I don't really care who is behind the sabotage, they would certainly not admit it for obvious reasons, and it could be more complex than it seems.
But the press, here in the UK, in France and in the US, has been suspiciously "clueless", avoiding with great care to imply that anyone in the west could be behind it, even if it really seems obvious that it could very well be the case.
Why? Why are they so careful? They usually are not afraid to speculate, especially on such a scale.
I find it disturbing to think that they could either have received instructions from their respective governments or are simply afraid push any inquiries on this subject.
The US loves its military, but American news sources have no want to keep a secret like this on behalf of the government. The US media loves to report on US war crimes, and other stupid government shit
It wouldn't surprise me to know that the US government had knowledge of this. It would surprise me if they were directly involved though.
One could recognize this also with the Coronavirus fiasco when for example the press was parroting the governments saying that the virus is not going to come to Europe and urging people not to be racist against the Chinese (extra funny given the current mainstream position against China). Then the press was parroting that masks don’t work. Then they were parroting that people should really wear masks. Not all the press, not all of the time, but the trend and direction were obvious. And the tireless downplaying of AstraZeneca and mRNA side-effects, goodness.
All of these narratives were also mainstream on HN, just as most opinions on the war are unsophisticated and thoroughly mainstream.
It’s so bizarre, imagine having freedom of the press and then doing what’s expected of you anyway.
Or as an individual being able to think, gather facts and information and draw your own conclusions. And having the freedom to present those conclusions go to waste while just repeating some simplistic talking point.
HN is worse than usual at discussing the war. Many non-mainstream commenters have given up or were censored and it’s mostly pockets of conformity now.
I don't thinks this is a conspiracy of any kind (or at least I hope so) but I wonder if this apparent docile conformity of the press at large is a side effect of the changes that occurred in this field during the past 20 years.
Have they lost that much power?
1. Russia would get income from the pipeline, empowering their economy. 2. This sort of infrastructure would represent increased German dependence on Russia for their energy needs. 3. This would also tend to increase economic and diplomatic ties between Germany and Russia.
Destroying the pipeline (even if it's not being used) could theoretically send the message that these infrastructure projects are not safe and that relying on Russia for energy is strategically unwise.
No country in the EU thinks it's a good idea to buy gas from Russia and it's going to end broken pipes or not.
There's really nothing to gain for the US from blowing up the pipe that couldn't easily be accomplished via conversations.
North Stream 1 was a blackmail tool since June 2022, Russia manipulated EU gas prices by changing the volume, using supposed turbine failure as an excuse. Blowing up the pipe could be just a next move.
At the moment nobody has no illusion of economical feasibility of Russia already.
USA has been pissed off by this project from the start.
This is also a way to send a strong message to Putin.
I am pretty sure that all secret services and governments around the world are perfectly aware of the situation.
Only the press is playing the hypocrisy game, for some reason.
Alright, the internet is full of it, and many newspaper are not afraid of publishing clickbait bullshit, as long as it sells.
What's the risk? Since when is fake news illegal?
This is why I am surprised, why is it such a big deal?
In other words, The US very much likes that the pipeline is gone, but it would been politically insane to be involved.