Opinion: West should have interest in Nord Stream

There are three things we know for sure about the Nord Stream disaster that occurred last September.

The first is that it was an act of sabotage. This information was provided by the Swedes who investigated the event shortly after it happened.

Second is the fact that when Sweden completed its investigation, it refused to published the findings on the grounds that these findings would impact national security. It was never made clear exactly whose national security would be affected.

The final thing we know is that it was NOT perpetrated by five men and a woman in a rented yacht, as suggested by major newspapers. This escapade sometimes is referred to facetiously as the “Gilligan’s Island Caper.”

We all know what sabotage is. As kids, we learned about it by watching World War II movies about various highly skilled special forces groups or heroic freedom fighters behind enemy lines blowing up bridges or rail yards. Today an act of sabotage could also be described as an act of terror, but no matter how you slice it, it’s a crime of some sort.

Nord Stream 1 entered service in 2011 and was the first pipeline to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Western Europe and provide it with about 20% of its energy needs. The Nord Stream pipe lines are majority owned (51%) by Russia, along with German, Dutch and French stakeholders. The project was opposed from the start by the United States on the grounds that Western Europe would become accustomed to the cheap, reliable gas from Russia that the Russians could later use to influence European behavior.

Since Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and France own Nord Stream 1, it would stand to reason that they have a vested interest in learning who was responsible for destroying their investment and ensuring that the culprits were brought to justice. It would further stand to reason that the members of the Collective West would have a similar interest.

However, when the issue was raised at the United Nations Security Council last March by the Russian Federation, both the U.S. and United Kingdom voted against an investigation into the Nord Stream bombing.

Why?

Do we really not want to know? Is the New York Times correct when it prints, “It may be in no one’s interest to reveal more?”

The world is being led by a confederacy of dunces.

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

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