We now have an answer that I long suspected. Ukraine blew up the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline to the EU. Germany’s response is not severe enough.
Nord Stream Blowback
Politico reports Germany to Halt New Ukraine Military Aid
The German government will stop new military aid to Ukraine as part of the ruling coalition’s plan to reduce spending, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Saturday.
The moratorium on new assistance is already in effect and will affect new requests for funding, not previously approved aid, according to the FAZ report, which cited non-public documents and emails as well as discussions with people familiar with the matter.
In a letter sent to the German defense ministry on Aug. 5, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said that future funding would no longer come from Germany’s federal budget but from proceeds from frozen Russian assets, according to the German newspaper.
Wimpy Response
This is a damn wimpy response but the political ramifications will be more severe.
Poland aided Ukraine in this mess by not capturing the pipeline suspects.
And Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, chastised Germany as if this is somehow Germany’s fault.
Eurointelligence comments on Tusk Diplomacy.
Tusk Diplomacy – Germany Edition
We recall the role Donald Tusk played during the Brexit standoff in the UK, when, as president of the European Council, he personally campaigned during the 2019 election for anti-Brexit parties. We thought at the time that this act was massively counter-productive, and it may have played a role in the UK’s big pro-Brexit swing later that year.
This weekend we were reminded of Tusk’s diplomatic skills when he posted a message on social media that read as follows:
“To all the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The only thing you should do today about it is apologise and keep quiet.”
Considering that his country has not acted on the European arrest warrant by the German public prosecutor and allowed the prime suspect to leave the country, this is not something we would have advised him to write.
It is one thing to oppose Nord Stream 1 and 2. It is another to support its violent destruction. We recall Jens Stoltenberg, the former Nato general secretary, as saying that an attack on the Norwegian pipeline system would constitute a Nato Art. 5 trigger. Germany is mercifully not treating the pipeline explosions as an act of war. But it constitute an act of sabotage, that raise important political questions about Germany’s future support for Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal story last week was the first cohesive, yet still incomplete, account of what has happened. It is already starting to play into German politics. Sahra Wagenknecht has elevated German policy on Ukraine to her main campaign theme in the three eastern German elections next month. She has also shifted her previous stance on the AfD. She no longer rules out the possibility of supporting AfD legislation, as she put it, should this situation arise in one of three state parliaments. At the same time, she erected a political firewall against all parties that support US missiles on German soil. She now accuses Ukraine of terrorism.
If she gets the numbers that polls are currently suggesting, we would expect her message to have a profound effect on German politics. The polls are difficult to read. Her party is new. We should prepare for results that lie well outside the error margins of opinion polling. But she is on course to displace the Left Party as the main political force to the left of the SPD. As Germany approaches a federal election next year, we would expect Ukraine to become a major campaign theme.
Who Is Sahra Wagenknecht?
Wikipedia comments the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance [BSW] Reason and Justice is a left-wing nationalist, populist, Eurosceptic and socially conservative German political party founded on 8 January 2024.
Wagenknecht had ruled out any cooperation with AfD, Alternative for Germany a far-right and right-wing populist political party in Germany. The AfD is Eurosceptic, and opposes immigration to Germany – especially of Muslims.
Now the German extreme Left and extreme Right have a mutual cause.
BSW and AfD Makes Strides in EU Election
Reuters reports Germany’s New Leftist Party and AfD Makes Strides in EU Election
A party founded just five months ago by an icon of Germany’s hard left has gone from a standing start to seemingly automatic coalition partner in three eastern regions where elections are due later this year.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), whose eponymous leader quit the ailing Left party last year, promised voters less bureaucracy, lower taxes and better pensions, and called for an end to arms for Ukraine.
That eclectic pitch won it 6% of the vote in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, while in some eastern states, strongholds of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the BSW took a comfortable third place on as much as 15%.
On August 15, The Economist (paywalled) commented Anti-war parties are set to clean up in eastern German elections.
A ‘Left Conservative’ Platform?
The above description seems more than a bit weird but that is how Courthouse News describes the party in in August 16 take, Germany’s New Populist Party Hopes to Build on EU Election Success.
German politician Sahra Wagenknecht’s breakaway BSW party has proved tricky for pundits to define and controversial in equal measure. Neither of which has stopped it from seeing early success in recent European Parliament elections. The party could prove influential in Germany’s increasingly-fractured political landscape.
Germans turned out in the highest numbers in decades in this month’s European Parliament election. The results likely will bring only a minor shakeup of seats in Brussels, but the vote has been widely framed as a stand-in for midterm national elections.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, named after the politician who founded the party following a protracted and dramatic exodus from the Left Party, racked up 6.2% of the vote just months after entering German politics.
“I doubt many of us expected it,” Sevim Dagdelen, one of ten members of the alliance serving in the Bundestag and the party’s parliamentary foreign policy spokesperson, told Courthouse News in a written interview.
A ‘Left Conservative’ Platform
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance’s platform has proven tricky to categorize and has received an array of often-conflicting labels in the press. The party’s positions are a populist-tinged grab bag of left-leaning social spending, middle class-focused liberal economics, conservative cultural positions and anti-NATO foreign policy.
“Our politics revolve around the concerns of the average citizen and not elite debates from small circles that are far-removed from society,” said Dagdelen, who has served in the Bundestag since 2005, initially as a member of The Left Party before leaving for the alliance, known in Germany as BSW.
Sound Familiar?
“(People) are worried about escalation of the war in Europe, unchecked immigration, rising criminality and constraints on the freedom of opinion,” said Sevim Dagdelen.
That is what Donald Tusk stepped into.
However, we can thank Tusk’s big mouth for helping the UK vote for Brexit. Now, Tusk is going to cost the German center some votes.
The Real Story of Nord Stream
The Wall Street Journal comments A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage
That is a free link to a very long and detailed report. Here are a few snips.
The Journal spoke to four senior Ukrainian defense and security officials who either participated in or had direct knowledge of the plot. All of them said the pipelines were a legitimate target in Ukraine’s war of defense against Russia.
Portions of their account were corroborated by a nearly two-year German police investigation into the attack, which has obtained evidence including email, mobile and satellite phones communications, as well as fingerprints and DNA samples from the alleged sabotage team. The Germany inquiry hasn’t directly linked President Zelensky to the clandestine operation.
In June, Germany’s federal prosecutor quietly issued the first arrest warrant in the case for a Ukrainian professional diving instructor for his alleged involvement in the sabotage. The German investigation is now focusing on Zaluzhniy and his aides, people familiar with the probe say, although they have no evidence that could be presented in court.
The findings could [Not Could, Did] upend relations between Kyiv and Berlin, which has provided much of the financing and military equipment to Ukraine, second only to the U.S.
“An attack of this scale is a sufficient reason to trigger the collective defense clause of NATO, but our critical infrastructure was blown up by a country that we support with massive weapons shipments and billions in cash,” said a senior German official familiar with the probe.
US Tried to Stop the Attack
Zelensky approved the plan, according to the four people familiar with the plot. All arrangements were made verbally, leaving no paper trail.
But the next month, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD learned of the plot and warned the CIA, according to several people familiar with the Dutch report. U.S. officials then promptly informed Germany, according to U.S. and German officials.
The CIA warned Zelensky’s office to stop the operation, U.S. officials said. The Ukrainian president then ordered Zaluzhniy to halt it, according to Ukrainian officers and officials familiar with the conversation as well as Western intelligence officials. But the general ignored the order, and his team modified the original plan, these people said.
My Position All Along
My position from the beginning was Ukraine did it. The motive fit. I was blasted by many for that position.
I did not dismiss the US could have done it, but it made little sense that the US did.
