Comment:
1) Link to the Tweet by Donald Tusk:
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Donald Tusk's reaction to the speculations of Polish involvement is interesting, he could have kept quiet, but instead Prime Minister Tusk addresses the issue of the elephant in the room, by trying to close the door on it.

Imagine an interview:
Prime Minister Tusk, in a recent Tweet you wrote that "To all the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2," ... "The only thing you should do today about it is apologise and keep quiet." Could you name a few other cases where you would give the same advice? [Scandals in Poland and the EU?]

Prime Minister, you refer to the "initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2". Who are they in your opinion, and if they asked for your advice, to whom do you suggest they apologize?

Comment to possible questions: If the initiators and patrons refer to the Germans and Russians who build it, Tusk apparently wants them to suck it up and apologize to Poland, America, Ukraine and others. If he by initiators and patrons mean those who planned and sponsored the sabotage, the question is why he condones destruction of infrastructure in international waters, worth billions.

2) The recent or renewed allegation that Poland had been involved was published in this article: Poland probably involved in Nord Stream blasts - ex-German spymaster If one wishes to be critical about the source of the claim that Poland might be involved, one could say that August Hanning has been retired from service for almost 15 years, but he might have connections. From one page there is:

From 1986 to 1990, Hanning was a secret protection officer at the West German Permanent Mission in East Germany. In this role, he was also responsible for exchanging prisoners for cash. In 1990 he moved back to the Federal Chancellery, where he became a close employee of the intelligence leader Bernd Schmidbauer. In 1996 he was appointed department head.

On December 17, 1998, he succeeded Hansjörg Geiger as President of the Federal Intelligence Service. During his tenure, the decision was made to move the BND from its traditional headquarters at Pullach to Berlin. Hanning was of the opinion that the secret service should also be locally close to the government, and commissioned a huge and conspicuous new headquarters in central Berlin.

On December 1, 2005, Hanning was appointed State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, with responsibility for police matters, internal security, migration, integration, refugees, European harmonization, crisis management and other things. He was pensioned on November 10, 2009. His successor was Klaus-Dieter Fritsche.

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

In December 2002, Hanning wrote to the head of the CIA, George Tenet, telling that the informant Curveball's information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could not be confirmed.^[1] Nevertheless, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented this uncertain source to the UN Security Council in February 2003 as the rationale for the Iraq war.

It is almost a certainty that people like August Hanning know that little goes on in Europe which the US does not have a finger in or is informed about. They also know that the Nord Stream sabotage was an operation on the level of the military, and that the countries including Germany work together. Someone in Germany very likely knew the sabotage was coming, but August Hanning does not go that far.

3) In the comments to the Tweet by Polish PM Donald Tusk, there was this video with clips of how the Nord Stream sabotage was spun in the early days to be the work of Russia. For many who did not follow the news later, that may still be the impression. Perhaps this aspect of the Nord Stream sabotage is worth recalling now that the West and Ukraine are working for creating some kind of radiological weapon/dirty nuke hoping they can stick it to Russia.

Comment: Gabbard advising is a stroke of genius. The rest of the 'proposed team' will have to prove their loyalty, alignment and usefulness to avoid repeating the pitfalls of Trump's former presidency.

Comment: Warnings mean nothing to Israel. WARnings, however, are an entirely different story.

Israeli ministers who incite "war crimes" should face EU sanctions, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said.

Borrell blasted two cabinet members - National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich - in social media posts on Sunday. He urged the government to "unequivocally distance itself" from remarks made by the two regarding the military operation in Gaza.

Earlier in the day, Ben-Gvir criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for considering a US-endorsed ceasefire and urged increased pressure on the militant group Hamas, as well as the rest of the Palestinian population of the besieged enclave:

"If we cut off their fuel, within a week they would be on their knees. And if we stop the [aid] trucks, within two weeks they would be on their knees. So why are we going to do a deal, especially such an irresponsible deal?"

Smotrich previously claimed that starving 2 million Palestinians is morally justified and lamented Israel's need for international legitimacy to conduct its war in Gaza:

"No one in the world would let us starve the Palestinians. You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other."

In a post on social media, Borrell urged the Israeli government "to unequivocally distance itself from these incitements to commit war crimes," and to engage in ceasefire negotiations mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk reacted to Smotrich's remarks by saying:

"The starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime. This direct and public statement risks inciting other atrocity crimes. Such statements, especially by public officials, must cease immediately, they must be investigated and if found to amount to a crime, must be prosecuted and punished."

