Opinion: Transparent Nord Stream investigation required

Approximately two months ago, the Seymour Hersh article, “How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline” appeared on Substack. No major newspaper chose to publish this extensive, detailed look at one of the most shocking acts of terrorism since the destruction of the Twin Towers.

More recently, articles have appeared in the “New York Times,” “The Washington Post” and “The Times” (used to be “The Times of London,”) from a variety of authors alleging that a different set of actors was responsible for Nord Stream.

Although lacking the specificity of the Hersh article, these stories maintain that a group of pro-Ukrainian, anti-Russian partisans, consisting of five men and one woman on a rented yacht, were responsible for the destruction. Pushback on this narrative was instant from both public and private experts that these claims far exceeded the realm of probability.

What these stories did accomplish was an immediate, robust examination of their claims by a host of specialists. The Hersh article would have triggered the same examination, and should have been as widely published to give it the scrutiny.

To date, the one reporter I’ve seen who has reviewed and critiqued Hersh in depth is Australian journalist John Helmer. On his site, “Dances with Bears,” Helmer questions numerous details of Hersh’s article and notes why he questions them.

One thing Helmer does not do is question Hersh’s accusation of “who done it.” Rather he expands the list of miscreants to include Germany.

Helmer notes that the news conference where President Biden assured the world that Nord Stream 2 would never come on line, was a joint conference also hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They were side by side when Biden was asked how he would accomplish that. What followed was:

Biden: We will – I promise you, we’ll be able to do it.

Scholz: I want to be absolutely clear. We have intensively prepared everything to be ready with the necessary sanctions if there is a military aggression against Ukraine.

Question: Will you commit today to turning off and pulling the plug on Nord Stream 2?

Scholz: As I’ve already said, we are acting together, we are absolutely united, and we will not be taking different steps.

If the German chancellor had prior knowledge of the destruction of Nord Stream 2, it takes this epic to a whole new level.

An independent, transparent investigation of who exactly blew up Nord Stream 2 is needed. Immediately.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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