If the harm was somehow to Venezuela not Germany, it would have made a US operation more likely.
Many cited this ridiculous article by Martin Armstrong US Blows up NordStream Pipeline in Act of War
Is there an apology or retraction by Armstrong yet?
Forbes Blames Russia
Whose Best Interest is Served?
Whose best interest is it to get a NATO response? Russia, Poland, Ukraine, US?
Only 12.8 percent got it right.
Biden vows to ‘end’ Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine
Motive
Ukraine had the best motive.
The US had the technical capability and a lesser motive but would the US damage Germany and the EU?
My answer was no.
Yet when I proposed Ukraine did it , see German Prosecutor Hints Ukraine Blew Up the Nordstream Pipeline With C4 Explosives I received these comments
Reader Comments
- MarkraD: I think it was Russia, an oligarch at least, it would make sense that they’d leave behind cookie crumbs to make it look like Ukrainians, the E.U. or U.S. An Oligarch could easily place massive positions in natural gas futures ahead of it, fund an experienced mercenary to do it, then make billions off the spike.
- Michiganmoon: It seems like the US did it and is trying to point fingers.
- Tedwardspharmd: And….this whole media coverage is the oldest play in the playbook. Ukraine couldn’t blow up a straw out of a 7-11 big gulp
- Tedwardspharmd: This is laughable! Ukraine blows up pipeline! We blew that pipeline sky high. We are the only ones with the means and certainly the motive. Hell, Biden said he was going to blow it up before we blew it up.
- Charlie: Former CIA Director John Brennan on Wednesday told CNN he believes the leaks were a result of sabotage, most likely by Russia. Gerhard Schindler, the former head of Germany’s federal intelligence agency, told a German paper this week that Russia is the most likely the perpetrator of the leaks.” The same people that now put the blame on Ukraine.
- TheTenYear: Joe Biden: “There will no longer be a Nord Stream 2”. Also Joe Biden: “We will bring an end to it” A grinning Joe Biden: “I promise you we will be able to do it (bring an end to the pipeline)”.
- JoJo: Your clickbait headline is discordant.
- Ron Cataldi: Mish does this nudge nudge wink wink thing all the time, but always leaves himself wiggle room to say he never made the claim. “I’m just asking questions” etc. It’s pretty transparent.
- Ron Cataldi: Russia relies on useful fools in the US media (and right wing) to buy their disinfo. Don’t be one, Mish.
- Dave: This made me laugh. Crazy old Biden spilled the beans and now the US is pretending to be puzzled about who could have done this.
- LawrenceBird: Don’t drink the cool-aid Mish. Seriously this fable is even worse than Hersh’s. Take a look at far apart the explosions are for just one thing.
- LM2022: Nato are unified against an external threat and are fully supporting Ukraine. Makes no sense for the US or the Ukrainians to do this.
- Waterwiz: Brandon already admitted the US did the deed….
- Nonplused: So if Ukraine did it, they did it with NATO assistance or at least a blind eye.
- PimaC: I’ll go with Sy Hersch’s explanation: The US blew it up. It was obvious then, and it’s more obvious now since he posted his article about HOW the US did it. You can read the article on his substack.
Apologies Accepted
I accept 15 apologies.
And I award one Blue Ribbon for clear thinking.
Texas Time: History has shown that when war ends and peace breaks out former enemies become fast friends when there is a buck to be made. Germany wreaked havoc in Europe with 2 World Wars and within a generation they were best of friends and happily doing business with all their former foes that they did unspeakable things to. Same for the US and Vietnam or the US and Japan or Korea and Japan and countless other examples.
When the Ukrainian conflict ends and the embargo is lifted some country will import Russian gas the second it’s cheaper than coal or US gas etc. That will then make their economy more efficient than their neighbors and the rush to do business with Russia will be on. It’s just good common sense.
Ironies Abound
- People who don’t believe a thing Biden says, suddenly believe an idle threat by Biden regarding shutting down the pipeline.
- People blame the CIA but the CIA got wind of the operation and tried to end it. What a hoot!
Victory for Occam’s Razor
The least convoluted explanation is the most likely.
In this case, the least convoluted theory was Ukraine had the biggest motive and best access without awakening suspicion.
War Will End with Negotiated Settlement
This war will end the way I suggested the moment Russia failed to take Kyiv, a negotiated settlement.
It was US meddling that led to this disaster with Senator John McCain fomenting the mess by backing Ukraine entry into NATO.
That does not excuse Putin’s reaction but it explains it. Then on the verge of a settlement UK prime minister Boris Johnson blew up the deal.
And here we are. Tens of thousands of lives lost, support for the war on the wane in the US and EU coupled with infighting in both the US and EU.
With Germany cutting off more funding and everyone tiring of the war, how can a negotiated settlement not be the end result?
Russia will take over portions of Ukraine, the same deal that was on the table long ago.
The idea that such an appeasement increases the odds of a Russia attack on Poland is absurd.
Russia could not even get a total victory against a very weak Ukraine and is militarily and demographically weakened considerably.
Let the war end. The outcome is written in stone.
How many more people have to die to reach that outcome is the key uncertainty.
Addendum: Blasting the Hersh BS Sky High
Please consider All at sea: Seymour Hersh and his Nord Stream sabotage story
“Any serious student of the event would know that you cannot anchor a sailboat in waters that are 260 feet deep.”
Though factually correct, this is a silly thing to say: the boat wouldn’t need to anchor,
Hersh makes a factually correct statement but one that is 100% meaningless.
Medium writer Brian Whitaker goes over most of the BS about a tiny little 49-foot boat couldn’t do this or that.
Hersh: ““You cannot just walk off the street with a fake passport and lease a boat.”
More BS.
Whitaker blasts that out of the water too.
The captain and the divers would need to show proof of their competence, but it’s unclear why the expert thinks this would be a problem. If you want to blow up pipelines it’s best to have competent people to do it. They wouldn’t want to have their real names on the certificates, but for people who know how to get false passports getting the extra documentation shouldn’t be too difficult.
Actually, it’s very clear why Hersh would do this. He sells conspiracy theories.
This reminds me of all the BS about Lee Harvey Oswald could not walk to the location in the allotted time or could not have fired the shots in the allotted time. Then many people did both.
Decompression BS
A reader just asked “Where was the decompression chamber?”
The short answer is none was needed despite allegations by many.
Brian Whitaker discussed that in a follow-up article Nord Stream sabotage: a look at the evidence so far
There have been repeated claims that it would not be feasible to carry out 80-metre dives from such a small boat, since the Andromeda had no space for a decompression chamber. However, a mention of helium in the intelligence report about the Ukrainian plan points to an alternative solution. By breathing a mixture of oxygen and helium and pausing at intervals while returning to the surface, the need for a decompression chamber could be avoided. A Dutch military website describes the process when used by navy divers.
In an interview with the Ostsee-Zeitung, Achim Schloeffel, an “extreme diver” and trainer, suggested the difficulties have been exaggerated. The pipeline would be easy to locate from sea charts or with an echo sounder costing around $3,000. The location could be marked by dropping a 15kg weight attached to a line with a marker buoy on the other end and divers would follow the line down to the exact spot. Explosives could be guided down the line in the same way. The boat would continue sailing and return to the marker buoy to pick up the divers when they surfaced
“Anyone who has completed level two in our diving school would be able to do this,” Schloeffel told the paper. “Especially for those who regularly go wreck diving, a dive to the pipeline would not be a problem for them.
This will not convince anyone. People who believe BS will stick to believing BS.
WSJ:
Zelensky approved the plan, according to the four people familiar with the plot. All arrangements were made verbally, leaving no paper trail.
