabotage.
Show me the (gas) money
The Danish Minister of Defense met urgently with NATO’s Secretary General this Wednesday. After all the explosions happened very close to Denmark’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). That may be qualified as crude kabuki at best; exactly on the same day, the European Commission (EC), NATO’s de facto political office, advanced its trademark obsession: more sanctions against Russia, including the certified-to-fail cap on oil prices.
Meanwhile, EU energy giants are bound to lose big time with the sabotage.
The roll call includes the German Wintershall Dea AG and PEG/ E.ON; the Dutch N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie; and the French ENGIE. Then there are those which financed NS2: Wintershall Dea again as well as Uniper; Austrian OMV; ENGIE again; and British-Dutch Shell. Wintershall Dea and ENGIE are both co-owners and creditors. Their fuming shareholders will want serious answers from a serious investigation.
It gets worse: there are no holds barred anymore on the Pipeline Terror front. Russia will be on red alert not only for Turk Stream but also Power of Siberia. Same for the Chinese and their maze of pipelines arriving in Xinjiang.
Whatever the methodology and the actors who were in the loop, this is payback – in advance – for the inevitable collective West defeat in Ukraine. And a crude warning to the Global South that they will do it again. Yet action always breeds reaction: from now on, “funny things” could also happen to US/UK pipelines in international waters.
The EU oligarchy is reaching an advanced process of disintegration at lightning speed. Their window of opportunity to at least attempt a role as a strategically autonomous geopolitical actor is now closed.
These EUROcrats now face a serious predicament. Once it’s clear who are the perpetrators of the sabotage in the Baltic, and once they understand all the life-changing socio-economic consequences for pan-EU citizens, the kabuki will have to stop. Including the already running, uber-ridiculous subplot that Russia blew up its own pipeline when Gazprom could simply have turned off the valves for good.
And once again, it gets worse: Gazprom is threatening to sue the Ukrainian energy company Naftofgaz for unpaid bills. That would lead to the end of Russian gas transiting Ukraine towards the EU.
As if all of that was not serious enough, Germany is contractually obligated to purchase at least 40 billion cubic meters of Russian gas a year until 2030.
Just say no? They can’t: Gazprom is legally entitled to get paid even without shipping gas. That’s the spirit of a long-term contract. And it’s already happening: because of sanctions, Berlin does not get all the gas it needs but still needs to pay.
All the devils are here
Now it’s painfully clear the imperial velvet gloves are off when it comes to the vassals. EU independence: verboten. Cooperation with China: verboten. Independent trade connectivity with Asia: verboten. The only place for the EU is to be economically subjugated to the US: a tawdry remix of 1945-1955. With a perverse neoliberal twist: we will own your industrial capacity, and you will have nothing.
The sabotage of NS and NS2 is inbuilt in the imperial wet dream of breaking up the Eurasian land mass into a thousand pieces to prevent a trans-Eurasia consolidation between Germany (representing the EU), Russia and China: $50 trillion in GDP, based on purchasing power parity (PPP) compared to the US’s $20 trillion.
We must go back to Mackinder: control of the Eurasian land mass constitutes control of the world. American elites and their Trojan Horses across Europe will do whatever it takes not to give up their control.
“American elites” in this context encompass the deranged, Straussian neo-con-infested “intel community” and the Big Energy, Big Pharma and Big Finance that pays them and who profits not only from the Deep State’s Forever War approach but also wants to make a killing out of the Davos-concocted Great Reset.
The Raging Twenties started with a murder – of Gen Soleimani. Blowing up pipelines is part of the sequel. There will be a highway to hell all the way to 2030. Yet to borrow from Shakespeare, hell is definitely empty, and all the (Atlanticist) devils are here.
(3) USS Kearsarge was in the area. Polish MEP Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted thanking the US for destroying the pipelines
https://www-anti–spiegel-ru.translate.goog/2022/nord-stream-gesprengt-die-wohl-duemmste-propaganda-aller-zeiten/
Nord Stream blown up: Probably the dumbest propaganda of all time
The Nord Stream pipelines have been blown up and the Western media is staging what is probably the dumbest propaganda stunt of all time.
from
Sep 30, 2022 12:56 am
After the Nord Stream pipelines were apparently blown up, the search for the culprit begins. The Western media launches the dumbest propaganda stunt of all time by pretending for a few days to be open-ended in finding the culprit. In fact, it’s already clear that they want to blame Russia. The US is not even mentioned as a possible culprit. Even an elementary school student understands how stupid that is.
And to put it bluntly right away, repairing the pipelines may be impossible because the pipes will now fill with salt water and they will begin to rust. A repair would only be possible, at least in theory, if it started immediately. However, that is not to be expected. The pipelines are dead.