Washington has been urging Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal. In his public remarks, Smotrich "essentially suggests that the war ought to go on indefinitely without pause," White House National Security Adviser John Kirby said last week.

Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir represent the right-wing of Netanyahu's coalition government.

As war becomes the way of life, the way of life becomes a war.

Comment: According to Higgins, any further discernments regarding this aspect of the case are literally up in smoke.

Comment: Simes subjected to FBI home search and government intimidation:

The FBI has executed a search warrant at the home of Russian-born US political pundit and author Dimitri Simes, who has been a vocal critic of the administration of President Joe Biden.

The search took place on Tuesday on the property located in Rappahannock County, according to a local news outlet.

The author's son, Dimitri Simes Jr., described it as "a bandit-like intimidation attempt" by the US government in a statement released on X (formerly Twitter).

In an email on Wednesday night, FBI spokesperson Samantha Shero declined to comment on the raid, except to confirm that it had been authorized by a court, Rappahannock News has reported.

A former aide to Richard Nixon, Simes is a naturalized US citizen who immigrated to the country in 1973. He was described by US media as providing "a sympathetic platform for the Russian government in the heart of the DC policy establishment," after Senator Rand Paul named him as a foreign policy adviser in 2014.

In 1999, he published a book on Russia's search for a new place in the world following the collapse of the USSR.

See also: The FBI 'visits' Scott Ritter

Comment:
1) Gunnar Beck comments on the news that was discussed in this article:
Ukraine preparing 'dirty nuke' attack - media

2) In 2022, there was:

• Russian Defense Minister speaks to British counterpart about Ukraine's possible provocations with dirty bomb (Oct 2022)
• Scott Ritter: Russia's 'dirty bomb' scare (Oct 2022)

In the span of a few hours on Sunday, the senior-most Russian defense authorities — Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and General Gennady Gerasimov — called their counterparts in the U.S., U.K., France, and Turkey, with the same message — Ukraine is preparing to detonate a so-called "dirty bomb" — high explosive-wrapped radiological material, designed to contaminate large areas with deadly radioactive isotopes.

Russia is not only concerned about the immediate impact of Ukraine detonating such a devise in terms of the harm that would be done to people and the environment, but also about the potential for such an event to be used by Ukraine's western allies to directly intervene militarily in the ongoing conflict, similar to what occurred in Syria when allegations about the use of Sarin nerve agent by the Syrian government against civilians were used by the U.S., U.K., and France to justify an attack on Syrian military and infrastructure targets. (It turned out that the allegations of Sarin use were false; the jury is still out about the use of commercial chlorine as a weapon.)

Russia is to raise the matter at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

In return, Western governments on Monday accused Russia of plans to deploy a dirty bomb. "We've been very clear with the Russians ... about the severe consequences that would result from nuclear use," said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. "There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb."

The above assessment is probably valid also now. In order for some of the more war eager Western Governments to justify to their populations official military presence in Ukraine and the subsequent losses, they need a justification that they can sell.

3) For two years Ukraine has shelled the nuclear powerplant in Zaporozhye from time to time. On the webpage of the International Atomic Energy Agency led by Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, there are many updates and press releases about Ukraine, see this search. The following example is from the latest press release: Update 245 - IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

The nuclear safety situation at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is deteriorating following a drone strike that hit the road around the plant site perimeter today, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

"Yet again we see an escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. I remain extremely concerned and reiterate my call for maximum restraint from all sides and for strict observance of the five concrete principles established for the protection of the plant," said Director General Grossi.

Earlier today, the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) team was informed by ZNPP that an explosive carried by a drone detonated just outside of the plant's protected area. The impact site was close to the essential cooling water sprinkler ponds and about 100 metres from the Dniprovska power line, the only remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) line providing a power supply to ZNPP.

Where that drone came from is an unknown, as always. One can blame the IAEA, but considering that many press releases, it has also not been much of a topic in the media of the Western supporters, there has been hardly any interest, which of course makes the scare effect so much better if Ukraine and allies eventually pulls it off in a substantial way. Recall MH17, and the Nord Stream sabotage, the conclusion is given beforehand, even if they pulled it back a bit on the Nord Stream sabotage after a few days.

