CIA Burns Knew Russia Wasn’t Involved in Nord Stream Bombing
CIA’s Burns Knew All Along That Russia Wasn’t Involved in Nord Stream Bombing
June 15, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—RT covered the report in the June 13 Wall Street Journal that CIA Director William Burns was aware early on that Russia was off the list of suspects of those that detonated the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, while U.S. officials continued to blame Russia. RT’s June 14 coverage included with additional points, such as that in October 2022, Burns told a “European counterpart,” that “available evidence didn’t point to Russia.” Moreover, RT pointed out, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s claim to BBC at the time, that “it seems” as though Moscow was to blame, is typical of Washington’s careless disregard when it comes to its default position: When in doubt, blame Russia.
Otherwise, the Journal coverage was similar to two stories published the day before by Dutch outlet NOS and Germany’s Die Zeit. The common narrative is that Ukraine had planned to bomb the pipelines, but the Dutch intelligence operatives warned their U.S. counterparts, who were able to at least temporarily restrain Kiev. All of this is by way of implying that an out-of-control faction in Ukraine later went ahead with the operation.
These many intelligence leaks and claims, and the narrative they attempt to rebut, amount to a soap opera in contrast to Seymour Hersh’s careful accounting of how U.S. intelligence officials, with aid from Norway, planted the explosives in June 2022, designed to be detonated on orders from the U.S. President, which occurred in September. The later German and American soap operas were aimed to refute Hersh’s effort to start a serious investigation: And a real investigation is required.
Russia Insists on Investigation of Nord Stream Attack at UN Security Council Meeting
June 15, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—At a press conference today at the United Nations, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy, reported on the closed-door session of the UN Security Council called by Russia, during which he had charged that the investigations into the Nord Stream sabotage that Sweden, Germany, and Denmark are supposed to be carrying out were not only “not moving forward” but were “going around in circles.” In the discussion, he said, he made clear that it is “totally false” that Russia had been kept informed of the status of these so-called investigations, such that there were even certain “awkward acknowledgments” by the Swedish Prosecutor General that Russia had not been provided any details whatsoever on the investigation.
“That’s why we said in the UNSC and stressed that the situation is absolutely intolerable for my country … we will do our best to pursue this cause and will seek an international investigation and punishment of those behind this crime,” the Russian diplomat declared. “It is inadmissible that the perpetrators of such a heinous crime that so directly affects international peace and security are not yet identified or prosecuted.” Polyanskiy emphasized that there was unanimity among the 15 UNSC members that the investigation should be accelerated and that reports should be submitted. It is clear, he said, that a state actor was behind the attack.
In response to a reporter’s question, Polyanskiy stressed that there are many countries that support Russia’s call for an international investigation, because “they understand what’s going on.” He also dismissed another reporter’s suggestion that the Nord Stream sabotage be investigated together with the blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and dam. The two cases are entirely different, he said.
“I would say that as for the Nord Stream, it is absolutely clear that this is an act of international sabotage that happened in international waters. There are a lot of factors on the surface that international experts should analyze to come to an obvious conclusion. Obvious to us, but maybe not too obvious to some others,”
he emphasized. By contrast, in planning to blow up KHPP, he said, the Ukrainians made the error of weakening the dam by raising the water in the river above it. It was the work of Ukraine, and “This was clearly proven and is very difficult to refute,” he asserted.