The USS Kearsarge
The media are acting as if Russia organized the attack on the pipelines. The US is not even named by the media in its “crime quest” as a possible cause of the explosions, although it is extremely interesting that the USS Kearsarge, a US Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, had been in the blast for months area operates. It is unusual that the English Wikipedia reports on this in great detail with many sources:
“On May 13, 2022, the Kearsarge participated in a PASSEX training with the Finnish and Swedish navies in the northern Baltic Sea. From May 17-23, the Kearsarge participated in NATO’s Neptune Shield 2022 guard activity with its amphibious readiness group. On May 27, the Kearsarge docked in Tallinn, Estonia, ahead of exercise BALTOPS 22. On June 2, she arrived in Stockholm, Sweden. On August 20, she arrived in Klaipe?da, Lithuania.”
In addition , on September 23, the Kearsarge brought US Marines from the 2nd Marine Logistics Group to Finland, where they participated in maneuver Freezing Winds 22. The Kearsarge specializes in operations with combat swimmers and other underwater operations, among other things. And this ship has been sailing around the Baltic Sea for months, unnoticed by the German media, including near the Nord Stream pipelines.
The fact that NATO tested the use of “ unmanned maritime systems ” off Portugal just a few weeks ago , which can be used “ above the water, on the water and under water ”, is certainly a coincidence. The maneuver ended on September 22nd.
Were the systems then taken to Finland by plane and loaded onto the Kearsarge, which docked there on September 23? I would put the question to NATO if I were a journalist in the German media, but the “quality media” don’t find this question interesting enough to inform their readers about it, or even ask NATO about it.
Russian ships?
The explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines occurred just three days after the Kearsarge visit to Helsinki. Where was the Kearsarge at the time? The question is also interesting.
However, it does not necessarily have to be the Kearsarge that is involved in the explosions. The systems tested in Portugal may have been on NATO ships in the Baltic Sea for months and could have been deployed with the experience gained off Portugal.
There are many US warships in the Baltic Sea, why doesn’t a journalist ask which NATO ships (including submarines) were there at the time of the explosions, or in the days before?
The question is also interesting with regard to a possible Russian perpetrator, because if it should turn out (and it can be assumed) that many NATO ships were in the area, then they would have any Russian warships (also submarines) located in the area.
So I repeat the question: how many and which NATO ships were there at the time of the explosions, or in the days before? And in order to clarify a possible Russian perpetrator, one must also ask a second question: Which Russian ships (and submarines) did the NATO ships locate there at the time of the explosions, or in the days before?
However, these questions are not asked by the German “quality media”.
Russia’s interest
The German media and politicians accuse Russia of having an interest in the destruction of the pipelines. But why should Russia destroy the billion-dollar pipelines that are supposed to bring in even more billions for Russia? Especially since Russia could simply turn off the gas tap and interrupt the gas flow without blowing up the pipelines, which cost billions?
The reason given by the West is that Russia uses its gas as a political weapon and leverage. Russia has never done that, but let’s assume Russia would want to do that. Then it would be pretty stupid to destroy the pipelines. It would be smarter to turn off the tap and wait for the EU (or Germany) to get down on its knees begging for gas supplies. Then Russia could set conditions for gas deliveries. But if Russia destroyed the pipelines, it would have seized the leverage it claims it wants to use. Is that logical?
The Norwegian-Polish pipeline
As luck would have it, on the same day the pipelines were blown up, the new pipeline that is supposed to supply Poland with gas from Norway via Denmark went into operation.
Poland effectively closed the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which brought Russian gas to Poland and Europe via Belarus, at the turn of the year and later nationalized Gazprom’s pipelines in Poland. Since then, of course, no Russian gas has flowed to Poland. If Russia wanted to exert pressure, Russia would have had to blow up the Norwegian-Polish pipeline to pressure Poland to resume gas transit through Belarus. But now Poland can get gas from Norway and even resell it to Germany because Germany no longer has access to pipeline gas of its own.
Of course, one can mistake Putin for the embodiment of evil, but no one thinks he’s stupid. Why would Russia blow up the Nord Stream pipelines, playing into the hands of Poland, while destroying its own ability to sell (or, for that matter, leverage) gas?
In addition, on September 27, a day after the blasts, former Polish Foreign Minister and MEP Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted thanking the US for destroying the pipelines. He captioned the tweet with a photo of the accident site, the hashtag #Nordstream, and a quote from US President Joe Biden on Feb. 7 when Biden said the US would stop Nord Stream 2 if Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border . Sikorski deleted the tweet on September 29th.
On February 7, the following dialogue took place between Biden and a journalist to whom Sikorski referred: {see image}
US interests
That the US is opposed to Russian gas pipelines to Europe in general and to Nord Stream 2 in particular has never been a secret. The US said so openly and also imposed sanctions on the construction of Nord Stream 2. Even in Soviet times, the USA tried to prevent all pipeline projects between the Soviet Union and Europe, especially between the Soviet Union and Germany. The older ones among us still remember how President Reagan fought the pipeline projects of the time.
