AMERICAN THREATS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY AND PROGRESS

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Seven months after the bombing of Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea waters, the mystery of who targeted the pipelines remains unsolved. In September 2022, a series of deep-sea explosions damaged three out of four underwater pipelines of the Nord Stream project designed to carry Russian gas directly to Western Europe. Several countries were said at the time to have motives for the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage: Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Britain and the United States. German prosecutors said earlier that in January investigators searched a ship suspected of having transported explosives used in the blasts. The New York Times has reported that U.S. officials had seen new intelligence indicating that a "pro-Ukrainian group" was responsible for the sabotage. The Ukrainian government denied involvement in the action, while the Kremlin rejected the Times report as a "diversion." A series of clandestine bombings and subsequent underwater gas leaks occurred on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines on September 26, 2022. Both pipelines were built to pump Russian gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The bulk of the infrastructure is owned by the Russian state-owned gas company, Gazprom. Following the sabotage, Russia rained down accusations on various Western actors, including the U.K. Moscow has consistently denied involvement and denounced the incident as a "terrorist attack." Nord Stream 2 was to be a route for the delivery of natural gas from Russia directly to Germany. Berlin suspended certification of the pipeline following Moscow's recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics in February.

Seymour Hersh, an investigative journalist, is, on the other hand, highly sceptical of a new narrative suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. Hersh says Biden 'screwed up' when he destroyed Nord Stream pipelines, and he believes that the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipelines that brought liquid natural gas from Russia to Germany in order to keep its European allies on side against Russia. "This war", he explicitly and emphatically declares, "is not going to end well for the Ukrainians and the Biden administration. The American public is not being told the whole story by the media. It's just not going to end well. Whether you agree or disagree with Putin, I don't agree with going to war. We made an agreement [with the Soviet Union] in 1990 when East and West Germany merged, to let that country stay in NATO, and we made an agreement in writing that we would not expand NATO one inch to the east. Now we've added 14 more countries to NATO. I can understand the provocation. I wish he hadn't started the war, but I will tell you, he's not going to lose the war." Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev also claimed that Moscow had obtained certain materials which point to a Western trace in organizing and executing the blasts. While nobody has claimed responsibility for the Nord Stream explosions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the incident as a "tremendous opportunity," which would enable EU countries to become less dependent on Russian energy. Moscow officials have repeatedly said the US was the primary beneficiary of the blasts, with Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov arguing last month that, by weaning itself of Russian energy, the EU would conveniently become "addicted" to American energy instead. Knowledge of US responsibility for the attack was widespread, Hersh told the Berliner Zeitung. "The people in America and Europe who build pipelines know what happened… The people who own companies that build pipelines know the story." He said he "didn't hear it from them," but he “quickly learned that they knew." One of the main accusations against Hersh was that he relied on a single source in the US security apparatus whose identity he is keeping secret for security reasons, whereas journalistic due diligence, notes the WSWS, requires at least two sources. In fact, one of Hersh's primary sources is the president's threat and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who made similar comments. After the attack, she exulted that she was pleased "Nord Stream 2 is now, as they say, a pile of junk at the bottom of the ocean."

S/PV.9266 Security Council

Security Council Report, Dated 21st February 2023.

Threats to international peace and security

Mr. Sachs: The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines on 26 September constitutes an act of international terrorism and represents a threat to the peace.

The consequences of the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines are enormous. They include not only the vast economic losses related to the pipelines themselves and their future potential use, but also the heightened threat to transboundary infrastructure of all kinds: submarine Internet cables, international pipelines for gas and hydrogen, transboundary power transmission, offshore wind farms and more. The global transformation to green energy will require considerable transboundary infrastructure, including in international waters. Countries need to have full confidence that their infrastructure will not be destroyed by third parties. Some European countries recently expressed concern over the safety of their offshore infrastructure.

The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines required a very high degree of planning, expertise and technological capacity. The Nord Stream 2 pipelines are a marvel of engineering. Each section of pipe is made of rolled steel of 4.5-centimetre thickness, and with a pipeline internal diameter of 1.15 metres. The pipe is encased in concrete of 10.9-centimetre thickness. The weight of each section of concrete-encased pipe is 24 metric tons. The Nord Stream 2 pipelines, some 1,200 kilometres in length, contain around 200,000 pipes. The pipelines sit on the sea floor.

Destroying a pipeline of heavy rolled steel, encased in concrete, at depths of 70 to 90 metres, requires highly advanced technology for the transportation of the explosives, diving to install the explosives and detonation. To do so undetected, in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden, adds greatly to the complexity of the operation. As a number of senior officials have publicly confirmed, an action of this sort must have been carried out by a State-level actor. Only a handful of State-level actors have both the technical capacity and access to the Baltic Sea to have carried out this action. Those include the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Norway, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, either individually or in some combination. Ukraine lacks the necessary technologies, as well as access to the Baltic Sea.

