From Newsgroup: alt.security
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20241226-finland-probes-russia-linked-tanker-sabotage-undersea-cable
. . .
That's THREE in the past month.
Sorry, NOT accidents - not at all.
The latest was a huge power cable running from
Finland to Estonia. The other two were high-
bandwidth net connections.
THIS time a re-flagged, but decidedly Russian,
trawler was pinpointed immediately.
All three times - easy - just approach the
cable crossing and drag yer anchor for a
little stretch. Cheap, quick, simple.
This is 'hybrid warfare' - it involves screwing
up lots of valuable infrastructure in a sneaky
quasi-deniable fashion along with some of the
usual mil posturing and threats. Why send a big
armed obvious fleet when a rusty old fishing-boat
can do the job ?
Russia wants Finland (and probably part of Poland)
... but Vlad HATES the Estonians, who were particularly
happy and in-yer-face when the USSR crashed. Estonia
is also more tech than Lithuania or Latvia, a more
valuable prize (or more of a threat depending on
yer POV).
The USA and the rest of Europe are NOT immune to these
kinds of infrastructure sabotage. The UK keeps catching
Russian subs hovering around undersea pipelines and
cable tracks. There are large quantities of oil pipes
and such in the Gulf Of Mexico and cables over to
Europe/UK and probably Hawaii as well. Plenty of
stuff on the land you could send little saboteurs
after as well, 'accidents', rent some Venez gangstas.
Global net traffic goes the long trek thru fiber-optics,
not some big wi-fi tower somewhere. And wi-fi ... how
many Chinese chips in THOSE transceivers ? BET there's
a secret 'OFF FOREVER' switch ......
Anyway ... there are plenty of ways to make life a LOT
more difficult and expensive for NATO members without
a single missile being fired. Got any paper money ?
Get some. Ever BEEN to your bank - do they know your
face ? Better visit. What happens if the computerized
gas pumps stop pumping ? If your cell stops working ?
Own a battery-powered AM/FM radio ? As said, LOTS of
little ways to screw things up.
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