FPI / October 5, 2022
Geostrategy-DirectFor all the talk of possible impending nuclear war over the U.S.-Russia showdown on Ukraine, the new face of global conflict may instead turn out to be attacks on critical infrastructure.
Asked at a Sept. 30 news conference what the United States was doing to ease Europe’s energy crisis in the wake of the Nord Stream sabotage. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said:
“It's a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy and thus to take away from Vladimir Putin the weaponization of energy as a means of advancing his imperial designs.”
As a result of that sabotage, the U.S. is now Europe’s biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“The destruction of Nord Stream-1 and -2 natural gas pipelines by the United States marks a strategic provocation that Russia will not ignore,” Steve Rodan noted in an Oct. 4 analysis on substack.com.
The Biden Administration made no secret of its intentions, Rodan pointed out: "The amazing thing about the operation is that the White House openly said it would stop Nord Stream."
In February 2022, President Biden promised that the pipeline would be eliminated should Russia invade Ukraine. As Biden put it," We will bring an end to it. I promise you we'll be able to do it." On television, Biden said this reading from notes. This was a prepared remark. A few weeks later, a senior U.S. official said the same thing.
Rodan said the attacks on the pipelines amounted to a declaration of war by the U.S. against Russia.
How will Vladimir Putin respond?
Russia's intelligence agencies “were prepared for a U.S. attack on Nord Stream,” Rodan wrote. “Such a scenario might have played a major factor in the Kremlin's shutdown of the pipeline on Sept. 2. The Russians have been examining a range of U.S. and NATO infrastructure and other targets for retaliation. Unlike Biden, Russian President Putin is not showing his cards. Indeed, he might bide his time and wait for winter.”
Team Biden has never hidden its desire to stop the Nord Stream pipelines from becoming Europe’s top supplier of LNG.
In February, President Joe Biden promised that the pipeline would be eliminated should Russia invade Ukraine. As Biden put it," We will bring an end to it. I promise you we'll be able to do it."
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