NORD STREAM PIPELINE EXPLOSIONS – Former CIA analyst supports Seymour Hersh’s story
A former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst has expressed his support for U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh’s report alleging that the Nord Stream blasts were carried out by divers from the U.S. Navy.
Last month, a revelatory report by Hersh, a Pulitzer prize-winning American journalist, claimed that U.S. divers installed explosives under the Nord Stream pipelines during last summers’ NATO BALTOPS (Baltic Operations) military exercise before detonating them in late September.
Raymond McGovern, a former CIA analyst, supported Hersh’s account when addressing an UN Security Council meeting on the Nord Stream pipeline incidents held on Feb. 21, where Russia requested a UN-led inquiry into the explosions.
McGovern said on Tuesday that given Hersh’s expertise in deep investigative reporting and the protection of his sources, his articles are more credible than anyone trying to smear him.
McGovern, said, that “One has to look at his record, he has revealed many, many stories and been criticized for it. And then a few months later, it turns out the government had to go like ‘oh, yes, Mr.Hersh had that correct.’ So, he also has an unblemished record for protecting his sources.
Seymour Hersh, for his part, has been very, very careful not to give any information that would reveal the source.”.
McGovern said both U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price and White House spokesmen have said the report was fake news, but they did not provide any evidence to counter it.
Speaking at the UN meeting via video link at the UN Security Council meeting, professor Jeffery Sachs of Columbia University said that given the high degree of planning and technological capacity required in the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, only state-level actors could carry out this action.
McGovern said the U.S. move is suspicious as it seems so reluctant to open up to the prospect of an independent UN probe into the blasts.
