The United States(!) of A
frog wrote:The NYT story has the odd hole:
"At the site of the blasts, the Baltic Sea is about 80 metres deep, requiring specialist diving skills and special air tanks, one with a helium-oxygen mixture and one with pure oxygen, the Spiegel report said.
Each dive would have required the boat to be over the pipeline for about three hours. To have laid explosives on two pipelines 4km apart would probably have required four dives over a few days.
Diving experts say such extended deep dives would have required a decompression chamber for the divers, which would not fit on a yacht. There are also question on whether there would be room for the required explosives."
Surely the spooks could have come up with a better counter story - but I guess it doesn't matter if a wave of headlines sweep across the world like:
"Boat used for Nord Stream attacks connected to Ukraine"
Spook boss lights up cigar and thinks "not our best misdirection effort but it did the job"
When I was on barrow island I met a bloke that was a deep sea diver and had worked on Russian pipelines before . Him and 3 others would live in a container 100 meters down for 1 month at a time. They would do short work stints of 2 hours, welding and maintenance. When it was time to come up their decompression took 3 days . The money was extremely good but they don’t have a long life expectancy.
@bonza, Hersh has an amazing legacy, but his recent catalogue is pretty dubious.
I don’t think WW2 bombs are plausible.
This is the substack article:
https://oalexanderdk.substack.com/p/blowing-holes-in-seymour-hershs-pipe
As for other explanations - there’s a few out there, and plenty of people scouring publicly available information to explore what might have happened. Shipping AIS data, commercially available satellite imagery, webcam footage from local ports, ownership records etc etc. Bellingcat have an open discord chat on it.
The way the attack was carried out, targeting the legacy Nordstream 1 pipelines (which were due to be retired once NS2 was operational) with shaped charges and only one of the two NS2 pipes - but with a different, less damaging, method defies logic.
Anyway. Happy reading.
Holy crap that's a good rebuttal. thanks etarip.
So we are stuck with the yacht and the pink flamingo floaties plot - crazy that they used pink coloured floaties and risked detection against the blue ocean but it must be true.
lol.
im out of my depth here. im switzerland on this. enjoying the commentary! as you were
No pun intended!
100% certainty that the US did the planning for some form of nord stream pipeline disruption / destruction in recent years to have the option up their sleeve.
It would be an essential part of the war gaming scenarios to look at such options.
All those tens of thousands of analysts in the pentagon and CIA (and war oriented think twankers) have to do something all day to keep busy and please the bosses with reports and white papers.
Such a scenario would be high up the list of things to plan even if it stayed in the bottom drawer.
Fortunately, the clever Uke yatchie, snorkler and floatie team seem to have beat them to it and so the US got the result they wanted without the awkward egg fart moment with the Germans.
Hahahahahaha. That’s some funny shit.
China brokers the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Saudi and Iran.
This is actually a big deal that didn't break the news across most western sources.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/03/china-triumphs-saudi-iran-d...
Xi is travelling to Moscow this week too I think. Reports that he’s seeking to head to Kyiv after that.
Flexing diplomatic muscle.
China's Belt and Road initiative was to go through the Ukraine - endless war is not good for their revived silk road trade pathway concept. B & R underpinned a major component of their goals for greater influence over, and trade with, Europe.
Peace in the Ukraine is very much in China's global power ambitions and stronger trade interests with Europe which in turn means that peace with long term stability there is not so much in another big player's interests.
Does the US want Xi to be successful in his diplomatic efforts to bring peace to the Ukraine to China's long term benefit (or Russia's) by shifting Europe's trade links and economic integration towards the east?
As always Cui Bono give many clues as to why certain geopolitical events pan out as they do.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/01/belt-road-initiative-new-eurasian-l...
There is a reason this kind of commentary doesn’t get exposure…
It’s free of propaganda ;)
Truth requires no narrative nor does it require a selling point…
- Hard to ignore and impossible to dispute.
Unfortunately our kids and grandkids are the ones who may pay the price of the west’s current outright arrogance.
It’s never too late to admit to failings. It’s never to late to alter the course… seems as though our obsession with fighting for ‘freedom’ is something we create ;)
We have nobody to blame but ourselves, but, in the meantime…
Let’s try play the blame game ;)
‘You can bomb the world to pieces…
But you can’t bomb the world to peace’
https://m.
Bono may be an idiot but he’s not a twice convicted child sex offender like Scott Ritter!
https://m.
Bono bravely cheering on from the sidelines in his comfy UK mansions as the reality on the ground is:
Washington Post:
Kupol said of his battalion of 500 troops, 100 were killed, and about 400 were wounded, leading to a complete turnover. He’s now being sent soldiers with no combat experience and very little training. “I get 100 new soldiers,” Kupol said. “They don’t give me any time to prepare them. They say, ‘Take them into the battle.’ They just drop everything and run. That’s it.”
