The pacifist, “benign,” German democratic state is in fact the world’s leading funder of terrorism. Why?
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed, hundreds of thousands kidnapped and taken to Russia, and an estimated ten million made homeless. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars of Ukrainian property has been destroyed, billions of people around the world are being threatened with famine, and trillions of dollars of wealth has been wiped off the world’s stock exchanges, destroying the savings of countless millions of people.
Believe it or not, this havoc is all being funded by Germany! How is this possible?
Through its natural gas purchases, Germany is currently funding Russia at a rate of $160 million per day, or $58 billion per year, a sum almost equal to the aggressor’s entire $64 billion annual military budget. Germany is not only funding Russia’s war on Ukraine, but all its military expenditure, including the forces it maintains to menace the Baltic States, those it is using to commit genocide in Syria, and its escalating nuclear weapon and hypersonic missile programs with which it is currently threatening the world.
Osama Bin Laden funded the 9/11 attack, and he and similar wealthy fanatics funded the Taliban, Boko Haram, ISIS, and other Islamist terrorist groups. But none of the crimes these groups committed remotely compares with the devastation German cash is supporting in Ukraine, not to mention the threat of global thermonuclear destruction it is financing as well.
To put the matter simply, inadvertently or not, Germany today is by far the world’s leading funder of terrorism.
To justify the slaughter he is committing in Ukraine, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claims he is doing it to fight Nazism and prevent genocide. These are point blank lies. But at least they show his awareness that the death and destruction he is causing requires substantial justification. In contrast, Germany’s leaders feel no such need. According to them, funding unlimited massacre of Ukrainians is perfectly acceptable if that’s what it takes to get good deal on natural gas.
Lame excuses
While clearly morally obtuse, the German excuse is also almost as dishonest as Putin’s. Germany does not actually need Russian gas. Since Russia began its war on Ukraine in 2014, Germany has shut down 20 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power. That is almost twice as much as the 11 GW of power that Germany generates from all gas, not just the 40 percent of its supply that it receives from Russia.
Germany claims that it is doing this for environmental reasons. However, as a result of this shut down, Germans now contribute six times as much CO2 to the atmosphere for each kilowatt hour of electricity they use as do the citizens of nuclear-powered France. Furthermore, the justification offered for the shutdown was a fear that the tsunami-caused nuclear accident at Fukushima might be repeated. This is clearly nonsensical, as not a single one of the 28,000 deaths caused by the Fukushima tsunami was due to radiation, and tsunamis do not occur in Germany in any case. Rather, what was actually involved was a decision by the German leadership to finance the Putin regime.
India and China factors
The pro-Putin basis of Germany’s energy policy is also demonstrated by the example of India. India is defying sanctions by buying oil from Russia. However, taking advantage of Russia’s difficulties, it has insisted on and received a 20 percent discount against the world oil price.
(Note to President Xi: Why is China paying full price for Russian oil? I know you like Putin, but business is business. It is unsound business practice to pay full price when you can get a substantial discount. By paying full price for Russian oil, you are wasting money and damaging China’s reputation as a smart business organization. You should immediately demand a 20 percent discount to match India’s. That will allow India to demand a deeper discount, which you should also match. Eventually you should be able to get the sales price down to $40 per barrel. That’s all the Russians need to get to justify production. Why pay more for oil that no one else will buy? If Putin objects to you exploiting your leverage in this way, just say to him “You must do your duty, my beauty.” This is a Russian expression that he will understand.)
Germany is in a much stronger position to demand a discount on its Russia gas than India is for oil. Oil is fungible and can easily be shipped anywhere in the world by tanker. Pipeline gas, on the other hand, must go where the pipeline goes, or incur very large costs for cryogenic liquefaction, storage, and shipping. Being on the receiving end of the pipeline, Germany is in a position to dictate the price. It could readily demand a 50 percent discount off the current world price. Or, if it doesn’t want to look like a bandit nation (Sorry, Mr. Xi), it could pay full price but send half or more of the total revenue to Ukraine, to pay for its defense and reconstruction.
Such alternatives have been suggested to Germany, but it has diligently resisted them. Not only that, but the parties in Germany’s current governing coalition, including especially its supposedly anti-Kremlin Green Party, have not only demanded the shutdown of Germany’s nuclear power industry, but energetically supported a Kremlin-backed campaign to prevent development of Europe’s (including Germany’s) large oil shale resources, which could otherwise make the continent free of any need for Russian oil or gas.
Germany is pushing for a phase out of EU oil purchases. That is of limited value, however, due to the fungible nature of oil. The EU could readily phase out Russian oil by buying it from the Middle East. Russian oil could then be sold to Asian customers who would otherwise have bought from the Middle East. Until and unless China decides to exploit this situation properly, this won’t hurt Russia that much.
How to really weaken the Russian terrorist state – gas as lever and weapon
Gas, however, is another matter. By refusing to buy Russian gas, or squeezing Putin on its price, Germany could take away the principle financial prop of Russia’s war effort. But the Germans refuse to do so. Instead, they are supporting acts of war and genocide against Ukraine. They are also threatening the peace and security of not only nearby NATO nations like Poland, Romania, and the Baltic States, which will have Russian troops on their borders should Ukraine fall, but by financing Russia’s strategic weapons buildup, endangering the entire world.
Fortunately, there is a simple remedy for this situation. The pipelines transporting Russian gas to Germany can be shut down. Those going through Ukraine and Poland can simply be closed. The Germans know this, which is why, together with the Kremlin leadership, they arranged for the construction of the Nord Stream (aka Molotov-Ribbentrop) pipelines. These pipelines go directly, via the Baltic, from Russia to Ukraine, making them inaccessible to control by Poland or Ukraine. Consequently, in order to block their use as avenues for German support of Russian war crimes, they need to be disabled.
Impairing the operation of the Nord Stream pipelines through technical means would not be difficult. The pipelines are in shallow water, readily within reach of qualified SCUBA divers. A few well-placed demolition charges would make them inoperable for some time to come. Two divers, a carload of explosives, and a one-day boat rental would probably suffice to support the necessary work.
Should Russia remain an aggressor nation, and Germany remain disposed towards funding it, such operations could be repeated as required. On the other hand, should Russia become a free and peaceful nation interested in devoting its talent and resources to the advancement of humanity, damaged sections of the pipelines could readily be repaired or replaced.
Putin has been using the threat of reducing pipeline gas shipment as a way of pressuring European governments to do his bidding. In addition to cutting off the funding of the invasion, disabling the pipelines would offer the benefit of taking this threat out of Putin’s hands. If it is to remain free, Europe must be cured of its addiction to Russian gas. Tough love is required.
The cost of the undersea portion of both Nord Stream pipelines is about $10 billion. If they were totally destroyed, the financial loss would be about the same as that Ukraine has experienced per day since the invasion began. If Germany should be upset about the harm to its property involved in disabling the pipelines, it should feel free to deduct the amount involved from the several hundred billion dollars in damages it rightfully owes Ukraine for its role in financing (and preventing any effective deterrent to) the invasion.
But it is not just matters of money that argue for action to disable the pipelines. On average, about 1,000 people have been killed in Ukraine every day since the invasion began.
Unlike damaged sections of pipeline, they cannot be brought back to life.
Dr. Robert Zubrin @robert_zubrin is an American aerospace engineer. His latest book, The Case for Space, was recently published by Prometheus books.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s and not necessarily those of the Kyiv Post.