But the next month, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD learned of the plot and warned the CIA, according to several people familiar with the Dutch report. U.S. officials then promptly informed Germany, according to U.S. and German officials.
The CIA warned Zelensky’s office to stop the operation, U.S. officials said. The Ukrainian president then ordered Zaluzhniy to halt it, according to Ukrainian officers and officials familiar with the conversation as well as Western intelligence officials. But the general ignored the order, and his team modified the original plan, these people said.
The US caught wind of the operation, tried to halt it.
Zelensky ordered it halted, but the perpetrators went ahead anyway.
This reminds me of the US-UK CIA sponsored coup in Iran.
In this case, the US would not like collateral damage in Germany.
Everything fits.
People never bothered to think.
Instead we had 15 comments willing to jump the gun blaming the US, with ZERO evidence.
Ukraine, not the US had the biggest motive (deprive Russia of NG revenues) not giving a damn about Germany.
The US certainly have the capability, but no solid motive, just a BS comment from a senile US politician.
The US would not give a damn about collateral damage to Russia or Venezuela or any enemy, but Germany?
Regardless, the amount of blame the US first BS is staggering, and I am not a US apologist.
Unfortunately, we still don’t know the truth. After RussiaGate, the official story is as liable to be fake as the fake story. The CIA and others LIED. It is obvious Obama and Biden knew (at the briefing with CIA/FBI). And did nothing–if that’s not election interference, what is?
A few questions:
1) How, and when did the US find out what was afoot, and what exactly did it do?
And why did the US allow the blame to be placed on Russia after the event if it didn’t care about collateral damage to Russia?
2) What did Biden know, and when did he know it? Did Incompetent Leader know, and go along with Zelensky, and screw Germany?
3) Could a motive for the US include placing Russia in a bad light, and weakening its support, in order to weaken Putin?
4) What exactly, did the US do to try to stop the destruction of the pipeline? A formal complaint from the US ambassador to Ukraine? Holding back arms?
5) Did Zelensky truly try to halt the operation, or did he merely give the appearance of ‘trying to stop it’?
Agree. Asia Times disputes the WSJ article…
https://asiatimes.com/2024/08/wsjs-nord-stream-tall-tale-targets-zelensky-zaluzhny/
Excellent analysis. Mish should retract. Here is the original story if anyone might want to subscribe to the author’s Substack.:
—-
Zelensky, Zaluzhny are Targeted by a Wall Street Journal “Exposé” on Nordstream
Has Zelensky Become a Rogue Actor?
Stephen Bryen
Aug 17, 2024
…
https://substack.com/@stephenbryen/p-147818526
Mike, the evidence of US involvement/guilt was Joe Biden himself who said, “There will be no Nordstream2”.
Exactly Pretty damning statement by Mr Potatohead
Has even one single one of Joe Biden’s senile grunts ever correlated meaningfully with observable reality?
If “The US” was directly involved: They would 1)have blown up the wrong pipeline. Or,more likely, blown off their own legs. And 2)within a week falling over themselves to get on Oprah bragging about it.
The Dutch (with about a billion hours worth of experience diving in the North Sea related to oil drilling there) are overwhelmingly likely to be right: For competent people, even “freelancers”, it’s “no big deal.” Protecting hundreds of of pipeline hundreds of feet subsea, is a lot harder than protecting similar lengths of US southern border. And we know how effective “we” are at protecting that one…
Underestimating the US doesn’t prove your point.
But neither does underestimating everyone else prove the converse.
Finding a few feet of unprotected pipeline; among hundreds of miles of it laid in well known locations at a depth of water no greater than what plenty of competent divers; which are not in short supply in the area; can get down to, is not a big deal. There is zero benefit from “US”; taken to mean gigantic, massively funded military/intelligence apparatuses; involvement. All the latter does, is cludge things upand increase the risk of holdups and leaks.
If the task is protecting Israel from 1000 simultaneous missiles launched from Iran; then the sheer scale of “The US” is beneficial. But for this sort of “just a few good men” operations; that scale only serves to massively increase the attack surface and complication of getting the task done.
The motive: huge sales volumes of LPG: US-supplied.
Just sayin’.
Indeed The motivation was there no doubt
Well Mish Biden stating that he would never allow it to exist didnt exactly help his case did it?
The US certainly had motive: wanting to end any potential establishment of German dependence on Russian NG, and transfer that dependence to US NG. Having said that, we still don’t know.
I don’t think the U.S. did it, but I absolutely don’t believe that the U.S. tried to stop it. Not for a minute. It was a purposeful “leak” from the CIA so that the U.S. could have plausible deniability. Same with the story that Zelensky tried to stop it. Zelensky doesn’t put up with generals who outright disobey orders. It’s Occam’s Razor. The Ukranian’s did it, Zelensky supported it but needs to pretend he didn’t authorize it.
It’s intelligence agency manipulation and we shouldn’t fall for it (again).
This is a reasonable view – but I disagree slightly
The US tried to stop it (but how hard?)
“And here we are. Tens of thousands of lives lost….”
Uh, that’s a lot of tens of thousands. Would be easier to talk in terms of hundreds of thousands. Probably at 500k dead now for Ukraine.
But yet we don’t see anti-Russian protests in the streets of the world and non-stop media reporting over this huge number of potential Ukrainian deaths, unlike the daily stories over the deaths of a mere [perhaps] 20k “innocent civilians” in Gaza.
Hmmm. I wonder what’s different?
IDK what is different.
I do think Mish is out in right field when he writes things like “Russia could not even get a total victory against a very weak Ukraine and is militarily and demographically weakened considerably.”
Seems like he is imposing onto Russia a western viewpoint of how conflicts are fought and then marking them as failing for not living up to that. Hello? They are slowly demilitarizing NATO by proxy and keeping enough forces in reserve should NATO fully commit to the conflict. Russian has always been known as slow to saddle but quick to ride. Russia is weakened considerably? Is that a typo? It is Ukraine that has lost 500k dead and even more wounded. Russia’s not kidnapping people off the street and conscripting them. Good grief. Stick to economics.
I’d recommend reading Larry Johnson at sonar21.com, Simplicius at his substance, and Moon of Alabama for updates and analysis on the conflict.
What is Putin’s goal? How much is he prepared to sacrifice to achieve it? How much risk is he willing to bear? It seems to me, he wants a contained ‘war.’ He does not want direct conflict with NATO.
his goal is to not let NATO put Nukes on his doorstep. Kinda like kennedy and the cuban missile crisis..
Moon of Alabama has had some great analysis in the past, its a worthy blog to give a read when time permits.
I’ve had it bookmarked for awhile now…
I’ll check out your other recommendations..
thnx
Stupid comment Lots more than 20k dead in Gaza by genocidal lunatic Netanyahoo
Frederick do u live in Turkey
Well, the western media keep saying Ukraine is inflicting ten times more casualties on the Russian troops than Ukraine is losing so there is that difference. Of course their only explanation for such a counterfactual situation is that Russians are stupid and evil so that means they die more frequently because they just deserve to. Apparently Americans believe that’s how war works.
Ukraine is fighting a public relations war and winning.(in the west) Russia is fighting a ground war in Ukraine and winning.
First, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports in excess of 38,000 Palestinians dead. This number is confirmed, along with the names of many lost in the early days, and may be viewed here:
https://gaza-civilians.airwars.org/
Some of their personal stories may be found here:
https://airwars.org/civilian-casualties/ispt0283-october-17-2023/
And you wonder what’s different? The difference is proportionality, or lack thereof.
Where did this idea of portionality in war come from? There has never been such a thing in history. Sheese.
