athenasius
Well-Known Member
George and I follow Rebekah Koffler's articles and opinions with great interest. She is reliable and accurate. He found an interview with her today on Fox News in which she outlined how and why she thinks Putin blew up the pipelines. On that interview, she said she'd written it all out in an op ed piece linked here:
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/five-reasons-russia-behind-nord-stream-industrial-sabotage
I think it is the MOST likely solution to that question, who dunnit? Furthermore, I think Joe Biden and Nuland's stupid interviews on public TV stating they'd destroy the pipelines if Putin invaded -- back in Feb this year, gave Putin the most appropriate handy fall guys and patsies that the world has ever seen!
He must have laughed as he planned this with his teams. Biden and Nuland, the perfect fall guys, easy to blame.
Quotes from Rebekah's article:
Here are five reasons why Russia is probably the state that has orchestrated this dangerous act. I clipped the points--to read the whole thing go to the link.
First, Putin has the motivation. Facing potential defeat in Ukraine, Putin is desperate to reverse the momentum ...resorting to dramatic escalation. This is his way of trying to compel the U.S. and Europe to stop providing long-range weaponry to Ukraine. The outcome of the conflict in Ukraine is an existential issue for him personally and for Russia. Russia views Ukraine, along with other former Soviet states, as part of its strategic security perimeter. Putin has already declared adding Ukraine to NATO and integrating into the West a "red line."
Second, damaging or destroying critical infrastructure is consistent with Russia’s warfighting concept called Strategic Operation to Defeat Critical Infrastructure of the Adversary (SOPKVOP, in Russian)....Intended for wartime, SOPKVOP operations also can be deployed during peacetime to "destabilize the opponent’s social and political situation" and dislodge the adversary psychologically to persuade him to abandon the fight. Russia’s targeting strategy prioritizes critical infrastructure. It has spent years studying Western vulnerabilities. SOPKVOP envisions prosecuting quasi-military campaigns by employing cyber operations and other non-kinetic methods.
Third, Russian military strategists have pondered a scenario in which Russia would target their adversaries' civilian infrastructure during a conflict. Defeating a "small number of key interconnected targets" that are vital to the functioning of the state would cause the "entire system to collapse," they hypothesized.
In 2012, Russian strategists analyzed a 2001 accident in the United States that involved a train....."Taking parts of the adversary’s civilian infrastructure out of commission," the Russian strategists argued, will produce cascading destructive effects, "harming the economy, healthcare, defense and security of the entire state."
Fourth, Russia is one of very few countries that has the exact capability needed to sever the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe and to do it covertly. Moscow has invested in undersea warfare capabilities through its GUGI program, a top secret program with the innocuous cover name of "Deep Sea Research" that includes work on undersea communications and sensor networks, hydrocarbon exploitation, submarine rescue and investigating wreckage.
Moscow has war gamed territorial incursions in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic as well as the disruption of undersea cables that carry communications. It is the only country, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, that has a fleet of special mission submarines for seabed warfare and espionage and is expanding this capability, while U.S. and European antisubmarine warfare capabilities have atrophied since the end of the Cold War.
Fifth, Putin has no use for Nord Stream in the short term, as neither pipeline 1 or 2 are revenue producing. Moscow shut down Nord Stream 1 at the end of August, claiming that U.S. and European economic sanctions had made maintenance impossible. Nord Stream 2 never became operational, with Germany having declined its certification. To the contrary, taking Nord Stream out of commission serves Putin’s goal of freezing the Europeans in winter, a standard Putin move to use energy as a weapon.
Russia is replacing this lost revenue with export earnings from non-Western countries, such as China, India, and even the Taliban. The $55 billion joint Russia-China pipeline "The Power of Siberia," which has partially operated since 2019 and is scheduled to come online in 2025, is part of Putin’s long-term plan to pivot to Asia, given Moscow’s conclusion that relations with the U.S. are irreparable.
The Kremlin has the motive, the means and a warfighting doctrine that all put the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline directly at its feet."
back to Margery
In that interview she also mentioned that Russia is selling far more gas with far more revenue TO CHINA and INDIA-- both members of the SCO or Shanghai Cooperative Organization that I've mentioned in the past, calling it NATO FOR NASTIES.