A recent report by The Washington Post revealed that the intelligence agencies of the NATO countries have privately concluded that there is no evidence whatsoever that Russia carried out this action. That also comports with the fact that Russia had no obvious motive to carry out this act of terrorism on its own critical infrastructure. Indeed, Russia is likely to bear considerable expenses to repair the pipelines. Three countries have reportedly carried out investigations of the Nord Stream terrorism, namely, Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Those countries presumably know much about the circumstances of the terrorist attack. Sweden in particular has perhaps the most to tell the world about the crime scene, which its divers investigated. Yet instead of sharing that information globally, Sweden has kept the results of its investigation secret from the rest of the world. Sweden has refused to share its findings with Russia and has turned down a joint investigation with Denmark and Germany.

There is only one detailed account to date of the Nord Stream destruction, the one recently put forward by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, ostensibly based on information leaked to Hersh by an unnamed source. Hersh attributes the Nord Stream destruction to a decision ordered by United States President Joe Biden and carried out by United States agents in a covert operation that Hersh describes in detail. The White House has described Hersh's account as "completely and utterly false," but did not offer any information contradicting Hersh's account and did not offer any alternative explanation. Senior United States officials made statements before and after the Nord Stream destruction that showed the United States animus towards the pipelines. On 27 January 2022, Under-Secretary of State Victoria Nuland tweeted, "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward." On 7 February, President Biden said, "If Russia invades ... again, then there will be no longer Nord Stream 2; we will bring an end to it." When asked by the reporter how he would do that, he responded, "I promise you we will be able to do it."

On 30 September 2022, immediately following the terrorist attack on the pipeline, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that the destruction of the pipeline is "also a tremendous opportunity; it's a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy and thus to take away from Vladimir Putin the weaponization of energy as a means of advancing his imperial designs." On 28 January 2023, Under-Secretary Nuland declared, in testimony to Senator Ted Cruz in the United States Senate, "I am, and I think the Administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea."

Such language is not at all appropriate in the face of international terrorism.

The truth is not yet known by the world, but it is knowable.

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Let the Monroe Doctrine Die

FP: Influence ops. Analysts at Facebook-owner Meta revealed this week that a digital marketing company in Miami called Predictvia was responsible for a number of covert online political influence operations in Latin America over the last year. The company, which claims to be fighting misinformation, allegedly ran dozens of social media accounts that falsely posed as media outlets, journalists, and other brands. Their purpose: to critique domestic politics in Guatemala and Honduras, specifically targeting Guatemala City Mayor Juan Carlos Pellecer and Honduras National Congress President Luis Redondo. It's still unclear who hired Predictvia or how successful its misinformation campaigns were. But U.S.-based actors have a long, sordid history of meddling in Latin American politics since the establishment of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, with the Trump administration even saying that policy was still "alive and well" just four years ago.

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No one is surprised. And no one will be – and should be – surprised to hear that, unfortunately.

Lavrov Accuses U.S., its Allies of Plotting to 'Throw Russia out of Armenia' – Asbarez.com

Asbarez Staff: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States and its Western allies of plotting to pressure Yerevan into "throwing Russia out of Armenia." He told the Russian Tsargard television channel in an interview that Moscow has intelligence suggesting that the West is pressuring Armenia to end Russia's military presence in Armenia and rely on the U.S. for its defense. Based on a long-term treaty signed between Russia and Armenia soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian military is guarding Armenia's border with Turkey. That agreement was recently extended well into the 2020s. Since the 2020 war, Russian border guards have also been stationed in positions in Armenia's southern border in the Syunik Province to regulate the border with Azerbaijan.

"We have information that they [the U.S. and its allies] are signaling to the Armenians, 'Come to us, kick the Russians out of your territory, remove the [Russian] military base and border guards too, the Americans will help to ensure your security," Lavrov told Tsargrad in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. Lavrov's statement on Wednesday was by far the strongest accusation of the West by the Russian foreign ministry, which has condemned the U.S. and the European Union of allegedly hijacking the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, as well as undermining agreements brokered by Moscow during and after the 44-Day war.