Trusting numbers released by the Hamas Ministry of Health, which REFUSES to break out Hamas militia members killed vs. civilians is like trusting the Nazi party in WWII to give an accurate number of the Jews they have killed. [lol]
What do you not understand? These are primarily civilian deaths, not Hamas. None of them are my friends or relatives; however, I know they come from extended families. For each dead civilian, hatred grows–and not just among Palestinians. More people are recruited to Hamas…
Now, why did I include the link to ‘personal stories’? Because that is what the extended families are seeing. That is the basis for eternal hatred.
Israel responded disproportionately, not solving the problem, making it infinitely worse. It is beyond ‘an eye for an eye.’ This is killing the populace to eliminate the problem forever, and to take the land for Israel–aka genocide.
Btw, the Ministry of Health’ deaths have been compared to in-field followups. There was a 75% match of names–at this level, the MOH numbers are considered confirmed.
But stick your head in the sand, anyway.
Proof?
you don’t recall shakespear, or was it Mark Twain.
“alls fair in love and war, proportionately”
classic quote, was a big hit in my 7th grade book report.
“Probably at 500k dead now for Ukraine.”
Not even remotely close.
There’s almost inevitably about a 10-1 wounded-to-dead ratio returning from frontlines, no longer able/willing to contribute, in this sort of wars. 500K combined dead and wounded, is probably a high estimate already. 5 million is just silly.
There’s a lot of water under the bridge spanning from “wounded to the point of no longer being operational in a modern; especially conscript; army” on one side; to “stone cold dead” on the other. Incapacitated counts always refer to the former.
Even in Gaza, despite pretty much every single makeshift refugee tent, hospital and school classroom having had a Ukraine war’s worth of ordinance dropped on them, and despite noone there having had access to nether food nor water for nearly a year; there’s still only 40K “officially” dead. Out of 2 million which has, no doubt, been “hit” close and hard enough to likely no longer be of much use in some Ukranian front line. People are remarkably resilient and hard to kill. But rarely all that hard to shake up sufficiently to convince them to get the heck out of harm’s way.
Also, another approach: Russia is the attacker. They’re losses are almost inevitably 3 times higher. Belief that 1.5million Russians are dead, perhaps 10-15 million wounded, is just ridiculous…
Did the US warn Zelinsky that they knew of the plot and warn of the severe repercussions if the plot was carried out?
So did Zelinsky have those who disobeyed his orders arrested as soon as the pipe was blown?
Did the US demand Zelinsky punish those who blew the pipeline? With the carrot/stick of cutting off all US financial and military support if he failed to do so?
Did the US notify other members of NATO of the plot before the pipe was blown up? Did it notify other countries and the public after the pipe was blown of the plot or did it LIE and blame the Russians?
Bottom line is the US is an accessory probably before and definitely after the fact to an act of either war or terrorism and justifies any retaliation Russia might take against the US.
Yea, right – “the CIA warned Zelensky”. Don’t you mean they ordered Zelensky or the next trauch of blood money would be halted?
Zelensky also ran on peace with Russia. Now, there’s no new elections under martial law because he would be overwhelmingly be voted out. He preaches that Ukraine is fighting for freedom and then denies them the right to vote on his policies – so much for fighting for freedom and democracy. You also have confiscated Russian assets being “lent” to Ukraine, while we threaten China and Yellen begs them to loan us money. What country would want to buy our debt?
So you think the majority of Ukrainians are read to wimp out, bow down and surrender to Putin? This belief is based on what, exactly?
Who would replace Zelensky? Did your Russian handlers give you a name to proffer?
Always with the “your Russian handlers” bullshit. Anyone whose opinion deviates from WaPo-CIA messaging has “Russian handlers”.
Jojo can’t help himself He’s a blind and arrogant Zionist
Col MickeyD and Scott Ritter target antisemitic sentiment. They
have followers in the Arab world, Europe and the US. Their
numbers are inflated. Their doomsday predictions have failed, but it doesn’t matter. Their fan love them bc they feed the beasts.
Had to downvote you. I’m a Zionist and I strongly support Russia so Jojo’s stupid handler claim need not have anything to do with zionism
“Majority of Ukrainians”. What is a Ukrainian? It’s a civil war.
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2mfmcRm72B4SFbs8gNDBmW-320-80.jpg For the most part, the blue parts are filled with Russians, the yellow parts are Ukrainians.
It would make more sense if the map showed ALL of Russia. IT goes like this:
https://fox2now.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2014/05/ukraine.jpg?w=1920&h=1080&crop=1
And you Jojo Where is your blind allegiance anyway ?
It’s plausible that a non-NATO country attacked the assets of a NATO country; but less plausible that intelligence from a NATO country didn’t know about it. They likely did know, and turned a blind eye with plausible deniability. Germany is right to be outraged at an attack on its infrastructure with implied effective connivance of a NATO ally, such as Poland or Lithuania.
Is it possible NATO-US is preparing to cut Ukraine loose?
The Kursk incursion made little strategic sense, with little accomplished and a great deal at risk–the deeper the penetration, the greater the potential loss. Russia won’t need to nuke its own territory; it can destroy Ukraine’s troops and equipment with minimum loses from the air, and ground bombardment (a Russian specialty). If NATO wants to go to war, this is the chance, but the price will high.
Let’s face it: Zelensky was an okay comedian, whose election in 2019 probably had more to do with his playing the role of a fictional Ukrainian president in the popular TV series, Servant of the People, produced by his production company. He insults his allies on the sidelines and was ‘unable’ to stop his own forces from blowing up Nord Stream 2. And of course, there are the usual corruption allegations when anything ‘Ukraine’ is involved.
Remember the statement, fuck the EU.
Well Germany is in the EU.
Convenient how the trail leads to everyone knew of the plan to blow up Nord stream pipeline, including Zelensky, but not one authorized it.
We are to believe the two biggest backers of the war, the CIA and white house telling Ukraine to halt their plan to blow up the pipeline.
Really?
Can you read?
Zelensky authorized it, never denied that, then backed off. His team didn’t.
None of that is challenged by Ukraine!
Saddam Hussein was accused of having WMD.
His country was destroyed by US and NATO.
Why didn’t he deny?
Even if he denied nobody heard and nobody cared.
Who control media?
Mish, I already told you once, stick to finance, geo politics is not your forte’. You are now quoting other sources as if they are more believable than others. Fact is no one knows unless they were there. Were you there?
Look at what one has to believe to accept the Hersh story. It is clearly bullshit. Period.
OK it was a complicated operation. But numerous resources show it was doable.
And as long as we are discussing complication….
Look at this complicated tangle of bullshit one has to believe to accept the alternative…
The US in conjunction with Norwegian defense forces, blew up the pipelines, and planted evidence pointing to Ukraine. The US and Norway forces were not competent enough to get all four pipelines (or missed one on purpose to deflect suspicion). Meanwhile, evidence contradicts the idea that Norwegian defense forces were in the area. As professionals, they failed to remove all evidence of explosives on the ship on purpose. Failure to remove all of the evidence was part of the plot to make it look like amateurs did this. Hersh said the operation involved minesweepers and Poseidon aircraft that were not even in service, and no radar picked up the aircraft, or the radar is fake involving still more accomplices. The WSJ is lying or complicit in the US coverup. And finally the fact that Zelensky has not denied the WSJ account is meaningless or US blackmail.
“It’s easier to believe the Germans fabricated the story to justify abandoning Ukraine.”
It’s easy to believe except the Dutch broke the story and Norway blasted it sky high.
I added this to the amazing BS one has to believe to accept the Hersh story.
