Seymour Hersh is a serial fabricator and his story is utter bunk.
One, the supposed Norwegian minesweeper was never anywhere close to that location in the time window Hersh claims. Tracking data is available through open sources.
Two, his supposed sonar triggering device is novel, the stuff of science fiction, and is supposed to have been used without ever being tested first, which would be a first in the history of triggering devices.
Three, Section 50 operations are still briefed to Congress no matter what. As many enemies as Joe Biden has in Congress right now, even in the Gang of 8, the fact that not one Republican has called for hearings should be all the proof you need that Hersh is full of beans.
What Hersh proposes is that a massive, four-country, multiagency conspiracy, using novel technologies, was carried out in perfect secrecy, leaving no traces anywhere, yet somehow leaving the scene at the bottom of the Baltic looking exactly like the result of internal pipeline explosions. Hersh has forgotten to complete his fairy tale with the part where the craters and steel shards were carefully arranged, like Satan burying the dinosaur bones to confuse us.
Contrary to the Occam-defying ravings of Seymour Hersh, layered as they are in needless complexity to fluff out his fabrication, here is my theory:
Russia put bombs in pipeline pigs, set the timers on the bombs, and sent them down the pipeline to explode.
There. That's it. A tiny conspiracy, one that took place at the Russian end of the pipeline, using available technologies and materials to do the deed. No loose ends.
Of course, this scenario is unsatisfying to some. They need America to be responsible, because reasons. They need Vlaidimir Putin to be innocent, because reasons. What they cannot offer is the first shred of actual evidence that this Tom Clancy scifi fantasy short story has the least factual foundation. Hersh made his reputation by talking to soldiers, now he cannot quote a single sailor to verify his claims? I call horse puckey, and anyone who gives Hersh credibility diminishes their own.
Seymour Hersh is a serial fabricator and his story is utter bunk.
One, the supposed Norwegian minesweeper was never anywhere close to that location in the time window Hersh claims. Tracking data is available through open sources.
Two, his supposed sonar triggering device is novel, the stuff of science fiction, and is supposed to have been used without ever being tested first, which would be a first in the history of triggering devices.
Three, Section 50 operations are still briefed to Congress no matter what. As many enemies as Joe Biden has in Congress right now, even in the Gang of 8, the fact that not one Republican has called for hearings should be all the proof you need that Hersh is full of beans.
What Hersh proposes is that a massive, four-country, multiagency conspiracy, using novel technologies, was carried out in perfect secrecy, leaving no traces anywhere, yet somehow leaving the scene at the bottom of the Baltic looking exactly like the result of internal pipeline explosions. Hersh has forgotten to complete his fairy tale with the part where the craters and steel shards were carefully arranged, like Satan burying the dinosaur bones to confuse us.
Contrary to the Occam-defying ravings of Seymour Hersh, layered as they are in needless complexity to fluff out his fabrication, here is my theory:
Russia put bombs in pipeline pigs, set the timers on the bombs, and sent them down the pipeline to explode.
There. That's it. A tiny conspiracy, one that took place at the Russian end of the pipeline, using available technologies and materials to do the deed. No loose ends.
Of course, this scenario is unsatisfying to some. They need America to be responsible, because reasons. They need Vlaidimir Putin to be innocent, because reasons. What they cannot offer is the first shred of actual evidence that this Tom Clancy scifi fantasy short story has the least factual foundation. Hersh made his reputation by talking to soldiers, now he cannot quote a single sailor to verify his claims? I call horse puckey, and anyone who gives Hersh credibility diminishes their own.