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688 points hunglee2 | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.577s | source
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mmastrac ◴[] No.34713024[source]
It's a great story, but it's all unsourced and could be a decent Tom Clancy story at best. You could probably write a similar one with Russia or German agents as the key players and be just as convincing.

The only anchor in reality appears to be Biden suggesting that they knew how to take it out which seems like a pretty weak place to build a large story.

What I find particularly odd is that this entire thing appears to be based on a single, unnamed source "with direct knowledge of the operational planning".

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rsync ◴[] No.34713618[source]
"You could probably write a similar one with Russia ..."

I disagree - there is no credible motive here for Russia and, in fact, the outcome was directly opposed to every outcome they are, or were trying, to achieve.

Not only do I, as a US citizen, believe that the US perpetrated this act but further: I believe it is an overtly hostile action against EU citizens and, particularly, Germans, who will suffer the most economically.

EU states are now buying US natural gas like we always wanted them to. How much pain and suffering were we willing to inflict to make that happen ?

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oezi ◴[] No.34714632[source]
The amount of LNG gas remains insignificant so far. Germany also hasn't signed any significant contract with the US but rather with Qatar.

To give you one credible motive for Russian involvement: Russia cut off Europe of Gas supplies to get leverage on the Ukraine conflict, but this largely failed as European countries pooled their gas reserves and vowed to move away from Russian gas. As Russia could see that this market was lost the explosions were a last punch to send gas prices higher before the European winter and protect Gazprom from lawsuits. The mild weather killed that first motive, let's see about the other.

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AnonymousPlanet ◴[] No.34716369[source]
It was a hostage situation. "You want to quit our gas? See how you're going to fare when winter comes and you can't fill your storage in time."

In September it was already clear that a weak polar vortex would make for a frosty winter in the northern hemisphere. It was just luck (for Europe) that it hit North America and not Europe. During summer in Germany every week more people were drumming up (literally) demands to open Nord Stream 2.

There was no way of being sure a German government wouldn't flip under pressure once people were freezing and showing up with torches at the Reichstag.

But one September night someone went in and shot the hostages...

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1. dralley ◴[] No.34719115[source]
God supports Ukraine, apparently: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fl8IHLWXEAENTO6?format=jpg&name=...
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2. BlueTemplar ◴[] No.34734276[source]
While this winter is milder than usual, Europe does typically have a hotter climate than could be expected, thanks to the Gulf Stream. (For instance the North Mediterranean is on the same longitude as New York !)