The US has also wanted to sell its fracked gas to Europe and push Russia out of the European gas market for almost a decade, when they started fracking on a large scale. Under normal market conditions, US fracked gas, which is shipped as liquefied gas, is about 30 percent more expensive than Russian gas that is conventionally produced and transported by pipeline to Europe. As a result, the US has barely gotten its foot in the door of the European market over the years, apart from political decisions in countries like Poland, which have nevertheless bet on American gas but have been unable to sell it in Europe because of the high price. Before the current gas crisis, which was caused by the EU itselfthe liquefied gas terminals in Europe were barely 25 percent utilised.
Under pressure from the USA, the EU and its member states have now decided to avoid Russian gas as much as possible. The consequences are well known: prices are exploding because the liquefied gas supplied is not only more expensive anyway, but also because there is simply not enough of it available worldwide to meet European demand.
As is well known, there were voices in the EU – and especially in Germany – to put Nord Stream 2 into operation at least temporarily as an emergency solution if the gas crisis in winter should have too devastating consequences. That has now been made impossible by the destruction of the pipelines, which is neither in the interest of Russia, which would like to sell its gas, nor in the interest of Germany, whose economy is now bound to go to the dogs. But it was in the interest of the USA, because after the destruction of the pipelines, not only was the annoying competitor Russia effectively squeezed out of the European gas market, but the EU countries are now suddenly dependent on the USA for gas supplies.
The USA has thus got a strong leverage against the EU, because in contrast to Russian pipeline gas, which cannot simply be diverted, the USA can sell its liquid gas to the highest bidder and flexibly send the tankers to where the best price can be achieved secondly, they can turn off the gas supply to the EU at any time if it becomes politically disobedient, without having to forego income from gas sales. Finally, the US can ship it to Asia as well.
And best of all, the US wants to help the EU investigate the blasts, Biden’s spokeswoman has announced. So we can all be very excited to see what the outcome of the investigation will be.
The fact that EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell threatened those responsible for the destruction of the pipelines with a “ robust and united response ” is real satire. Or does the EU seriously want to punish the USA? Of course not, because in the end – with the friendly support of the USA – the “investigations” into the explosions will show that Russia is the culprit.
The impact on Germany
The German economy is being driven flat out against the wall, because firstly the lack of gas will mean that entire industries will have to take a forced break in winter. It remains to be seen whether these companies will be able to resume production afterwards, or whether they will be financially ruined.
In addition, gas – and therefore electricity – in Germany and Europe will never be as cheap as it used to be, because even if there were enough liquid gas in Europe from tomorrow, it will be significantly more expensive than Russian gas. With the increased energy prices in Europe, it is unlikely that companies will be able to continue producing at prices that are competitive on the world market, especially since competitors, for example in China, are increasing their energy costs due to the Russian gas flowing through the new pipelines to China. can lower.
I have to think again of the paper by the RAND Corporation, which is very influential in the USA , in which it is written that it is in the interests of the USA to weaken the German economy in order to shut down the US economy by withdrawing capital and production capacities Germany to strengthen the USA. The translation of the paper can be found here , the original can be found here . Whether the paper is authentic is not guaranteed, but the fact is that everything written on it is coming to pass.
If the German federal government were really committed to the well-being of the people living in Germany, it would now massively push for clarification. But the German government is surprisingly silent, also more or less directly blaming Russia. Many in the German government are probably secretly happy about the destruction of Nord Stream, because the Greens in particular have always been against the allegedly dirty Russian gas. The principled Greens have never had a problem with fracking gas from the USA, because the principle of the Greens is not environmental or climate protection, their principle is to serve the USA, as Economics Minister Habeck said himself during his first visit to the USA . The Focus wrote about this in a very short article at the timereported:
“The more Germany serves, the greater its role”: these were the words of Economics Minister Robert Habeck during his two-day visit to America. In the USA, people are pleased that Germany is ready “to exercise a serving leadership role.”
But the readers and viewers of the German “quality media” learn nothing of all the connections, instead they are told that Russia blew up the pipelines because it wants to use gas as a means of pressure. But what kind of pressure can be used when Russia can no longer deliver gas through the pipelines? And that the USA could have an interest in the destruction of the pipelines is not even mentioned by the German “quality media”.
Protests against high prices – against whom to protest?
Another effect of the blasting of the pipelines is that the Germans will be annoyed about rising prices in winter, but their protests will no longer affect the federal government. So far, it was feared that the Germans could demonstrate en masse in winter for the commissioning of Nord Stream 2. That’s over now, because you can’t put a pipeline that no longer exists into operation.
