For the Biden administration, German war support is more important than keeping the population from freezing, according to high-profile journalist Seymour Hersh, who exposed US involvement in the terrorist attack on European infrastructure.
He says this in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung, where German journalist Fabian Scheidler himself adds that the attack could be considered an act of war against a Western ally.
– This can be perceived as an act of war not only against Russia but also against Western allies, especially Germany, Scheidler notes.
– This can be perceived as an act of war not only against Russia but also against Western allies, especially Germany, notes Fabian Scheidler, interviewing Hersh in the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung.
In the interview, Hersh points out that the US feared that Germany would lift sanctions against Russia due to energy shortages during a cold winter - and that this was a major reason for the Americans to blow up the gas pipelines with the help of Norway.
– I don’t think they thought it through. I know this sounds strange. I don’t think that Blinken and some others in the administration are deep thinkers. There certainly are people in the American economy who like the idea of us being more competitive. We’re selling LNG, liquefied gas, at extremely big profits; we’re making a lot of money on it.
He believes that there were certainly American powers that be who saw the attack and its disastrous effects on the German economy as something that could give the US economy a boost - but that the powers that be in the White House were mostly "obsessed with getting re-elected".
– They wanted to win the war, they wanted to get a victory, they want Ukraine to somehow magically win. There could be some people who think maybe it’ll be better for our economy if the German economy is weak, but that’s crazy thinking. I think, basically, that we’ve bitten deep into something that’s not going to work. The war is not going to turn out well for this government.
Biden declares a halt to Nord Stream if Russia invades Ukraine:
"A shame for the United States"
The Pulitzer-winning journalist adds that he doesn't know how the war will end but that it "scares" him that the US president was willing to blow up Nord Stream.
– Those who carried out this mission believed that the president was aware of what he was doing to the German people, that he was punishing them for a war that was not going well. In the long run, this will not only damage his reputation as President, it will also be very damaging politically. It will be an embarrassment to the United States, he concludes.
Hersh points out that the Biden administration worried that Germany and other EU countries would stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and that Germany would open Nord Stream 2 and resume gas imports. The blast made such a solution impossible.
He is also critical of the fact that, since the revelation, the US media and powers-that-be have been more focused on smearing him than digging deeper into the scandal.
– How could I reveal my source?... If I named someone, they would be fired or worse - jailed.
He adds that he worked with "experienced fact-checkers" during the report and that there are "many ways to check" the facts he presents.
– The personal attacks on me are also irrelevant. The point is that Biden has decided to let the Germans freeze this winter. The President of the United States would rather have Germany freeze than possibly have Germany stop supporting Ukraine, and that to me is a devastating thing for the White House.
– The point is also that this could be perceived as an act of war not only against Russia but also against Western allies, especially Germany, Fabian Scheidler stresses.
The operation was kept secret
People involved in the operation, Hersh says, understood that Joe Biden wanted to freeze Germany for "his short-term political goals" - and that this horrified them.
– The political advantage of the CIA is that a president who can't get his plans through Congress can take a walk in the White House Rose Garden with the CIA director and plan something secret that could affect a lot of people on the other side of the Atlantic - or anywhere in the world. That has always been the CIA's unique selling point - with which I have my problems. But even this community is appalled that Biden has decided to get Europe to freeze in order to support a war he will not win. I think that's disgraceful.
Seymour Hersh further claims that the operation against Nord Stream was not reported to Congress or to military personnel not directly involved in the operation - even though they should have been.
When asked about the role of courage for Hersh in his profession as a reviewer of power, he questions whether it is really courageous to tell the truth.
Hersh also shares a reflection on the role of journalism, stressing that "Our job is not to be afraid and sometimes it gets uncomfortable. There have been times in my life when ... You know, I don't talk about it. But the threats are not against people like me, but against the children of people like me", he says, adding that as an investigative journalist, you can't worry about what might happen - just keep "doing what you're doing".