The Dutch, Germans, CIA, Poland, were all in on this. And why? Just so the Germans could justify not giving further aid to Ukraine.
Amazing!!
When you throw away the bullshit, what’s left is the truth no matter how unlikely that seemed at first.
WSJ put blame on Ukraine for NS2 blow up.
Arrest warrant was issued by German for a Ukrainian.
Really? Germany didn’t do proper investigation and issue
arrest warrant?
That’s what Russian complained to Germany about investigation.
Guess who is the real culprit?
The Ukrainian undersea operations are exceptional, Now can we ask them to find MH370, and locate Atlantis? Perpetrator? That would be Barak Hussein Obama, aka “Joe Biden”. I call your attention to a Hindu inscription near the pond behind the Obama compound in Martha’s Vineyard, “I am become a serial instigator, destroyer of the West”
Even if true, I am unsure what the problem is. All’s fair in love and war, no?
Ukraine should blow up downtown Moscow, if it can!
You are such a moron Good luck surviving the radiation fool
Germany has not stopped providing weapons to Ukraine. Germany stopped funding weapons for Ukraine. Germany will use confiscated Russian assets to purchase German weapons for Ukraine. The budget is $5 billion per year, a sum that can keep Ukraine in the fight.
$5 billion wont do jack doogie. The US and EU have spent $200 billion at least.
You are just so wrong. Nord Stream and Funding Ukraine after 2027 are independent of one another. There is even a loop hole on the Funding stop, likely won’t happen at all. That was just to please FDP.
There is no evidence who did it. Most likely US or Ukraine have motive to do it.
US could do it.
US and NATO put record sanctions on Russia and this act would more pressure on Russian economy.
And look at the timing of this news coming out. At the final chapter of Ukraine war which will be winding down soon.
Ukraine is losing. Kursk incursion is last desperate attempt.
Now fighter jets are arriving but seems not going to change the fate of Ukraine.
This is the time for US and NATO to stay away and put blame on Ukraine.
It means US and NATO have no responsibility for loss in Ukraine war and American and European must accept the facts although hundreds of billions of aids, militarily, economically, politically, morally have been spent.
I don’t understand why Germany has so many political parties. It leaves the door open for one large one to take control.
Under the 1919 Weimar Constitution, Germany’s parliament (Reichstag) was based on proportional representation. In the July 1932 election, over 50 parties ran for office and 14 won enough votes to be entitled to at least one seat. No party won a majority of the seats and a coalition government proved to be impossible to form. So the president called for a new election in November of that year. Again no party won a majority of the votes but the Nazi Party was able to form a coalition government with one of the smaller parties. The coalition did not control a majority of the seats but it was enough put Nazis in major posts in Germany. Wikipedia has an article on each of the elections.
Anon1980 should read Anon1970.
Not sure why Mish believes the fake news WSJ. check out their weekly attacks on Trump and Musk and also the Kamala propaganda. Most WSJ reporting is propaganda.
WSJ is about as trustworthy as the BBC
What tends to convince me of culpability in crimes is just WHO benefits the most? WHO?
US sells LNG at higher prices. German industry (competitor to America) weakens due to higher energy cost. Germans can’t even be tempted to waiver on support for Kiev regime in order to restart gas from Russia, since the pipeline was destroyed. Who benefits?
The US, the US, the US.
The idea that a couple amateur scuba divers in a little boat could sabotage a concrete-hardened gas pipeline deep in the ocean is beyond laughable. Sy Hersh had the story right ages ago. WSJ blames Zaluzhny; he denies. WSJ lays the blame on Zelenskyy because the US is about to pull a Diem and replace him with Arsen Avakov.
I ask mindless commentators to read article debunking mindless ideas.
But if mindless commentators did that, then they would not be repeating mindless garbage.
Ukraine
The problem with this theory is most westerners are not trained to think consequentially;and very few are capable of divergent thinking. We believe what we are told, if told more than three times, from three different sources (a cynical view, but mostly true). Less, if it is a source we believe.
As for figuring out who benefits — good luck on that. The least expected, might be the most benefited. The problem is we DON’T KNOW all the players, their abilities, alliances, and motivations. That said, MIsh’s review might well be right (up to a point). .
Speculation with a few ‘facts’ leads to conspiracy theories. Critical thinking, which might reveal conspiracy theories, requires an open mind to begin, and the ability to detect ‘crap.’ Without access to more ‘facts’ they cannot be proven.
Business is business. The US import uranium from Russia, while helping Putin’s
oil drilling, supporting his money flow India and China, suppressing the CPI.
“…Tens of thousands of lives lost…”
I’ve seen reputable sources report 1,800 to 2,200 Ukrainian soldiers dead or severely incapacitated PER DAY, with a total of about 500,000.
This war was unnecessary and provoked by moron-hawks like Lindsey Graham and Incompetent Leader. The cost to rebuild Ukraine is mind-boggling, and so far the only plan is to use stolen Russian assets.
The real problem is the lack of effective leadership from the Democratic carryovers from Obama. It is the same idiocy that enables genocide in Gaza. We need to get past the ‘Russia is evil’ mentality before the bombs fall.
The 500k number was from February of this year, IIRC. Who knows what the estimate is today.
Secondarily, there’s no genocide. Get yourself a dictionary.
Got dictionary, “genocide – the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”
Fits the Gaza situation rather well.
Really? Try looking up “large” now.
20k possible civilian deaths in Gaza is not large against a pre-Oct 7th population of 2.5 million in Gaza.
I bet you were all panicked over the so-called Covid deaths also.
180,000+ dead (source: Lancet) in Gaza since barbaric Israeli terror attack commenced October 7, 2023.
Lancet has been caught out frequently publishing bogus research papers and running interference for Big Pharma over the Jab. Like the BBC and other formerly prestigious publications it is now a biased piece of trash
Estimated. not verified. And even if correct, it’s STILL a relatively small number against the pre-Oct 7th population.
If the supposed 500k killed number in Ukraine (and probably much higher from the Russian side) doesn’t get anyone too riled up, why should 180k of Palestinians do so?
YES it does and YES it is a genocide Only an idiot would believe otherwise
Gaza isn’t a nation and the population of Gaza is still growing so hardly genocide. Yes there are significant collateral deaths of civilians but that happens in any war where one side Hamas) uses the urban areas as fortified positions and especially when schools, hospitals and apartments are the preferred strong points.
Hamas wants high civilian casualties for PR purposes and uses the civilians as human shields.
Don’t forget Victoria Nuland and her Merry Band of Neocons. Nuland retired earlier in 2024.
Oh I haven’t forgotten Nudelmann the Hut
Okay, the Russians blowing it up was absurd. The article also listed that the Russians did not believe the Ukrainians did it. I think divers could have gotten to 260 feet but finding the pipelines soft spot and blowing up the pipeline remotely seemed to have been a huge challenge, and the divers had 20 minutes to get it right. The whole, this yacht was the only one flying the flag of Ukraine, seemed right out of a CIA op. Zelensky, the CIA, Biden are all innocent, the equivalent of the lone gunman. It is convenient that is for sure.
So we get Sy Hersh’s story where the Norwegian navy found the weak spot and NATO seals did the bombing versus a bunch of non-demolition experts using open source maps and a small sonar. Then you got the British PM sending a text saying it is done and the flight of the plane dropping a beacon over the site.
For what it is worth, the Germans really think they are on to something. For my money, the Ukrainians are patsies but I will go down on my odds because of the Germans. I said the odds Sy Hersh is right and the WSJ is not was 1000:1 in Hersh’s favor. Now because of the Germans and their attitude, I will go down to 100:1.
