A large explosion has rocked Beirut

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Our "great generals" tend to being among the worst people on the planet.

[Hollywood]

It's Lebanon.  In Beirut, Hezbollah keeps explosives near hospitals, schools and daycares, and outfits public parks and soccer fields as missile launch sites.  They smuggle weapons in and out of that port.  Of course 2,750 pounds of fertilizer got lost in the mix.  Israel probably kept better track of it than the Lebanese, cause they basically mapped out all the Hezbollah launch sites in Beirut during their presentation to the UN.  This a goddamn tragedy, but I wasn't like shocked to see the explosion in Lebanon.  It was only a matter of time before a mistake was made.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I simply cannot fathom the level of incompetence that allowed ammonium nitrate to be stored next to what appears to be either a fireworks or some other kinds of highly-flammable material warehouse in the middle of a busy port right across the street from a downtown area.

2.7 kilotons of Ammonium Nitrate stored near the CBD.

Sounds legit.

[CumbrianLefty]

Number of confirmed fatalities has reached three figures.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

When I heard about this on the radio yesterday, my initial thought was a grain silo or something similar was likely responsible. Only a complete idiot with no experience with industry or farming would rule out an accident without proof. To be fair to our "great generals" a deliberate attack would be a possible cause and one that they should give prime consideration to.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Australian company storing 10 kilotons of Ammonium Nitrate within 3km of Newcastle CBD. Within 800m of homes.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/beirut-blast-raises-concern-about-newcastle-ammonium-nitrate/12527546

[All Along The Watchtower]

RIP Lebanon.

[CumbrianLefty]

RIP Lebanon.

Hopefully that is overstating things, especially if the outside world steps in to help.

[Santander]

RIP Lebanon.

Hopefully that is overstating things, especially if the outside world steps in to help.

The West only weeps and mobilizes when tragedy strikes white countries (and a very select few other countries viewed as our "equals"), and can barely muster more than expressions of surprise when it happens somewhere between Athens and Tokyo.

Sadly, I don't think the people of Lebanon will find much support from us in the West. Turkey, Russia, Iran, and China will step in, and they will fully deserve the public favor they earn there.

[parochial boy]

RIP Lebanon.

Hopefully that is overstating things, especially if the outside world steps in to help.

The West only weeps and mobilizes when tragedy strikes white countries (and a very select few other countries viewed as our "equals"), and can barely muster more than expressions of surprise when it happens somewhere between Athens and Tokyo.

Sadly, I don't think the people of Lebanon will find much support from us in the West. Turkey, Russia, Iran, and China will step in, and they will fully deserve the public favor they earn there.

Macron is already out on site, old colonial master relationship obliged, and by all means got a pretty rapturous reception. The Francophone world has a pretty big, and rather influential Lebanese diaspora too (for example, a rather, um, notorious ex-CEO of Renault-Nissan), who aren't likely to keep quiet.

I think the old Russia-Iran-Turkey method of funnelling money to their proxies isn't going to go down well either - seeing as the last few months in Lebanon have largely been defined by the people's widespread hatred of the old communitarian elite. Lebanon isn't Iraq or Syria after all.

[CumbrianLefty]

Its going to be interesting to see what Macron does here, for sure.

He appears to have widespread goodwill and it would be a great shame to dissipate it.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/08/07/beirut-explosion-due-negligence-missile-says-lebanon-president/3317722001/

Lebanese President Michel Aoun says there are two possible causes of Tuesday’s explosion that killed nearly 150 people – either negligence or “external intervention” by a missile or a bomb.

The blast is believed to have been caused by a fire that ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port since 2013. The cause of the initial fire is unknown.

Aoun said Friday that he asked France for satellite images to see if there were warplanes or missiles in the air at the time of the blast. This differs from the main narrative of recent days, which focused on port officials.

The only countries that would be willing pull this stunt are Israel and maybe Saudi Arabia. Of course, if this is a weapons incident, I think the more likely theory is Hezbollah handling something improperly.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Uh huh. It isn't as we've all seen the footage or anything.

[Zinneke]

Uh huh. It isn't as we've all seen the footage or anything.

to be fair,  we are talking about the original fire/explosion, that nobody recorded.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Uh huh. It isn't as we've all seen the footage or anything.

Yes. You can see there is a fire.

Any country that seizes 3 kilotons of explosive material from a Russian Oligarch's boat and stores it near their CBD for 4 years has to be put under scrutiny for competence or basic intelligence.

No Israel. No Hezbollah. This is basic stupidity of the people managing the port. If it turns out they seized the material and tried to blackmail the Russian owner of the ship, then you can add corrupt greed as the basic cause.

[Mike88]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOKLBRJiSRs

Protests are escalating in Beirut.

[Crumpets]

https://twitter.com/AFP_Beirut/status/1292173798037508101

[Zinneke]

Well Macron is certainly coming out of this with his reputation enhanced. Immediately on the scene, no photo op with the President of Lebanon, getting his hands (literally) dirty and hugging people on the street...Not sure what to think of it given how warmly he has been received.

Unfortunately it might just open up a new proxy within Lebanon as all the major powers start to cancel each other out in fighting for influence. 

[Mike88]

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1292195522342719489

Explosion in Beirut: Explosive in Beirut was an order that did not reach a Portuguese company

The 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate that exploded this week in a colossal way at the port of Beirut were destined for the Explosives Factory of Mozambique (FEM), which is owned by the Portuguese company Moura & Silva, from Póvoa de Lanhoso. A company spokesman guarantees, however, that the cargo was not yet yours - the order was placed, but it would only be paid when it reached its destination, the city of Beira, in northern Mozambique.

(...)

Seriously??

[Meclazine for Israel]

The boat was never meant to stop in Beirut.

Someone got greedy.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rhosus-ammonium-nitrate-beirut-captain-1.5678444

The Russian Oligarch will say that Lebanon tried to blackmail him. The Lebanese will say the Russian Oligarch did not pay his port fees. My guess - some corrupt Port Official increased the port fees. Bribery is rife in this part of the world.

It does not make any sense that a Russian Oligarch would relinquish a large boat for nothing.

The Lebanese port workers also stored fireworks in the same storage locker as the Ammonuim Nitrate stockpile.

That is the basic cause. Failure to store explosive materials appropriately under the circumstances.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://nypost.com/2020/08/09/lebanons-information-minister-resigns-amid-beirut-blast-protests/

Lebanon’s information minister resigned Sunday amid violent protests over the Beirut blast that killed at least 160 — as demonstrators set up mock gallows and demanded leaders  “resign or hang.”

Manal Abdel-Samad was the most prominent resignation of at least six lawmakers who have stepped down — with more expected to follow soon over the handling of a massive stockpile of chemicals that was a known risk for years.

“I want to apologize to the Lebanese people, whose aspirations we were unable to fulfill due to the difficulty of the challenges facing us,” Abdel-Samad said in a short televised statement from the ministry, according to Al Jazeera.

[RodPresident]

Can a Sunni religious force appear in Lebanese politics to replace Hariri bloc as hegemonic among sunnis? This would be more explosive in Lebanese politics.