> I am unsure as to why all the intelligence officials in the initial planning meetings for the mission felt that the only possible way to sabotage the pipeline

> I am unsure as to why all the intelligence officials in the initial planning meetings for the mission felt that the only possible way to sabotage the pipeline would be at the short section directly bordering Russia, instead of the large section in more favorable waters. If you (US military / intelligence) knew that the entire world was going to blame you after this happened, you might feel that was critical placement for the sabotage. You would also plan to immediately seed the entire media ecosystem with “Russia obviously did this” statements and the explosive placement would bolster your claim.