But yeah, the Russians did not do it. That was obvious.
Agreed 100%
“finding the pipelines soft spot and blowing up the pipeline remotely seemed to have been a huge challenge”
Finding the pipelines was easy with published maps and a $3,000 finder.
“Finding the pipelines was easy with published maps and a $3,000 finder.”
Plus: Does anyone really believe any country, with any intelligence service, anywhere even near the place, did not have a pretty accurate idea where the pipeline was going in the first place? And if so: Do the also think the location of Iranian pipelines would somehow need to be “found” first, should one of the neighboring countries decide to blow one up?
All these pipelines are near impossible to protect the entire length of. And rarely all that hard to find and sabotage. The math works line any high voltage line:The defender has to defend every inch out of thousands of miles. The attacker just need to hit one single inch somewhere along the entire length….
That’s why Stoltenberg was so quick to “inform” Russia that any; trivially easy for them operationally; “revenge” sabotage of any of the Norwegian pipelines to Europe, would trigger article 5….
If there was ever an all-out hot conflict between almost anyone over there; the whole pipeline network will be shredded as fast as the Houties’ oil storage tanks were, as soon as they hit Tel Aviv…. Those things are simply not even remotely defensible against determined attackers, the way they are laid.
The idea that only a gov’t ie U.S. could do this dive is nonsense. Commercial divers (oil/gas wells) routinely go down to 300 metres using heliox. I have no idea about explosives, but getting down to 50 metres isn’t complex at all.
Thanks for pointing that out. Reminds me of No one could get to where Lee Harvey Oswald was in the time allowed, until they actually walked it.
Do you believe Oswald acted alone? And Jacob Rubenstein did, too? And Crooks? And Sirhan Sirhan? Wow.
Was the soft spot 260 feet down or 50 meters. Or “metres” as Mr “I have no idea about explosives” said?
I think Gilligan and the Skipper kept the Minnow in position while Mr. and Mrs. Howell did the dive and planted the bomb the Professor designed. Maryann made cupcakes and Ginger pressed the remote detonator.
Going down is easy, coming back up alive is the trick.
Nerd #1 will sign. The hyenas are laughing today, waiting for Nerd #2, Sinwar, to sign a ceasefire, during Kamala coronation, to complete their hunt.
A gas pipeline from Russia to Germany was in nobody’s best interest, accept Russia. A Germany that is increasingly controlled by Russia would be a disaster for the West. The US was either behind it or complicit in it
Wrong. The massive amount of unthinking BS here continues to be staggering.
It was certainly in the EUs best interest until alternative sources found.
You made my point. Enabling energy flow to the EU from Russia would give Russia too much leverage when it comes to Ukraine. Zelensky would have never proceeded with the sabotage without implicit support from Washington. Not in a million years.
Germany was promised an alternative source through Nigeria, but this blew up with the failed attempt to install CBDC’s.
Mish must be suffering from dementia He is just NOT being reasonable here
Are you controlled by Honda, your grocery store or the shoe company you buy shoes from? Your logic failure here is a problem.
Wrong, IMHO. It is possible that Russia could be pulled into the EU by extending trade opportunities. Putin hinted at this in his interview with Tucker. The history lecture about borders and relationships with Europe was there for a reason.
Russia has history as part of Europe, and it has the natural resources to be a partner. Germany and Russia trading might be the best thing for the West, except every generation in the West (Lenin-on) has been ‘brain-washed’ to hate the Soviet Union/Russia (sometimes with good reason). When Plan A doesn’t work, maybe try something else.
“A gas pipeline from Russia to Germany was in nobody’s best interest, accept Russia..”
And Germany. Without the cheap energy that gas would have provided, half of German industry will either move to China, or have to reduce salaries paid to Germans by 50%.
Russia can sell its gas anywhere. It will cost them a bunch to build similar distribution to Asia. But once that’s done: Germany will never again be in a position to indirectly subsidize German wages and competitiveness with unusually cheap and plentiful gas vis-a-vis emerging Asian competitors. Instead, Germans will have to accept Chinese wages per hour. Discounted 50%, to account for all the other pointless costs German industry have to bear, which freer-market Chinese competitors don’t have to deal with to nearly the same extent.
but offshoring all us manufacturing to communist china was a great idea???
Mike, this does NOT sound as if Ukraine did the pipeline, it sounds like a rogue actor did it with the help of some disobedient officers.
Germany is grossly overreacting, and someone should remind them how close to the new russian border their eastern frontier will be if Ukraine is conquered. They will be next after Poland. Although it might be easier for Putin to go through Slovakia and Czechia, saving Poland for later when it is surrounded.
Frankly I do not give a puckered rats patootie who blew up that pipeline, it is water under the bridge, and the EU/Germany has coped. It may or may not have been a legit target in war, but it certainly was a lot more legit than the civilian targeting by russia. The children’s hospitals, the maternity hospitals, schools, residential neighborhoods. Putin is a war criminal and I will have no further conversations with people that support him.
Ukraine is a sovereign nation that is under attack by brutal beasts. Shame on Europe and the US for not defending Ukraine better than a few weapons. So Poots wants to shake his nuclear saber? Let him, I can’t say I would enjoy the aftermath of a full nuclear exchange but it would be better than bending knees to a dictator who blackmails the world, call his bluff. If he uses his nukes it will be the very last thing he or any russian does.
For starters, Zelensky approved the pipeline attack if you bothered reading my excerpts or the full article.
Second, Shame on the US for causing this entire mess.
It started with US involvement in 2014.
But I do not approve of Russia’s actions. So shame on Russia. But the US knew Russia’s red lines and ignored them.
Shame on Zelensky for not accepting a good deal when he had one.
Finally, shame of Boris Johnson for telling Zelensky not to take the deal.
Yeah, there is plenty of shame!
Take a bow. You deserve it.
Unlike the US with its ‘major’ borders protected by oceans, Russia has been attacked multiple times by its neighbors. Accordingly, there is a Russian mentality of border defense of the homeland at all costs (eg WW2). NATO poked the bear. The bear got angry.
True but how would DC react to Russian psychpaths overthrowing the elected govt of say Mexico or Canada and installing a puppet govt there Exactly
Based on prior governments that the CIA has ‘overthrown,’ it would be hypocrisy to react negatively.
“Second, Shame on the US for causing this entire mess.
It started with US involvement in 2014.” Exactly.
Unfortunately, most Americans have never heard of the Maidan Revolution and the role Victoria Nuland played in it. Nor do that know that Russia has its only warm water naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea. Nor do they know that Crimea became part of the Russian Empire back in the 1780’s. My guess is that Russia would start a nuclear war before it allowed Crimea to become part of NATO.
Nuland is a psychopathic monster no doubt Allowing her to wield so much power was the first mistake It was a horrible idea from the git go
I’m not sure about ‘psychopathic monster.’ The responsibility lies with Congress.
Nuland was acting on behalf of the state department, the true government of the usa. Congress is just window dressing . They don’t even declare war anymore or pass an annual budget. I’m not sure what they do for that salary, but we keep paying it..
“My guess is that Russia would start a nuclear war before it allowed Crimea to become part of NATO.”
That is my guess as well. But we are guessing.
Regardless, It would be foolish to put our theory to the test.
Now Mish is starting to make some sense Bravo
Ukraine’s EU/NATO support is evaporating quickly. The attack on Kursk is a major complication, likely extending the war by several years, or a vicious counterattack from Russia. It is not surprising that negativity now appears to hasten the process.
The Ukraine war might reach its terminal point within a few months. It might
be a CIA setup. Kamala will start with a clean slate. Trump will be in jail until
his sentence will be overturned.