If politicians and the media succeed in hammering the story of Russia’s alleged guilt for the destruction of the pipelines into the minds of the people of Germany, it would be entirely in the interests of the German government. People would then hold Russia responsible for the failure of the federal government and its predecessors in energy policy, which would further fuel the anti-Russian sentiment that was already wanted.
(4) Putin blames sabotage on “Anglo-Saxons”; Biden denies it
West rejects Putin’s claim it sabotaged Baltic gas pipelines
By JAN M. OLSEN
October 1, 2022
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the West of sabotaging Russia-built natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea to Germany, a charge vehemently denied by the United States and its allies.
Nordic nations said <https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-economy-baltic-sea-82d5453f9b4a20b858cb61d83cd84a7c>the undersea blasts that damaged the pipelines this week and have led to huge methane leaks involved several hundred pounds of explosives.
The U.S.-Russia clashes continued later at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York called by Russia on the attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, and as Norwegian researchers published a map projecting that a <https://apnews.com/article/science-business-baltic-sea-oil-and-gas-industry-climate-environment-6ed67266b0a6caa59fc1afceac89dd82>huge plume of methane from the damaged pipelines will travel over large swaths of the Nordic region.
Speaking Friday in Moscow at a ceremony to annex four regions of Ukraine into Russia, Putin claimed that “Anglo-Saxons” in the West have turned from imposing sanctions on Russia to “terror attacks,” sabotaging the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in what he described as an attempt to “destroy the European energy infrastructure.”
He added that “those who profit from it have done it,” without naming a specific country.
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden dismissed Putin’s pipeline claims as outlandish.
(5) Despite ‘green’ credentials, Biden gave go-ahead to huge Methane release
Methane blast in Baltic Sea highlights global problem
CATHY BUSSEWITZyesterday
NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have been measuring the scale of the massive methane leak from damaged pipelines in the Baltic Sea, with the <https://www.icos-cp.eu/event/1221?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp>latest figures equating the levels of gas escaping to the annual emissions of some whole countries. It is believed to be the single biggest recorded gas leak over a short period of time.
But as serious as the methane escaping from ruptured pipelines may be, there are alarming incidents of massive methane releases around the world frequently.
Climate scientists have found that methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are far worse than what companies are reporting, despite claims by some major firms that they’ve reduced their emissions. That matters because natural gas, a fossil fuel widely used to heat homes and provide electricity, is made up of methane, a potent climate warming gas. It escapes into the atmosphere from well sites and <https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-and-nature-texas-asthma-6e3cea3aa6bf82249315aab7a5b37ff6>across the natural gas distribution network, from pipelines and compressor stations, to the <https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-climate-politics-lake-charles-043352f951b3c8fec787c51c6836a4ae>export terminals that liquefy gas to ship it overseas.
Scientists measuring methane from satellites in space have found that methane emissions from oil and gas operations are usually at least twice what companies reported, said Thomas Lauvaux, a scientist at University of Reims in France. In the Permian Basin, the largest oil and gas field in the United States, methane emissions were two to three times higher than what companies reported, he said.
(6) Infrastructure will now be targeted in future conflicts
https://wentworthreport.com/release-the-files/
Release The Files
by David Archibald
1 October 2022
Firstly, given what is following, a disclaimer is necessary: Russia needs to be expelled from Ukraine. They are barbaric. The more comprehensive their defeat, the greater the period of peace that will follow.
That said, the Biden regime has over-reached in sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines. They are applying their approach to US domestic politics to the international situation. The pipeline sabotage is the equivalent of sending the FBI to raid Trump’s principal residence. Everyone with a moral compass knew that it was a wrong thing to do, they did it anyway and there were unintended consequences for the perpetrators which they hadn’t thought through.
{photo}
Gas bubbles mark the spot
Firstly, fixing the pipelines will be relatively easy. Two hundred feet of water is easy diving territory. Because of the hydrostatic pressure from the water depth and despite the size of the charges used, the lengths ruptured will be short. Cutting out the holed sections and welding in new lengths of pipe will be easy and should only take a week or so once the right ships are in place. And then push out the seawater with a pipeline ‘pig’ from the Russian end. The oil industry does this sort of thing all the time.
Easy to fix, physically, but the unintended consequences, the blowback will be immense. First of all Putin had based the legitimacy of his war on Ukraine on a notion that the West was at war with Russia. The sabotage of the pipelines proves him right, when before there had been nothing kinetic. Now that he has been proved right instead of just being paranoid, any Russian not supporting the war is letting the side down. Putin may stay in power for a couple of years longer than he might have otherwise done. And finding people to risk their lives in mounting a coup? Now there will be tens of thousands more dead on the battlefield instead.
