In both the Ian Fleming book, Goldfinger, and the James Bond classic movie, Goldfinger says to Bond: “Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action'.” Three gas leaks on the Nord stream gas pipes is beyond chance, and even the mainstream media are speculating about sabotage. Yet, while Russia is an obvious choice, why bother when they can turn off the tap anyway? And, most importantly, Nord Stream 2 was not yet operational. Could it be the US? Here is one point of view.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-blew-russian-gas-pipelines-nord-stream-1-2-says-former-polish-defense-minister

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-nord-stream-whodunit/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=article

https://nakedemperor.substack.com/p/three-leaks-on-nord-stream-pipes

“Nord Stream 2 was built alongside Nord Stream 1 to double the flow of Russian gas into Germany. The pipeline was completed last year but was awaiting sign off from Germany and the EU. It was meant to boost the amount of cheap gas to Europe which was increasingly needed due to green agendas causing coal and nuclear power stations to be decommissioned. This project was halted indefinitely when Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

The new pipeline is half owned by Gazprom, the Russian state-owned gas company and this, understandably, made the Western allies nervous. They didn’t want Europe to be further reliant on Russian energy.

It also bypassed Russia’s reliance on another pipeline which travelled through Ukraine. Using Ukraine’s pipes meant having to pay over $1 billion per year in gas transit fees.

Yesterday, according to Denmark’s energy minister, Dan Jogensen, a leak was detected on Nord Stream 2. Whilst the pipeline is not and may never be operational, it did contain gas which was leaking into the Baltic Sea. Danish authorities advised ships to avoid a five nautical mile radius near the island of Bornholm.

As the pipeline was not operational, it doesn’t effect the supply or price of gas. However, the leak is being described as ‘mysterious’ as according to the head of the Danish energy agency, Kristoffer Bottzauw, pipeline breaches occur extremely rarely…

..So rarely, that two more leaks have been discovered on Nord Stream 1. The leaks are close to each other but one is in a Swedish zone and the other in a Danish zone. Again, Nord Stream 2 is not in operation, due to Russia turning off the taps, but contains gas.

The Danish Energy Agency has put the energy sector on it’s second highest alert level and authorities have said they can’t rule out a deliberate act. Military experts have previously said that it is technically very difficult to commit sabotage of the pipeline. At the bottom of the sea, special deep-sea underwater vehicles are required, that many states don’t have.

Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream 1, said “The damage that occurred in one day simultaneously at three lines of offshore pipelines of the Nord Stream system are unprecedented. It is impossible to estimate the timeframe for the recovery of the gas transport infrastructure so far”.

Even if the Ukrainian war ended tomorrow and Russia turned the taps back on, it seems that gas won’t be available via this route for the foreseeable future.

But if it is sabotage, cui bono?

Would Russia sabotage it’s own pipeline when it could just continue to keep the taps turned off, as it has been doing so far? It removes one of their biggest bargaining chips during any negotiations. But they would not be liable to pay the massive fines for contractually owed gas supplies.

There is the possibility that Russia could stage a false flag event to wrong foot the West. Perhaps not Putin himself but factions within Russia not happy with how things are panning out.

Or could it be sabotage from a country within the NATO alliance? The calls to lift sanctions to allow the pipeline to reopen have been getting louder and louder as winter approaches. Were the pipelines proving too much of temptation to some who wanted to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine?

Remember when Biden said this?

Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades...then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it." Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since...the project is in Germany's control?" Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that." http://abcn.ws/3B5SScx”