 One year ago, Russian tanks entered Ukraine and set up a war that has lasted longer than anyone expected. The global mainstream media has made Russia's invasion of Ukraine look like Putin's mad plan for world domination, almost as if his Hitler reborn. Putin has responded by saying the war is an act of self-defense. The West, while NATO was planning to place missiles inside Ukraine, which could hit Moscow within minutes, Russia was only stopping that from happening. Now, one can understand why Putin would be interested in Ukraine. It is right next door and he wouldn't want US missiles sitting there. But what about the US? Why was it so interested in arming a country so far away from its borders? The answer to that lies here in Berlin, where over the past decade, Angela Merkel led Germany to emerge as the dominant player in the EU and a potential challenger to American hegemony in Europe. The bigger problem for the US, however, was Merkel's friendship with Russia's Putin. And that had all to do with this pipeline called Nord Stream 2. Now, Germany is bitterly cold in winter and it needs natural gas to heat its homes and offices. And Germany has been buying Russian gas for a very long time, beginning in 1917. Even though West Germany, remember, Germany was not unified at that time. West Germany was in the opposite camp of the Soviet Union, which Russia was the dominant partner. Since then, Russia's increased its gas supplies to Germany and to other European countries. By 2021, 45% of Germany's and 40% of Europe's gas was coming from Russia. The gas runs through a pipeline, Nord Stream, that goes through Ukraine, for which the Ukrainian government has been getting a fee. Russia was planning another pipeline to Germany, Nord Stream 2, running parallel to the old one, but bypassing Ukraine altogether. Once completed, Russian gas exports to Europe would have doubled, cutting out all other global suppliers. Understandably, the US didn't like this. I think it's a horrible thing that Germany's done. It's a horrible thing that you have a pipeline coming from Russia. Part of the reason for US's anger stemmed from its old Cold War hangover when Russia was its big enemy. And the US doesn't want Russia to have any significant influence in Europe. But the bigger reason was that US energy companies wanted the lion's share of the European natural gas pocket. Russia was undercutting that by selling cheap gas. Isn't the truth that America would like to have that kind of influence by selling liquefied natural gas to Europe? Look, the fact is that the Americans try to sell everything to everybody all of the time. That's capitalism. That is why ever since Joe Biden won the presidential elections, the US has upped the ante in Ukraine. And even before Russia began the war, President Biden had made his aggressive intentions about the new gas pipeline clear to the entire world. If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream too. We will bring an end to it. And when Putin attacked Ukraine, the German government had no option but to side with NATO and back sanctions on Russia. Putin initially responded by shutting off gas supplies to Germany and later underwater explosions damaged both the gas pipelines causing gas to leak out onto the surface of the ocean. NATO countries blamed Russia for sabotaging the pipelines and weaponizing energy supplies. Understandably, Putin denied this and his denial seems reasonable because if Russia wanted to stop gas supplies, all it needed to do was to turn the tap off. Why would it blow up the pipeline? But as Russian gas supplies dropped, Germany turned to the US, but this came at a massive cost. Energy prices shot up across Europe, causing people to protest against the electricity bills. While the German people and others in Europe paid for the standoff over Russian gas, American energy companies made a record profit. This has led to a rise of anti-Americanism across Europe, especially Germany, since the autumn of 2022. And since then, both the right and left have attacked the German government from two opposite sides for giving into US pressure at the expense of ordinary Germans. And then came the bombshell. Seymour Hersh, the legendary journalist who exposed the Mai Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, has now revealed that the Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed in a joint covert operation by the United States and Norway. Obviously, the US has denied Hersh's allegations. What is interesting is the German government's reaction. When an MP in parliament asked the government to give all details on what it knows about the pipeline explosions, she was told that the federal government had come to the conclusion after careful consideration that further information for reasons of state welfare cannot be given. The German government's capitulation to American interests will only strengthen the opposition forces, especially given the terrible shape of the German economy. This is a dangerous situation for Europe, which could turn into a powder keg, waiting to explode. It brings back memories of the dark times of the 1930s when an economic crisis in Germany had ultimately pushed Europe into the mother of all wars that engulfed the entire world. Tell us what you think is likely to happen from here. Will Germany stand up to America or will Putin lose the war before that? Do leave your comments on this video and if you've liked it, show your love by clicking on the like button. 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