Secondly, it will re-invigorate the German left just when they were about to be exposed as incompetents as their country goes dark in the coming winter. Lack of energy can be deflected to some extent on the US sabotage of those pipelines. The facts of the matter don’t matter. They now have an anti-American narrative delivered to them in a neat package tied with a bow. And this anti-American narrative will last for decades.
Thirdly, it will be easy and cheap for the Russians to retaliate. Traveling in Siberia in the mid-90s, I was surprised to see guards on bridges in the middle of nowhere.
Well of course all important infrastructure needs guards on it, because ill-intentioned people might try to destroy it. That is the world that the Nord Stream sabotage has led us to. It might be an internet cable in the Pacific that can be snagged by a ship towing a chain and plow. The Russians are nasty and vindictive. The Nord Stream sabotage will prompt them to be inventive also. And each time something is broken and blame can be attributed to the Russians, is it going to be worth going to war over?
Fourthly the Nord Stream sabotage will just drive the Russian further into the arms of the Chicoms, who will be the real mass killers this century. Russia had warned the FBI of the Tsarnaev brothers who went on to bomb the Boston Marathon. They won’t bother doing that again. Though we now know that the FBI hasn’t been on our side for some time.
How should Putin respond to the smart-arsed prank of blowing up those pipelines? He should go nuclear on the progressive left, which has ruined the modern world. He should apologize on behalf of Russia for foisting Obama on the United States as a long term influence agent. And apologize to Germany for foisting Merkel on them. Putin should release the KGB, now FSB, files on these two. And he might get another ten years as dictator of Russia.
David Archibald is the author of American Gripen: The Solution to the F-35 Nightmare
Putin:”the Anglo-Saxons believe sanctions are no longer enough and now they have turned to subversion”, destroying Europe’s energy infrastructure
(7) Putin: “the Anglo-Saxons believe sanctions are no longer enough and now they have turned to subversion”
https://thetaoofanarchy.substack.com/p/for-the-sake-of-free-flow-of-information?utm_source=email
“Signing of treaties on accession of Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia”
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69465
President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
Citizens of Russia, citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, deputies of the State Duma, senators of the Russian Federation,
As you know, referendums have been held in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. The ballots have been counted and the results have been announced. The people have made their unequivocal choice.
Today we will sign treaties on the accession of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye Region and Kherson Region to the Russian Federation. I have no doubt that the Federal Assembly will support the constitutional laws on the accession to Russia and the establishment of four new regions, our new constituent entities of the Russian Federation, because this is the will of millions of people.
It is undoubtedly their right, an inherent right sealed in Article 1 of the UN Charter, which directly states the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
I repeat, it is an inherent right of the people. It is based on our historical affinity, and it is that right that led generations of our predecessors, those who built and defended Russia for centuries since the period of Ancient Rus, to victory.
Here in Novorossiya, [Pyotr] Rumyantsev, [Alexander] Suvorov and [Fyodor] Ushakov fought their battles, and Catherine the Great and [Grigory] Potemkin founded new cities. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought here to the bitter end during the Great Patriotic War.
We will always remember the heroes of the Russian Spring, those who refused to accept the neo-Nazi coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014, all those who died for the right to speak their native language, to preserve their culture, traditions and religion, and for the very right to live. We remember the soldiers of Donbass, the martyrs of the “Odessa Khatyn,” the victims of inhuman terrorist attacks carried out by the Kiev regime. We commemorate volunteers and militiamen, civilians, children, women, senior citizens, Russians, Ukrainians, people of various nationalities; popular leader of Donetsk Alexander Zakharchenko; military commanders Arsen Pavlov and Vladimir Zhoga, Olga Kochura and Alexei Mozgovoy; prosecutor of the Lugansk Republic Sergei Gorenko; paratrooper Nurmagomed Gadzhimagomedov and all our soldiers and officers who died a hero’s death during the special military operation. They are heroes. Heroes of great Russia. Please join me in a minute of silence to honour their memory.
Behind the choice of millions of residents in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, is our common destiny and thousand-year history. People have passed this spiritual connection on to their children and grandchildren. Despite all the trials they endured, they carried the love for Russia through the years. This is something no one can destroy. That is why both older generations and young people – those who were born after the tragic collapse of the Soviet Union – have voted for our unity, for our common future.
In 1991 in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, representatives of the party elite of that time made a decision to terminate the Soviet Union, without asking ordinary citizens what they wanted, and people suddenly found themselves cut off from their homeland. This tore apart and dismembered our national community and triggered a national catastrophe. Just like the government quietly demarcated the borders of Soviet republics, acting behind the scenes after the 1917 revolution, the last leaders of the Soviet Union, contrary to the direct expression of the will of the majority of people in the referendum of 1991, destroyed our great country, and simply made the people in the former republics face this as an accomplished fact.