This sounds like 1950s red scare paranoia.
You buy the ‘Russia is evil’ ‘Ukraine is good’ nonsense. It is far more complex.Propaganda is used to drive public opinion on both sides. The truth is somewhere in the middle, as usual.
Like most people, you do not understand what the world would be like after a nuclear exchange. The only winners will be cockroaches.
The Kursk invasion keeps Putin away. The war will end when Putin’s cauldron will surround the invaders north/south and east/west. Kamala doesn’t care. Trump will be in jail. The Ayatollah and Nasrallah are waiting for Kamala. The hyenas are laughing today.
Trump will never go to jail. The conviction will be overturned and it should be overturned because there never should have been a trial in the first place.
Mish, overturned when. When he is in jail. Trump is a top 1%. He might be raising funds for his campaign or for himself.
Then, you do not understand Putin and Russia. This is not a whimpering Russia. They will do what they did in WW2, not come looking for peace.
If Russia surrounds the Kursk invaders, Zelensky will beg for a ceasefire.
CNN and ABC will tell us that Putin caved in, before signing a ceasefire and that Churchill II won the war.
Buying the MARXIST stance hook, line and sinker!!!!
So, let me get this straight, you are trusting Ukraine, the most corrupt country in at least Europe over the reporting of Seymour Hersh and Armstrong’s consistently correct inside info?
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/war/lindsey-graham-on-the-real-reason-behind-ukraine/
You are completely clueless if you believe Ukraine did anything without the complete support of the Neocons. The Neocons have run the show in Ukraine from before they unleashed the Ukrainian Neo Nazis on the Russians in eastern Ukraine, starting the civil war (same as what happened in Vietnam, where even McNamara admitted on his deathbed that it was all a mistake – China was not involved, it was a civil war). Have you not seen the video of John McCain and Lindsey Graham giving pep talks to the Ukrainian Nazi’s back in 2013-14?
The Neocons have been bribing Zelensky to sacrifice his own people to use them as cannon fodder to weaken Russia, and that was long after the CIA’s support of the Ukrainian Neo Nazi’s since WWII because they also hated Russians because Stalin starved the Ukranians with the help of another Ukrainian Jew.
And yes, the US [Neocons] would damage Germany and the EU. Are you that naive? They would kill anyone to further their war agenda. They killed Kennedy because he was against Vietnam and they tried to kill Trump because he’s anti-war. Do you not remember the the Neocon queen, Victoria “Nudelman’ Nuland saying “f*ck the EU”?
Are you not familiar with Operation Northwoods, where the Joint Staff submitted a plan to Kennedy to kill Americans and blame it on Cuba to justify an invasion?
The confessed hated of Russians by Nuland, Garland, and Blinken is well documented – https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/neocons/bidens-neocons-all-personal-ties-to-ukraine/.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/neocons/bidens-neocons-all-personal-ties-to-ukraine/
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/neocons/consumed-by-hatred/
Read the “Plot to Take Over Russia” and it will all start making more sense. It’s always about energy and money and they’ve been after Russian natural resources for over 20 years –
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/product/the-plot-to-seize-russia-the-untold-history/.
Dear Blacklisted
It would help if you can think, just a teeny tiny bit before diving into a nonsensical rant.
“So, let me get this straight, you are trusting Ukraine, the most corrupt country in at least Europe …”
Where the flying F did I say or imply I was trusting Ukraine?
However, if the story was false (or even true) Ukraine would be in deep denial.
It was Dutch intelligence that uncovered this.
All you offer is more bullshit propaganda.
This is a shell game. Everyone watches the shells–a distraction. The real game is likely elsewhere.
Is it possible the story breaks now as a gesture to bring Putin to the table?
Instead of being skeptical, after endless lies from the establishment, you’re believing what Zelensky says or anyone in NATO??? Ukraine doesn’t need to deny or accuse. All they need to do is be on the verge of losing to keep the money flowing, which is getting easier and easier.
Please explain what was nonsensical in my rant?
Nothing was nonsensical about it Mish is a bit biased and off base on this No doubt about that Notice peoples reactions I do
Is this an Armstrong sock puppet account? Never put your faith in a single source. Armstrong also claims his ‘quantum physics based AI’ is never wrong. If that’s the case, why bother charging the plebs for access? He should be a trillionaire by now. I don’t even disagree with alot of his takes and opinions- but I put my faith in no man. Caveat emptor.
My sources are many – I even read Mish. If you skeptically follow anyone of substance for 15 years and don’t find any contradictions or ulterior motives, I would say you can add them to your list of sources. If you want to share a good source, it does not make you a sock puppet. If you also find someone that the establishment tries to cancel, slander, and throw in jail without due process, and they are still fighting, you know you have a person of integrity that is fearless.
I would challenge you to find where any of Armstrong’s major turning points were wrong, including predicting Brexit and Trump’s victory in 2016 when all the polls said the opposite. I would bookmark the forecasts to see if he’s right about the coming civil unrest, war, cooling cycle, capital flows, transition to China being the next financial capital after 2032, etc. All of this was predicted over 20 years ago.
As Armstrong would say, history repeats because the passions of man have not changed. If you can follow the money (global capital flows), you can follow the truth without bias. You just have to listen to the results without a predetermined outcome. That was Armstrong’s secret to success.
The blog is free and basic model (Socrates) results and Private Blog are available for around $15/mo. Nothing of real value is free, and if you ever read any of his reports, you will find you get more than your money’s worth.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/shop/.
People from around the world have been repeatedly attending his yearly conferences for over 30 years – and they would all be happy to be called a sock puppet.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrong-economics-upcoming-events/world-economic-conference/the-2024-world-economic-conference-tickets-available-tomorrow/
Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.
Lol! Martin Armstrong? Convicted felon Martin Armstrong? Who spent 11 years in jail for swindling $700 million from suckers?
Who would be stupid enough to follow him or buy anything he is selling?
some of wall streets finest have been swindlers, if we get rid of all the swindlers we’ll have to close wall street.
Am still bothered by how what Biden expressed gets glossed over.
That is a Green light message that President of US had few if any reservations about shutting down Nord Stream Pipeline.
Saying it Publicly only enhances that viewpoint. Why say anything at all about stopping Gas flow out of Russia unless that was the desired result.
Like him saying put a target on Trump was just an innocent word or two.
That is not how Politics operates. If anyone believes fully anything that comes out of Government they should look at the record of what was decried as Truth before acceptance of anything offered up.
This latest smells like just another attempt to deflect from culpability.
Germany found out and is pissed so Biden and the neocons are covering their asses is a more reasonable explanation.
Ukraine is done so Mr. Z head is now on chopping block. He passes the buck and CIA says so.
Oh look Mr. Z started this, then happened to pull the plug, but a General went Rogue.
Really?
Oh yeh and the people responsible have arrest warrants but oh gee wiz they somehow can not be found.
A yes, another person wo suddenly believes meaningless political rants by a person with dementia.
This is the Biden equivalent of “Mexico will pay for the wall”
Did you believe that too?
Good Lord.
I agree with you that Biden is meaningless. Loyd Austin by not informing White House that he would be incapacitated by Prostrate Cancer operation said that loud and clear.
Austin did not inform W.H. because the military has to actually fight in a War Zone as consequence of what the neocons put into play. That is also fairly obvious. Austin is most likely the only one still interested in the well being of the United States not going to unnecessary Wars. Austin appears to have a conscience.
Neocons do not. Biden is the puppet, doing what he is told to do. That should not be so hard to understand after this amount of time. Read this line Joey.
Who wrote the line is what matters.