“Do you understand why? Because the soldier doesn’t shoot. I ask him why, and he says, ‘I’m afraid of the sound of the shot,’” he added. The Post report said that Ukraine has sent in an influx of draftees to replace more experienced soldiers who have been killed or wounded. It said that as more Ukrainian men who didn’t volunteer fear they will get called to battle, Ukraine’s security services shut down Telegram accounts that were helping Ukrainians avoid locations where authorities were handing out draft slips.
Kupol said Ukrainian forces are also fighting with very little ammunition. “You’re on the front line,” he said. “They’re coming toward you, and there’s nothing to shoot with.”
Time for Bono to volunteer and grab a rifle.
Boris Johnson could join him - he is a brave leader who seems keen on continuing some jolly good biffo with the ruskies.
This is a good listen. Excellent informed analysis.
It's a good watch on mute too; Nazare flybys from a drone on a medium clean offshore day.
@frog Of course, he is. So are the hundreds of online experts telling people what needs to be done on daily basis. I especially like the ones who discovered a new love for mother Russia. Poor Russia now needs to conduct the denazification of Ukraine. They are so busy locking up LQBTQ people and poisoning the opposition voices that they really didn't need this distraction.
One would assume that overthrowing the government and installing their own regime would be sufficient to denazify. But no, to end the war Ukraine also needs to give up its claims to Crimea + 4 newly annexed regions (there could be more in the pipeline, who knows). Now we need a youtube expert to explain the strong correlation between overthrowing the government because you don't agree with their policy and annexing the territory of the neighboring country. One clearly can't be done without the other! Russell Brand comes to mind, he's really good on this topic. He just talks nonstop so he must be right.
;)
Russell - oh, what a horrible bloke…
Trying to raise awareness about drug addiction, poverty and the need for education.
- Whilst trying to expose the corruption and vested interests of a warmongering government bureaucracy ;)
Cancel him ! ;);)
https://m.
y’all love Doug don’t you JF / gragagan?
$$$
https://m.
You’re right! Doug loves $$$.
He’ll say anything for $$$
MSNBC reporting FBI, NYPD and Secret Service in discussions on preparations for Trump indictment next week.
ICC issue arrest warrant for Putin.
They’re gaining on him . 
Travelling to the US the week after next.
Could be interesting.
God speed etarip...
Feb 2023 ~ 2 Women launched Presidential Campaigns.
Kinda slipped under the radar...so tbb thought to give them a fair run.
Bullies are already freeze framing their news edits to tell them they got it wrong! Right!
Pretty sure these are their 2024 Campaign Vids...
Rep: Nikki Haley (Former UN Ambasador)
Dem: Marianne Vishnevetsky (Describes as a Jewish Women) Changed name to Rail Logo {Williamson}
2nd bid for MW : "1st Jewish Woman President" M. Williamson (More electable Name?)
Don't forget Selina:
Wonder if sleepy joe has the cognitive ability to understand…
- Could he comprehend the facts ? ;);)
… ‘a country founded on genocide’ …
Is there a distinction between then and now ? Can the US change its ways ? ;);)
If you do the fighting in another land (and train and arm others in other lands), is it any different ?
https://m.
Not much talk if this in Australian media.,.
Implications??
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2023/03/11/us/politics/saud...
The recent shooting in Nashville is the 129th mass shooting in the US this year. I will repeat that - the 129th mass shooting in 2023 alone. We're not even out of the first calendar quarter.
Once upon a time there were Americans in positions of power and influence in geopolitics who had integrity and worked to create treaties, not tear them up, set up buffer zones between competing powers and to base decisions on truth and trust.
Now they are mostly old, grey and swept into the dustbin of history by a new more dangerous breed.
But one somehow recently had the floor at the UN and highlighted by his measured words and tone the contrast with today's US political rants and rhetoric. He showed how much the US has squandered its former moral highground in recent decades to its own cost by making the ongoing battle for hearts and minds across the globe fall on cynical ears.
Own goal after own goal after own goal seems to be the pattern internationally and never ending mass shootings show a serious degree of sickness in the homeland that further makes the world increasingly wary of the American way.
The video and supportive comments show there is some hope.
I wonder who those new young ones are @frog. Biden, Pelosi, Bernie or their adversary Mitch (and many more) should be in an aged care facility rather than running the country like the US. What needs to happen for this people to finally retire?
Power for some of the old fossils like Biden and Pelosi seems to have accumulated over time through decades of connections, funding conduits, lobbyist supporters, wealthy patrons, campaign infrastructure, favours and secrets known and held.
It builds up like a massive supporting and protecting spiderweb holding them in place well past their use by date if the hunger for power remains.
New younger ones will emerge but of the same ilk most likely - captured and indoctrinated.
It takes a massive climb and funding base to get near the top. Endless favours are owed.
While Joe is cashing in filling the world with fresh new weapons, guns have officially become the number one killer of children in the U.S.
It seems americas number one enemy right now is ….itself….
with over 6000 children and teens killed or injured in 2022 alone.( USA Today) and over 128 mass shootings so far this year alone.
It seems you do reap what you sow.
Amerika - home of the free...