I can admit that they didn’t even know what they were doing and what consequences their actions would have in the end. But it doesn’t matter now. There is no Soviet Union anymore; we cannot return to the past. Actually, Russia no longer needs it today; this isn’t our ambition. But there is nothing stronger than the determination of millions of people who, by their culture, religion, traditions, and language, consider themselves part of Russia, whose ancestors lived in a single country for centuries. There is nothing stronger than their determination to return to their true historical homeland.
For eight long years, people in Donbass were subjected to genocide, shelling and blockades; in Kherson and Zaporozhye, a criminal policy was pursued to cultivate hatred for Russia, for everything Russian. Now too, during the referendums, the Kiev regime threatened schoolteachers, women who worked in election commissions with reprisals and death. Kiev threatened millions of people who came to express their will with repression. But the people of Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson weren’t broken, and they had their say.
I want the Kiev authorities and their true handlers in the West to hear me now, and I want everyone to remember this: the people living in Lugansk and Donetsk, in Kherson and Zaporozhye have become our citizens, forever.
We call on the Kiev regime to immediately cease fire and all hostilities; to end the war it unleashed back in 2014 and return to the negotiating table. We are ready for this, as we have said more than once. But the choice of the people in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson will not be discussed. The decision has been made, and Russia will not betray it. Kiev’s current authorities should respect this free expression of the people’s will; there is no other way. This is the only way to peace.
We will defend our land with all the forces and resources we have, and we will do everything we can to ensure the safety of our people. This is the great liberating mission of our nation.
We will definitely rebuild the destroyed cities and towns, the residential buildings, schools, hospitals, theatres and museums. We will restore and develop industrial enterprises, factories, infrastructure, as well as the social security, pension, healthcare and education systems.
We will certainly work to improve the level of security. Together we will make sure that citizens in the new regions can feel the support of all the people of Russia, of the entire nation, all the republics, territories and regions of our vast Motherland.
Friends, colleagues.
Today I would like to address our soldiers and officers who are taking part in the special military operation, the fighters of Donbass and Novorossiya, those who went to military recruitment offices after receiving a call-up paper under the executive order on partial mobilisation, and those who did this voluntarily, answering the call of their hearts. I would like to address their parents, wives and children, to tell them what our people are fighting for, what kind of enemy we are up against, and who is pushing the world into new wars and crises and deriving blood-stained benefits from this tragedy.
Our compatriots, our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who are part of our united people have seen with their own eyes what the ruling class of the so-called West have prepared for humanity as a whole. They have dropped their masks and shown what they are really made of.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the West decided that the world and all of us would permanently accede to its dictates. In 1991, the West thought that Russia would never rise after such shocks and would fall to pieces on its own. This almost happened. We remember the horrible 1990s, hungry, cold and hopeless. But Russia remained standing, came alive, grew stronger and occupied its rightful place in the world.
Meanwhile, the West continued and continues looking for another chance to strike a blow at us, to weaken and break up Russia, which they have always dreamed about, to divide our state and set our peoples against each other, and to condemn them to poverty and extinction. They cannot rest easy knowing that there is such a great country with this huge territory in the world, with its natural wealth, resources and people who cannot and will not do someone else’s bidding.
The West is ready to cross every line to preserve the neo-colonial system which allows it to live off the world, to plunder it thanks to the domination of the dollar and technology, to collect an actual tribute from humanity, to extract its primary source of unearned prosperity, the rent paid to the hegemon. The preservation of this annuity is their main, real and absolutely self-serving motivation. This is why total de-sovereignisation is in their interest. This explains their aggression towards independent states, traditional values and authentic cultures, their attempts to undermine international and integration processes, new global currencies and technological development centres they cannot control. It is critically important for them to force all countries to surrender their sovereignty to the United States.
In certain countries, the ruling elites voluntarily agree to do this, voluntarily agree to become vassals; others are bribed or intimidated. And if this does not work, they destroy entire states, leaving behind humanitarian disasters, devastation, ruins, millions of wrecked and mangled human lives, terrorist enclaves, social disaster zones, protectorates, colonies and semi-colonies. They don’t care. All they care about is their own benefit.[…]
And all we hear is, the West is insisting on a rules-based order. Where did that come from anyway? Who has ever seen these rules? Who agreed or approved them? Listen, this is just a lot of nonsense, utter deceit, double standards, or even triple standards! They must think we’re stupid.
Russia is a great thousand-year-old power, a whole civilisation, and it is not going to live by such makeshift, false rules.
It was the so-called West that trampled on the principle of the inviolability of borders, and now it is deciding, at its own discretion, who has the right to self-determination and who does not, who is unworthy of it. It is unclear what their decisions are based on or who gave them the right to decide in the first place. They just assumed it.
That is why the choice of the people in Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson makes them so furiously angry. The West does not have any moral right to weigh in, or even utter a word about freedom of democracy. It does not and it never did.