It is the Neocons vs the Armed Forces running US foreign policy not Joe Biden.
Once that gets understood the current story of the Day would make sense as to why it was put out there.
Wall street Journal is another propaganda tool. That should also be evident.
Joe Biden has trouble figuring out what his daily ration of pudding will be. He surely is not setting Foreign policy.
As for Kursk invasion that is so Ukraine has some bargaining power exchanging Land for Land in a potential cease fire solution.
They had a “reporter” stuck in russia, for a while. just got released. I’m sure that biased their reporting. Russia claimed he was a spy, but as we all now, the cia would never use a cover story of reporter for an american spy.
WSJ has 3 letters and guess what CIA has 3 letters, is it fate?
Mike, it sounds as though you have ruled out the possibility that Biden’s dementia/stupidity didn’t glitch his brain and that his press conference utterance wasn’t the truth slipping out as it had previously – ‘nothing will fundamentally change’ and then backed it up by slapping the striking railroad workers around like a pinata. With Congressional approval of course.
Why would Biden state in a public speech that we were going to shut down Nordstream if it wasn’t something that (1) was being discussed and (2) something that we would follow through on if Russia proceeded with the Ukraine invasion? A Europe/Germany that is economically (and therefore politically) tied to Russia via an energy pipeline would have made unified support for Ukraine very difficult.
At this point in time, it’s politically easier for the German politicians to point the finger at Zelensky than to implicate the US.
You’re overthinking this, Mish.
Well, since Ukraine is a non-Nato country Nato Germany should invoke article 5 so Macron and the CIA girls can take out Ukraine’s current fascist government formerly installed by the Nato crowd with a mostly peaceful Nato military intervention. It’s a win win Mish.
I’m not apologizing yet. This probably isn’t the final reveal. I find it hard to believe any old group of drunks can blow up a pipeline 50 meters under the sea. First you would have to know exactly where it is, then you would have to have the sort of explosives that can destroy 1 inch of steel, and then you’d have to be a professional diver.
The US was likely involved. It’s sort of like giving Ukraine HIMARS and training and then saying “Ukraine did it”.
Read the damn article – whole thing, then take it back. It’s a free link. Huge details.
I’m confident that Ukraine wanted the pipeline blown up. But that doesn’t rule out assistance in the task by the US. As for the latest revelations how confident can you be that they are truth mixed up with lies and deflection from the whole story? Plus the revelations timing is handy as an excuse to cut off support from the failing Ukraine and the facts may have been long known to the US and others from day 1 but they lied about it just as they lie about so many things.
Again,
People never bothered to think.
Instead we had 15 comments willing to jump the gun blaming the US, with ZERO evidence.
Ukraine, not the US had the biggest motive (deprive Russia of NG revenues) not giving a damn about Germany.
The US certainly have the capability, but no solid motive, just a BS comment from a senile US politician.
The US would not give a damn about collateral damage to Russia or Venezuela or any enemy, but Germany?
Regardless, the amount of blame the US first BS is staggering, and I am not a US apologist.
The US powers that be *think they are gaining (but really aren’t) by hurting their own citizens with all this debt and debasement, so it’s not hard to think they would hurt Germany too if they believed some twisted gain from it, or Germany could also be along in the scheme, as both seem very intently against Russia, see cutting them off from the banking system and considering confiscating their assets, though in no way do I condone Russia’s invasion and land grab, which I believe is wrong.
Talking about gullible . Its possible the US wasn’t involved but very unlikely. Mish has yet to figure the propaganda that the west continues to pump out yet he takes the one account that supports his theory . Biden said and then they got it done does it matter whether we supported the people that did it or did it ourselves if you think we did not know about the operation I feel for you .
I feel for idiots who take Biden literally and at his word!
Sheesh
Funny , I think the US officials blamed Russia and said we knew nothing both lies and now another report that you reference . You don’t know and neither do I this could be more western propaganda or possibly just more official garbage just to get people looking the other way . It possible it could be true but I highly doubt we wern’t in the loop .
Mish, it would serve you better to not use negative terms, such as idiot’s, on readers who come here to learn.
ad hominem is usually not best played as your opening move, it tends to cause emotional reactions rather than logical reactions. But it Mike’s blog, Mike’s rules..
Biden’s senility is why he accidentally commits candor.
You know demoness Nuland also promised destruction of Nordstream, right? When they get flummoxed, they sometimes blurt out the truth. Like when she was before the senate and told of the US-funded biolabs.
A little buried but the root cause is identified:
It was US meddling that led to this disaster with Senator John McCain fomenting the mess by backing Ukraine entry into NATO.
The USA’s bringing (forcing) “democracy” to the world over past 20-30 years is one of its many downfalls. Guess USA needed a hobby after USSR dissolved …
by hobby you mean new markets for old weapons, yes there was a branching out of the military/industrial complex. They’ve managed to blow up tons of old shells, bullets and tanks all over the world. you should see what they left in Afghanistan, they had enough stinger missiles to start a demonstration in Portland.
I have more confidence in Seymour Hersh’s expose’ claiming that it was US divers that planted explosive charges that were remotely detonated at a later time. Hersh claimed that it was US diver’s trained at the Navy’s Panama City, FL diving center. I know a civilian guy that does underwater experiments for the Navy in Panama City. I sent him a copy of Hersh’s article and asked what he thought about it. His cursory statement was that it was hogwash as it said that the Navy dive center was at the end of a barren road. He said that the dive center was on the main road thru Panama City. I didn’t take his word at face value. I did a bit more investigation on my own and I found out that the Navy’s ‘Advanced’ Underwater Demolition Center is at the end of a barren road located on restricted US Eglin Air Force Base. The ‘advanced’ center is located about 10 miles from dive center headquarters in Panama City.
Biden did not want Germany to be dependent upon natural gas delivered from Russia thru the Nordstream pipeline. Biden thought the Russians would use the threat of termination of gas deliveries as a bargaining chip to keep Germany from supporting Ukraine. With the pipeline blown to smithereens, Germany had no choice but to import gas from western sources.
Sorry, odds of that just went to nearly zero.
Opinions on that appear to differ. From an Austrian blog, widely read in German speaking European countries.
“Western media try to blame Ukraine for Nord Stream sabotage
The Western investigation into what “really” happened during the Nord Stream explosion appears to be over. Instead of a complex intelligence operation using appropriate naval equipment and sophisticated sabotage tactics, it is assumed that it was all just the result of a “drunken evening” when Ukrainian officers simply decided to destroy the Kremlin’s “source of funding” with a rented boat. The ridiculous Western narrative on this issue shows how the mainstream media has lost respect for its own audience and treats the public as complete idiots. ”
https://tkp.at/2024/08/19/westliche-medien-versuchen-ukraine-fuer-sabotage-von-nord-stream-verantwortlich-zu-machen/
“Remember the Maine!”
and the Gulf of Tonkin.
To think the US had zero involvement is silly. Or maybe it’s just amusing.
To think the US didn’t know ahead of time…well that’s beyond silly.
Evidence certainly currently points to Ukraine … but I tend to agree that the US was not exactly vehemently against it.
Well, the US tried to stop it. I see I need to add that section.
It’s beyond naive to believe this.
Next you’ll be telling us the US lied about Gulf of Tonkin incident. /s
where were the decompression chambers on the little ukraine sail boat?
None were needed.
Anyone who bothered to do the least bit of research would understand that.
Addendum added
We have the most sophisticated military and surveillance systems in the world, but were no match for that 35 foot fishing boat. “The US tried to stop it!”
Joe called Zelensky and traded sharp words with him, but there was no stopping the little fella. Once he gets an idea in his head, he has to blow something up..