…‘home of the free’ ;)
- always curious, in this present day (with a continued unwavering foreign policy of intervention and endless war), that the US is unable to see why gun violence is still rampant. The rot starts at the top…
- continually dictating to other countries and cultures how ‘freedom and security’ are an individual right and the cornerstone of democratic societies…
Great ideals and all ;)
- Wonderful as a theoretical selling point for a eutopian existence ;);)
It has worked. It also may be possible to reclaim former glories…
How they can continue, with such bravado and persistence, whilst bombing the shit out of whatever foreign land they see fit - and supplying endless quantities of weapons - is staggering in truth… $$$
Are the people of the US really ‘free’ ?
Is it appropriate to lecture others on their state of affairs…
- Maybe time to concentrate on domestic worries and fixing internal evils before having such a forceful and reactive focus on apparently freeing others elsewhere.
There seems to be more than a few issues still at hand in the homeland…
But not sure if they even care anymore ;)
https://m.
Well spoken, intelligent and insightful analysis…
- easy to work out why this type of commentary stays out of the public sphere. The facts expose the manufactured deceit of the US government and directly contradict the false mainstream narrative ;)
Fortunately, there still are experienced and honest US representatives willing to share the truth and provide accurate historical context…
You can’t just go and shit in someone else’s neighbourhood and then expect them to clean it up without a fuss ;)
- With the 20yr anniversary of the second Iraq war just passed, the accusation of ‘unprovoked war’ takes on a different meaning when the masters of invasion are doing the finger pointing.
https://m.
.... waiting for etarip to find something in the official "Narrative Protection Manual" to discredit Ray McGovern. Hint. Look under "M" for McGovern.
Or maybe for once this SOP method of derailing alternative views won't work?
Ray has an amazingly long CAI / Washington insider perspective from 1971 onwards - see above video.
Well…..
Some european pollies are asking the valid questions ;)
- sticking to a script is obviously not her strongpoint, nor is it in her (or her peoples’) interest.
Great stuff ;)
- the US can learn from their allies…
https://m.
Jelly Flater wrote:Well…..
Some european pollies are asking the valid questions ;)
- sticking to a script is obviously not her strongpoint, nor is it in her (or her peoples’) interest.
Great stuff ;)
- the US can learn from their allies…
Word!
Frog,
You think these endorsements make him at all an objective observer and commentator on anything to do with Ukraine?
“ McGovern's post-retirement work includes commenting for Russian Government-funded RT and Sputnik News, among other outlets, on intelligence and foreign policy issues.”
“In December 2015, McGovern participated in Russian propaganda outlet RT's tenth anniversary celebration, alongside then-retired director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn and frequent Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin“
So, whatever his principled position on a range of other issues (some of which I applaud), I do not accept his analysis or perspectives on Ukraine as unbiased, anymore than I unquestioningly accept those of the other side.
A great Australian ;)
- could be regarded as a national treasure…
Fast forward to 5 minute mark.
- a voice that matters and a true ambassador for peace…
30 yrs experience kinda counts ;);)
https://m.
etarip wrote:Frog,
You think these endorsements make him at all an objective observer and commentator on anything to do with Ukraine?
“ McGovern's post-retirement work includes commenting for Russian Government-funded RT and Sputnik News, among other outlets, on intelligence and foreign policy issues.”
“In December 2015, McGovern participated in Russian propaganda outlet RT's tenth anniversary celebration, alongside then-retired director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn and frequent Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin“
So, whatever his principled position on a range of other issues (some of which I applaud), I do not accept his analysis or perspectives on Ukraine as unbiased, anymore than I unquestioningly accept those of the other side.
Western mainstream media is now so controlled within certain railway tracks of narrative on the major geopolitical struggles that if you step outside those you will never get published or be forced to explore other media options and so risk being tainted. Catch 22.
Taint does not mean nothing at all valid to contribute.
Is there a single commentator you can point to who is credible to you that has made some valid critiques of NATO / US strategy and actions towards Russia and in the Ukraine over the past decade? Or have they got it 100% right this time.
This certainly raises a few points ;)
Different war… same design.
https://m.
…and again
- different administrations, different context, similar formulas ;)
Lies, deception and denial.
US of A
https://m.
Don’t worry Donny , we’ve got your back in this , just say the word and we are ready, locked & loaded. 
My goodness supa, those two front and centre ;) …cannon fodder at its finest !
And… in other news…
- imagine trying to release a ‘global human rights report’ aaaaaaannnnnd you report on all the human rights abuses being perpetuated globally…
…But you just release a report highlighting everything everyone else is allegedly doing - and exclude or withhold any inference or evidence of your own human rights abuses ;)
Marvellous stuff !
How democratic ;)
How free and fair and …
convenient ;);)
Talk about writing / rewriting history.
https://m.
Supafreak wrote:Don’t worry Donny , we’ve got your back in this , just say the word and we are ready, locked & loaded.
Crikey those Nazis really are an elite bunch....
Septic Tanks are going to Septic Tank