Western elites not only deny national sovereignty and international law. Their hegemony has pronounced features of totalitarianism, despotism and apartheid. They brazenly divide the world into their vassals – the so-called civilised countries – and all the rest, who, according to the designs of today’s Western racists, should be added to the list of barbarians and savages. False labels like “rogue country” or “authoritarian regime” are already available, and are used to stigmatise entire nations and states, which is nothing new. There is nothing new in this: deep down, the Western elites have remained the same colonisers. They discriminate and divide peoples into the top tier and the rest.
We have never agreed to and will never agree to such political nationalism and racism. What else, if not racism, is the Russophobia being spread around the world? What, if not racism, is the West’s dogmatic conviction that its civilisation and neoliberal culture is an indisputable model for the entire world to follow? “You’re either with us or against us.” It even sounds strange.
Western elites are even shifting repentance for their own historical crimes on everyone else, demanding that the citizens of their countries and other peoples confess to things they have nothing to do with at all, for example, the period of colonial conquests.
It is worth reminding the West that it began its colonial policy back in the Middle Ages, followed by the worldwide slave trade, the genocide of Indian tribes in America, the plunder of India and Africa, the wars of England and France against China, as a result of which it was forced to open its ports to the opium trade. What they did was get entire nations hooked on drugs and purposefully exterminated entire ethnic groups for the sake of grabbing land and resources, hunting people like animals. This is contrary to human nature, truth, freedom and justice.
While we – we are proud that in the 20th century our country led the anti-colonial movement, which opened up opportunities for many peoples around the world to make progress, reduce poverty and inequality, and defeat hunger and disease. […]
Washington demands more and more sanctions against Russia and the majority of European politicians obediently go along with it. They clearly understand that by pressuring the EU to completely give up Russian energy and other resources, the United States is practically pushing Europe toward deindustrialisation in a bid to get its hands on the entire European market. These European elites understand everything – they do, but they prefer to serve the interests of others. This is no longer servility but direct betrayal of their own peoples. God bless, it is up to them.
But the Anglo-Saxons believe sanctions are no longer enough and now they have turned to subversion. It seems incredible but it is a fact – by causing explosions on Nord Stream’s international gas pipelines passing along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, they have actually embarked on the destruction of Europe’s entire energy infrastructure. It is clear to everyone who stands to gain. Those who benefit are responsible, of course.
The dictates of the US are backed up by crude force, on the law of the fist. Sometimes it is beautifully wrapped sometimes there is no wrapping at all but the gist is the same – the law of the fist. Hence, the deployment and maintenance of hundreds of military bases in all corners of the world, NATO expansion, and attempts to cobble together new military alliances, such as AUKUS and the like. Much is being done to create a Washington-Seoul-Tokyo military-political chain. All states that possess or aspire to genuine strategic sovereignty and are capable of challenging Western hegemony, are automatically declared enemies.
These are the principles that underlie US and NATO military doctrines that require total domination. Western elites are presenting their neocolonialist plans with the same hypocrisy, claiming peaceful intentions, talking about some kind of deterrence. This evasive word migrates from one strategy to another but really only means one thing – undermining any and all sovereign centres of power.
We have already heard about the deterrence of Russia, China and Iran. I believe next in line are other countries of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, as well as current US partners and allies. After all, we know that when they are displeased, they introduce sanctions against their allies as well – against this or that bank or company. This is their practice and they will expand it. They have everything in their sights, including our next-door neighbours – the CIS countries.
At the same time, the West has clearly been engaged in wishful thinking for a long time. In launching the sanctions blitzkrieg against Russia, for example, they thought that they could once again line up the whole world at their command. As it turns out, however, such a bright prospect does not excite everyone – other than complete political masochists and admirers of other unconventional forms of international relations. Most states refuse to ”snap a salute“ and instead choose the sensible path of cooperation with Russia.
The West clearly did not expect such insubordination. They simply got used to acting according to a template, to grab whatever they please, by blackmail, bribery, intimidation, and convinced themselves that these methods would work forever, as if they had fossilised in the past.
Such self-confidence is a direct product not only of the notorious concept of exceptionalism – although it never ceases to amaze – but also of the real ”information hunger“ in the West. The truth has been drowned in an ocean of myths, illusions and fakes, using extremely aggressive propaganda, lying like Goebbels. The more unbelievable the lie, the quicker people will believe it – that is how they operate, according to this principle.
But people cannot be fed with printed dollars and euros. You can’t feed them with those pieces of paper, and the virtual, inflated capitalisation of western social media companies can’t heat their homes. Everything I am saying is important. And what I just said is no less so: you can’t feed anyone with paper – you need food; and you can’t heat anyone’s home with these inflated capitalisations – you need energy. […]
(8) Michael Hudson: Instead of panic, there has been a great sigh of diplomatic relief, even calm
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/09/michael-hudson-on-the-euro-without-germany.html
Michael Hudson on The Euro Without Germany
Posted on September 30, 2022 by Conor Gallagher
Conor: Germany’s swift demise reminds me of the German intelligence agent Bachmann in “A Most Wanted Man.” He’s led to believe he’s operating on an equal level with CIA and British intelligence only to realize too late he was being played the whole time.
