As the world marks the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, investigative reporter Seymor Hersh told me Friday the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipelines that brought liquid natural gas from Russia to Germany in order to keep its European allies on side against Russia. .In an exclusive interview with the Western Standard, the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist continued to maintain the United States sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines and U.S. President Joe Biden made a grievous error in ordering it be done. .(See that video along with part two of this column Monday.).Hersh wasn’t easy to connect with, but surprisingly few editors made the effort either, to find the man who broke the story of the Mỹ Lai massacre in Vietnam. The Western Standard is only one of six media outlets — including blogs — to interview Hersh in the wake of his stunning allegation the U.S. blew up Nord Stream. .“[Biden's] committed a great mistake. He screwed up,” Hersh told me. “He’s told Germany and NATO 'When push comes to shove, I’ll throw you over the wall. You can be cold [this winter], I don’t care. If you’re not giving enough money to Ukraine, screw you.'."That’s what he’s done. He’s basically lied. He’s lying now to push us into war, like [President Lyndon] Johnson lied to push us into war,” he said in reference to Johnson using a fictitious military attack by North Vietnam on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin to justify the Vietnam War. .America never officially declared war on North Vietnam despite waging one against that country for 11 years. .Hersh based his reporting on the revelations of a unnamed source who said U.S. Navy divers planted the explosives during a NATO exercise. .“Last June, the navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely-triggered explosives that three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning,” Hersh wrote on Substack. .When I suggested to Hersh the destruction of the pipelines had a historical parallel to the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the precipitating event of the First World War, he said, “Guess what, I think you’re absolutely right.” .Although Hersh said there is “nothing virtuous” in Russian President Vladmir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, “he didn’t do it without being pushed,” noting the U.S. promised not to expand NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the organization continues to add new members. Hersh says NATO has even deployed missiles in Poland “that can easily be made nuclear.” .“Think what would happen if Russia put missiles in Mexico … or Canada.” .Hersh believes America’s action on Nord Stream may have had the reverse effect of Biden’s intention of keeping NATO together. “The question now is who’s going to be the first country to leave NATO?” .“He started something, Joe Biden, that he didn’t understand,” Hersh told me, explaining Biden is surrounded by the political triumvirate of “Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” or National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland — all hawks in the Biden administration. .“I’m a journalist, but I’m also a citizen, and I think there’s something — like you do — there’s something really wrong with what we’re doing in Ukraine to the point where the president of the United States is willing to throw Germany and Western Europe to the wind. He’s afraid they wouldn’t support him more in Ukraine, for the gas. So he knocks off the gas, that’s what he did. That’s exactly what happened.” .ON MONDAY: “If the United States intentionally blew up a pipeline, is that a declaration of war against Germany, NATO and Russia?”
As the world marks the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, investigative reporter Seymor Hersh told me Friday the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipelines that brought liquid natural gas from Russia to Germany in order to keep its European allies on side against Russia. .In an exclusive interview with the Western Standard, the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist continued to maintain the United States sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines and U.S. President Joe Biden made a grievous error in ordering it be done. .(See that video along with part two of this column Monday.).Hersh wasn’t easy to connect with, but surprisingly few editors made the effort either, to find the man who broke the story of the Mỹ Lai massacre in Vietnam. The Western Standard is only one of six media outlets — including blogs — to interview Hersh in the wake of his stunning allegation the U.S. blew up Nord Stream. .“[Biden's] committed a great mistake. He screwed up,” Hersh told me. “He’s told Germany and NATO 'When push comes to shove, I’ll throw you over the wall. You can be cold [this winter], I don’t care. If you’re not giving enough money to Ukraine, screw you.'."That’s what he’s done. He’s basically lied. He’s lying now to push us into war, like [President Lyndon] Johnson lied to push us into war,” he said in reference to Johnson using a fictitious military attack by North Vietnam on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin to justify the Vietnam War. .America never officially declared war on North Vietnam despite waging one against that country for 11 years. .Hersh based his reporting on the revelations of a unnamed source who said U.S. Navy divers planted the explosives during a NATO exercise. .“Last June, the navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely-triggered explosives that three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning,” Hersh wrote on Substack. .When I suggested to Hersh the destruction of the pipelines had a historical parallel to the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the precipitating event of the First World War, he said, “Guess what, I think you’re absolutely right.” .Although Hersh said there is “nothing virtuous” in Russian President Vladmir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, “he didn’t do it without being pushed,” noting the U.S. promised not to expand NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the organization continues to add new members. Hersh says NATO has even deployed missiles in Poland “that can easily be made nuclear.” .“Think what would happen if Russia put missiles in Mexico … or Canada.” .Hersh believes America’s action on Nord Stream may have had the reverse effect of Biden’s intention of keeping NATO together. “The question now is who’s going to be the first country to leave NATO?” .“He started something, Joe Biden, that he didn’t understand,” Hersh told me, explaining Biden is surrounded by the political triumvirate of “Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” or National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland — all hawks in the Biden administration. .“I’m a journalist, but I’m also a citizen, and I think there’s something — like you do — there’s something really wrong with what we’re doing in Ukraine to the point where the president of the United States is willing to throw Germany and Western Europe to the wind. He’s afraid they wouldn’t support him more in Ukraine, for the gas. So he knocks off the gas, that’s what he did. That’s exactly what happened.” .ON MONDAY: “If the United States intentionally blew up a pipeline, is that a declaration of war against Germany, NATO and Russia?”
