DISINFO: Biden decided to destroy Nord Stream after nine months of secret talks with his team
SUMMARY
Initially, the US planned to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline through a covert operation, but after Biden’s statement that he knew how to stop Nord Stream 2, the explosion was postponed, and the explosives waited at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for months. American divers planted explosives under the pipeline last summer during the Baltops 2022 exercise – three months later, the Norwegians detonated them. Biden took a decision to implement this sabotage operation after nine months of secret talks with his national security team.
RESPONSE
Disinformation alleging that the US is behind the recent sabotage explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
Investigative journalist, critical of the US government and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Seymour Hersh claims that the US was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year. In a self-published blog post, Hersh claimed that US Navy divers helped by Norway had planted explosives on the pipelines running under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany last June and detonated them three months later.
The story of Hersh claim information from one anonymous source allegedly having information on all aspects of the case. A number of factcheckers have debunked all important details (ships, aircrafts, timelines) and pointed to numerous other flaws in Hersh’s story (like NATO SGs role and political views).
The story has received great attention from Kremlin key propaganda outlets and has been the main point used by Russian Minister Lavrov to demand the UNSC address the issue with an investigation. However, the UNSC rejected the Russian demand.
Talking about unsubstantiated allegations as if they were established facts while introducing minor variations, as in this case, is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson described Hersh’s report as “complete fiction." A Central Intelligence Agency spokesperson echoed the White House denial, calling the report "completely and utterly false."
Asked about Hersh's claim that Oslo supported the operation, the Norwegian foreign ministry said: "These claims are false."
Sweden, Germany, and Denmark investigated the incident. The preliminary Danish investigation only found that the leaks in the pipelines were caused by powerful explosions. Sweden’s authorities found evidence of detonations, thus strengthening suspicions of “gross sabotage”. But so far investigations by Swedish, Danish, and German authorities have not pinned the blame on any one country or actor.
For a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the issue, please read Nord Stream 1 & 2 sabotage - disinformation a la MH-17.
See more disinformation cases related to Nord Stream claiming that The US blew up Nord Stream 1 and 2 to sell more gas to Europe, that US benefits from destroying of Nord Stream because it can now sell more liquefied natural gas to Europe, that the US is instigating war in Ukraine to boycott the NS2 project, that Nord Stream 2 is the only guarantee of Europe's energy security, that the EU's gas problems are a result of its fight for "energy independence".