Hudson gets to the bottom of what Germany’s downfall will mean for the euro and what the options are for Global South and Eurasian countries as they try to stand up to US hegemony.
By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His latest book is The Destiny of Civilization.
The reaction to the sabotage of three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in four places on Monday, September 26, has focused on speculations about who did it and whether NATO will make a serious attempt to discover the answer. Yet instead of panic, there has been a great sigh of diplomatic relief, even calm. Disabling these pipelines ends the uncertainty and worries on the part of US/NATO diplomats that nearly reached a crisis proportion the previous week, when large demonstrations took place in Germany calling for the sanctions to end and to commission Nord Stream 2 to resolve energy shortage.
The German public was coming to understand what it meant that their steel companies, fertilizer companies, glass companies and toilet-paper companies were shutting down. These companies were forecasting that they would have to go out of business entirely – or shift operations to the United States – if Germany did not withdraw from the trade and currency sanctions against Russia and permit gas and oil imports to resume, and presumably to fall back from their astronomical eight to tenfold increase.
Yet State Department hawk Victoria Nuland already had stated in January that “one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward” if Russia responded to NATO/Ukrainian accelerated military attacks on the Russian-speaking eastern oblasts. President Biden backed up U.S. insistence on February 7, promising that “there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it. … I promise you, we will be able to do it.”
Most observers simply assumed that these statements reflected the obvious fact that German politicians were fully in the US/NATO pocket. They held fast in refusing to authorize Nord Stream 2, and Canada soon seized the Siemens dynamos needed to send gas through Nord Stream 1. That seemed to settle matters until German industry – and a rising number of voters – finally began to calculate just what blocking Russian gas would mean for Germany’s industrial firm.
Germany’s willingness to self-impose an economic depression was wavering – although not its politicians or the EU bureaucracy. If German policymakers were to put German business interests and living standards first, NATO’s common sanctions and New Cold War front would be broken. Italy and France might follow suit. That nightmare of European diplomatic independence made it urgent to take the anti-Russian sanctions out of the hands of democratic politics and settle matters by sabotaging the two pipelines. Despite being an act of violence, it has restored calm to international diplomatic relations between U.S. and German politicians.
There is no more uncertainty about whether or not Europe will break away from U.S. New Cold War aims by restoring mutual trade and investment with Russia. That option is now out. The threat of Europe beaking away from the US/NATO trade and financial sanctions against Russia has been solved, seemingly for the foreseeable future, as Russia has announced that as the gas pressure falls in three of the four pipelines, the infusion of salt water will irreversibly corrode the pipes. (Tagesspiegel, September 28.)
Where do the euro and dollar go from here?
Looking at how this trade “solution” will reshape the relationship between the U.S. dollar and the euro, one can understand why the seemingly obvious consequences of Germany, Italy and other European economies severing trade ties with Russia have not been discussed openly. The “sanctions debate” has been solved by a German and indeed Europe-wide economic crash. To Europe, the next decade will be a disaster. There may be recriminations against the price paid for letting its trade diplomacy be dictated by NATO, but there is nothing that it can do about it. Nobody (yet) expects it to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. What is expected is for its living standards to plunge.
Germany’s industrial exports were the major factor supporting the euro’s exchange rate. The great attraction to Germany in moving from the deutsche mark to the euro would avoid its export surplus from pushing up the D-mark’s exchange rate to a point where German products would be priced out of world markets. Expanding the currency to include Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and other countries running balance-of-payments deficit would prevent the currency from soaring. And that would protect the competitiveness of German industry.
After its introduction in 1999 at $1.12, the euro did indeed sink to $0.85 by July 2001, but recovered and indeed rose to $1.58 in April 2008. It has been drifting down steadily since then, and since February of this year the sanctions have driven the euro’s exchange rate below parity with the dollar to $0.97 this week. The major factor has been rising prices for imported gas and oil, and products such as aluminum and fertilizer requiring heavy energy inputs for their production. And as the euro’s exchange rate declines against the dollar, the cost of carrying its US-dollar debt – the normal condition for affiliates of U.S. multinationals – will rise, squeezing their profits.
This is not the kind of depression that “automatic stabilizers” can work “the magic of the marketplace” to restore economic balance. Energy dependency is structural. And the eurozone’s own economic rules limit its budget deficits to just 3% of GDP. This prevents its national governments supporting the economic by deficit spending. Higher energy and food prices – and dollar-debt service – will leave much less income to be spent on goods and services. […]