The report that appeared in the June 13 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that CIA Director William Burns was aware early on that Russia was off the list of suspects for who committed the Nord Stream bombing, while U.S. officials continued to blame Russia, was covered June 14 by RT., with additional points. RT reports that in October, 2022, Burns told the head of a European country’s intelligence – “a European counterpart” to Burns – that “available evidence didn’t point to Russia.” RT cited US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s claim to the BBC at the time, that “it seems” as though Moscow was to blame, a typical case of Washington’s careless disregard when it comes to their default position — when in doubt, blame Russia.
Otherwise, the WSJ coverage was similar to two stories published the day before by Dutch outlet NOS and Germany’s Die Zeit. The common narrative is that Ukraine planned to bomb the pipelines, but the Dutch intelligence operatives warned their U.S. counterparts, who were able to at least temporarily restrain Kiev. All of this is by way of implying that an out-of-control faction in Ukraine later went ahead with the operation.
These many intelligence leaks and claims, and the narrative they attempt to rebut, amount to a soap opera series in contrast to Seymour Hersh’s careful accounting of how US intelligence officials carried out the sabotage. A real investigation is required.