They just had a summit 3 weeks back. China and Russia are the charter starter partners. And Russia is the top dog in that partnership. It includes Turkey, India, the former USSR "Stans" including Afghanistan.
THAT REVENUE is FAR MORE important to Putin than the much smaller amount he got or would potentially get from Europe for the Nordstreams.
Both George and I have been convinced that Russia did this.
The Nordstream 1 was coming out of maintenance. 2 was still being built. One of the things they do during building and later maintenance is run machinery called "pigs" to clean and examine the interior of these pipes. George wonders if a pig was loaded with a remote controlled bomb or two into each pipe. There's more to it than that. The pipes are trenched and buried deep during construction but if a remote bomb was placed by a deep operating sub beside the pipes the mud could also serve as an explosive mat to direct the energy charge to the pipeline as the weakest area.
And finally the business of the explosions happening right on the day that the new Baltic pipeline financed by Poland, Denmark and the EU was coming on line. That is a very Russian signature of drawing attention to something. Telling you why they do something without actually telling you.
Rebekah Koffler wrote the book "Putin's Playbook" after my father in law died, sad to say because he would have been delighted to read it, and would have agreed with it.
For those who don't know George is Russian, born in China to Russian expat parents now dead. They emigrated to Canada in 1950 during the Chinese Revolution. They were what are known as "white Russians" being Tsarist NON Communists and their parents escaped out of Russia into China during the Russian Revolution. My inlaws ran from Communism all their lives and had a deep horror and close up knowledge of it. My father in law kept up with inside Russian contacts later in life as he was both an engineer and a technical translator for the Canadian govt working with some Russian Science cooperative efforts. He later found the internet a very useful tool to monitor Russian politics as Putin rose to power after Glasnost and the fall of the USSR.
Putin was an interesting topic of conversation and my fil tracked him with dismay. Fil would not be surprised if he could see what just happened this year.
Anyway, I think her interview on Fox News is worth looking at if you do a search. and she's a regular on Fox. Her article link is here: https://www.foxnews.com/person/k/rebekah-koffler if you want to do further reading.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/five-reasons-russia-behind-nord-stream-industrial-sabotage
I think it is the MOST likely solution to that question, who dunnit? Furthermore, I think Joe Biden and Nuland's stupid interviews on public TV stating they'd destroy the pipelines if Putin invaded -- back in Feb this year, gave Putin the most appropriate handy fall guys and patsies that the world has ever seen!
He must have laughed as he planned this with his teams. Biden and Nuland, the perfect fall guys, easy to blame.
Quotes from Rebekah's article:
Here are five reasons why Russia is probably the state that has orchestrated this dangerous act. I clipped the points--to read the whole thing go to the link.
First, Putin has the motivation. Facing potential defeat in Ukraine, Putin is desperate to reverse the momentum ...resorting to dramatic escalation. This is his way of trying to compel the U.S. and Europe to stop providing long-range weaponry to Ukraine. The outcome of the conflict in Ukraine is an existential issue for him personally and for Russia. Russia views Ukraine, along with other former Soviet states, as part of its strategic security perimeter. Putin has already declared adding Ukraine to NATO and integrating into the West a "red line."
Second, damaging or destroying critical infrastructure is consistent with Russia’s warfighting concept called Strategic Operation to Defeat Critical Infrastructure of the Adversary (SOPKVOP, in Russian)....Intended for wartime, SOPKVOP operations also can be deployed during peacetime to "destabilize the opponent’s social and political situation" and dislodge the adversary psychologically to persuade him to abandon the fight. Russia’s targeting strategy prioritizes critical infrastructure. It has spent years studying Western vulnerabilities. SOPKVOP envisions prosecuting quasi-military campaigns by employing cyber operations and other non-kinetic methods.
Third, Russian military strategists have pondered a scenario in which Russia would target their adversaries' civilian infrastructure during a conflict. Defeating a "small number of key interconnected targets" that are vital to the functioning of the state would cause the "entire system to collapse," they hypothesized.