During the Tsargrad interview, Lavrov condemned the West calling its policies "blatant provocation." In the 32 years since Armenia’s independence and the settlement processes of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the U.S. and the West have stepped up their interest and cooperation with Armenia and its current government. European Council President Charles Michel hosted talks between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan on Sunday in Brussels, days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, near Washington for four days of meetings. Lavrov's remarks come days before Mirzoyan and Bayramov are scheduled to meet in Moscow on Friday, which is rescheduling of a planned meeting in December, which was canceled at Yerevan’s request due to Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that Mirzoyan and Bayramov will meet with Lavrov on Friday in Moscow, saying that talks will move forward as planned.

Relations between Yerevan and Moscow have become strained significantly, stemming from Armenia's claims that Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization did not properly react to Yerevan's appeal for assistance after Azerbaijani forces breached Armenia's sovereign borders for a third time since 2021. The CSTO and Moscow have countered and insisted that a monitoring mission by the Russia-led security bloc is on stand by and awaiting the green light from Yerevan, which requested and welcomed the deployment of a 100-person European Union mission along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan in February. During the Tsargrad interview on Wednesday, Russia accused Yerevan of refusing the CSTO mission, the parameters of which were agreed to during the bloc's annual summit in Yerevan in November. "If Yerevan had confirmed what had already been agreed [by CSTO member states] … I am convinced that Armenia would have benefited and gotten a more stable situation," Lavrov said. Pashinyan and his government insist that they are dissatisfied with the CSTO's failure to properly characterize and condemn the Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia and has cited this as the reason for a delay in the deployment of the CSTO mission.

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Wall Street Has Been Financing CCP Expansion

Join Wayne, Hutch and JR as they interview Nicole Tsai of the New Federal State of China who exposes the CCP and wants China to be free of the communist element.

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World War-3: How US-Led Alliances, QUAD, CHIP-4 & AUKUS, Are Sowing The Seeds Of Another Global Conflict

Gp Cpt TP Srivastava (Retd): The US is the only nation to have used weapons of mass destruction. Japanese opposition to the nuclear option is understandable, being the only country to have suffered destruction from a nuclear weapon. The Indo-Pacific term has become the most talked about strategic issue. Geography enables India to not only protect its interest in the Indian Ocean but also control the traffic through the most critical waterway on the globe. A threat, if any, will develop from ports in Pakistan. India and China can resolve their differences amicably shortly because mutual animosity will be detrimental to both nations. The Galwan Valley standoff must be viewed as a blessing in disguise. It enabled India to flex its muscles to protect its territorial integrity. China has received the message. China and India must reconcile their differences from a position of strength. Any attempt to prove precedence over each other will be counterproductive. India must remain clear of 'white skin' (read US and EU) intent to corner China by placing India in front as a QUAD member. Unlike the First and Second World Wars, which were essentially fought for regional/global supremacy by ‘White Skins,’ the Third World War might be fought based on maintaining the supremacy of color of skin. The formation of AUKUS and the supply of nuclear submarines by the USA to Australia are among the most terrible strategic decisions – it has also sown the seeds of the Third World War. The Russia-Ukraine war has now turned into Russia vs. NATO and the USA. The G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Delhi on March 3 and 4 was significant for multiple reasons. US Secretary of state Anthony Blinken declared that there would be consequences if China supported Russia militarily. China invariably reacts adversely to such counseling (read warning/threat), as it did when the USA gave China the nuke threat during the Korean war. World is slowly but surely heading towards a possible global conflict.

Global Flashpoints

Russia-Ukraine standoff: Russia-USA and NATO standoff is the most explosive issue currently. Russia has already announced the use of nukes if military support to Ukraine by USA-led NATO nations continues. The final nail in the coffin will be Ukraine's admission into the NATO fold. Despite the verbal assurance of the USA that NATO will not move eastward, membership of Finland and Sweden is under active consideration but for the objection of Turkey and Hungary.

Iran-Israel conflict over Iran's nuclear capability: Fresh discussions on reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are underway. Irrespective of the outcome, Israel will no longer wait and take appropriate action to prevent Iran from producing weapon-grade Uranium. Iran will retaliate, resulting in US assistance to Israel, thus expanding the spectrum of war.

Chinese threat to Taiwan: Repeated incursion in Taiwanese territory by large formations of PLAAF fighters/bombers is not only for the show of force but also for collecting Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) for a possible strike. Taiwan Air Force strike elements are spread over four bases. An airborne assault by China to neutralize these four air bases cannot be ruled out in conjunction with an amphibious assault on western shores.

Belligerent attitude of North Korea: Continuous testing of various SSMs (incl ICBM class) is a concern. North Korea is poised to carry out the seventh nuclear test anytime. China continues to support North Korea.

Russian and US military presence in the Middle East: The Middle East is still burning. US forces are still in Syria. Evacuation from Afghanistan and Iraq was due to public pressure within the USA.