Below are a few headlines related to Ukraine, IAEA, and dirty bombs. Together they give a perspective where the current story is coming from and what the potential is:

• NATO and its Kiev proxy in last roll of the dice (Aug 2024)
• Kiev's attack on nuclear plant designed to cause fire - director (Aug 2024)
• UN shown 'drone evidence' of Ukrainian attack on Europe's largest nuclear plant (Jul 2024)
• Fire breaks out at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant amid Ukraine-Russia conflict (May 2024)
• Field report: Accusations against Russia about ZNPP attacks are unfounded lies (May 2024)
• IAEA boss: No Russian heavy weapons at Zaporozhye plant (Apr 2024)
• Nuclear power: Ukraine is using this simple trick to hurt the EU (Apr 2024)
• Desperados... NATO cranks up false-flag mode (Apr 2024)
• UN finishes inspection of Ukrainian nuclear sites (Nov 2023)
• Uranium particles from Ukraine detected in Europe raising health issues (Nov 2023)
• Ukraine's nuclear admission a 'wake-up call' to the world - Moscow (Oct 2023)
• IAEA sees no problem with depleted uranium weaponry - Grossi (Sep 2023)
• IAEA debunks Ukrainian claim about Europe's largest nuclear plant (Jun 2023)
• The British gift that keeps on giving - uranium irradiated wind and rain for Poland, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and London too (May 2023)
• The Times reveals failed Ukrainian attack on Zaporozhye nuclear plant (Apr 2023)
• UK's depleted uranium plan threatens all of Europe - Moscow (Mar 2023)
• Running out of weapons? Russia pounds Ukraine with barrage of rare hypersonic missile (Mar 2023)
• Nuclear Ukraine? Amid 'concerns' over alleged Russian threat, the world overlooks the real danger (Jan 2023)
• Inspectors to look for evidence of dirty bomb production in Ukraine this week, IAEA says (Oct 2022)
• UN team issues report on shelled nuclear site (Sep 2022)
• IAEA sides with Ukraine on nuclear power plant: Is UN Secretary-General Guterres a liar or a fool? (Sep 2022)
• Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant faces 'precarious' threat as shelling cuts power, UN warns (Sep 2022)
• It appears that Ukraine planned to use UN-appointed international nuclear experts as a tool for blackmail. The scheme failed. (Sep 2022)
• Zelensky aide says UN nuclear watchdog should be mistrusted 'by default' (Sep 2022)
• IAEA mission leaves Zaporozhye nuclear plant (Sep 2022)
• Kremlin reveals details of latest Ukrainian assault near Zaporozhye nuclear plant (Sep 2022)
• IAEA chief Rafael Grossi: Physical integrity of Zaporozhye nuclear plant 'violated several times' (Sep 2022)
• Pentagon admits 'likelihood' of Ukrainian shelling near nuclear plant (Aug 2022)
• Lavrov meets UN nuclear watchdog boss amid Ukraine crisis (Mar 2022)
• Russia's military options: Is US trying to reignite a dirty war in Ukraine? (Nov 2021)
• Flashback America's dirty little secret in Ukraine is 70 years of Nazi collaboration and support (Mar 2014)

Comment: Germany sends weapons and money to Ukraine which Ukraine then uses to lose more territory and people. That is neither a win-win, or a zero-sum game as far as Germany and Ukraine are concerned. Are the Ukrainian and German Governments both waging wars against their own people?

Comment: See also:

• Russia vows harsh response if Ukraine attacks Kursk nuclear plant
• Ukrainian drone attack on Zaporozhye nuclear plant causes fire, Russia puts it into cold shutdown

There are few barriers in this conflict, laboratories studying pathogens that can be used in bioweapons, sabotage of nuclear facilities, depleted uranium weapons, or chemical weapons:

• Moscow reveals origin of chemical weapons used in Kursk
• Ukraine violated Chemical Weapons Convention - Russian MOD

Comment: One might consider nuclear-armed Israel to be a greater threat - then again, finding a real difference in policy, and diplomacy, between Israel, the US, and the UK, these days is rather difficult. Perhaps Israel seems to be less of a nuclear liability because, given its size and the proximity to those it would use it against, it's simply less feasible; and not that it's leadership are sound of mind.

That said, whilst both Israel, the US, and the West more generally, pose the greatest threat life on the planet, it seems that, given how many nuclear armed nations there are now, and the inevitable retaliation the armed multinodal powers would unleash, it seems unlikely that an attack, akin what Japan suffered, will occur anytime soon:

• US Marines training for war with China on an island-hopping battlefield, report says
• US 'might' lose in a war against China, new congressional commission report finds, lacks both capability and capacity
• China calls US a 'direct threat' to the world