In 2012, Russian strategists analyzed a 2001 accident in the United States that involved a train....."Taking parts of the adversary’s civilian infrastructure out of commission," the Russian strategists argued, will produce cascading destructive effects, "harming the economy, healthcare, defense and security of the entire state."
Fourth, Russia is one of very few countries that has the exact capability needed to sever the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe and to do it covertly. Moscow has invested in undersea warfare capabilities through its GUGI program, a top secret program with the innocuous cover name of "Deep Sea Research" that includes work on undersea communications and sensor networks, hydrocarbon exploitation, submarine rescue and investigating wreckage.
Moscow has war gamed territorial incursions in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic as well as the disruption of undersea cables that carry communications. It is the only country, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, that has a fleet of special mission submarines for seabed warfare and espionage and is expanding this capability, while U.S. and European antisubmarine warfare capabilities have atrophied since the end of the Cold War.
Fifth, Putin has no use for Nord Stream in the short term, as neither pipeline 1 or 2 are revenue producing. Moscow shut down Nord Stream 1 at the end of August, claiming that U.S. and European economic sanctions had made maintenance impossible. Nord Stream 2 never became operational, with Germany having declined its certification. To the contrary, taking Nord Stream out of commission serves Putin’s goal of freezing the Europeans in winter, a standard Putin move to use energy as a weapon.
Russia is replacing this lost revenue with export earnings from non-Western countries, such as China, India, and even the Taliban. The $55 billion joint Russia-China pipeline "The Power of Siberia," which has partially operated since 2019 and is scheduled to come online in 2025, is part of Putin’s long-term plan to pivot to Asia, given Moscow’s conclusion that relations with the U.S. are irreparable.
The Kremlin has the motive, the means and a warfighting doctrine that all put the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline directly at its feet."
back to Margery
In that interview she also mentioned that Russia is selling far more gas with far more revenue TO CHINA and INDIA-- both members of the SCO or Shanghai Cooperative Organization that I've mentioned in the past, calling it NATO FOR NASTIES.
They just had a summit 3 weeks back. China and Russia are the charter starter partners. And Russia is the top dog in that partnership. It includes Turkey, India, the former USSR "Stans" including Afghanistan.
THAT REVENUE is FAR MORE important to Putin than the much smaller amount he got or would potentially get from Europe for the Nordstreams.
Both George and I have been convinced that Russia did this.
The Nordstream 1 was coming out of maintenance. 2 was still being built. One of the things they do during building and later maintenance is run machinery called "pigs" to clean and examine the interior of these pipes. George wonders if a pig was loaded with a remote controlled bomb or two into each pipe. There's more to it than that. The pipes are trenched and buried deep during construction but if a remote bomb was placed by a deep operating sub beside the pipes the mud could also serve as an explosive mat to direct the energy charge to the pipeline as the weakest area.
And finally the business of the explosions happening right on the day that the new Baltic pipeline financed by Poland, Denmark and the EU was coming on line. That is a very Russian signature of drawing attention to something. Telling you why they do something without actually telling you.
Rebekah Koffler wrote the book "Putin's Playbook" after my father in law died, sad to say because he would have been delighted to read it, and would have agreed with it.
For those who don't know George is Russian, born in China to Russian expat parents now dead. They emigrated to Canada in 1950 during the Chinese Revolution. They were what are known as "white Russians" being Tsarist NON Communists and their parents escaped out of Russia into China during the Russian Revolution. My inlaws ran from Communism all their lives and had a deep horror and close up knowledge of it. My father in law kept up with inside Russian contacts later in life as he was both an engineer and a technical translator for the Canadian govt working with some Russian Science cooperative efforts. He later found the internet a very useful tool to monitor Russian politics as Putin rose to power after Glasnost and the fall of the USSR.
Putin was an interesting topic of conversation and my fil tracked him with dismay. Fil would not be surprised if he could see what just happened this year.
Anyway, I think her interview on Fox News is worth looking at if you do a search. and she's a regular on Fox. Her article link is here: https://www.foxnews.com/person/k/rebekah-koffler if you want to do further reading.
