Lebanon sees possible 'external interference' in blast

Quote from article:

“The cause has not been determined yet. There is a possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act,” President Michel Aoun said in comments carried by local media and confirmed by his office.

https://www.reuters.com/articl...-probe-idUSKCN2531F9

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
Lebanon sees possible 'external interference' in blast

Quote from article:

“The cause has not been determined yet. There is a possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act,” President Michel Aoun said in comments carried by local media and confirmed by his office.

https://www.reuters.com/articl...-probe-idUSKCN2531F9

In other words 'we can't admit that WE screwed up, so let's start the rumour that it was an act of terrorism...'

Sure a missile hit or a bomb went off while they were welding next to these explosives.

Or, are they now saying they weren't welding right next to this stuff?

If there's anything worse than a liar, it's a bad liar.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
“The cause has not been determined yet. There is a possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act,” President Michel Aoun said in comments carried by local media and confirmed by his office.

Back to our regularly scheduled programing, Red Herring.

President "Bob" Aoun?

so it didn't start as a fire that went out of control...what was all that burning shit long before the major explosion? A figment of our imaginations? what about the fireworks going off before the major explosion? more figments?

Welding causing a fireworks fire that then caused the explosion of AN is all too plausible. Welding caused the Pepcon incident via sparks>fire>detonation. You can plainly see fireworks going off in the fire on several videos prior to detonation.

There are apparently some suggestions that this was a Hezbollah cache that accidentally exploded. They have threatened using ammonium nitrate such as this.

https://www.breitbart.com/news...-braces-for-protest/

BEIRUT (AP) — Public fury over this week’s massive explosion in Beirut took a new turn Friday night as protesters stormed government institutions and clashed for hours with security forces, who responded with heavy volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets.

One police officer was killed and dozens of people hurt in the confrontations, which played out in streets that were wrecked from Tuesday’s blast at the port that devastated much of the city and killed nearly 160 people. Dozens were still missing and nearly 6,000 people injured.

The disaster has taken popular anger to a new level in a country already reeling from an unprecedented economic and financial crisis and near bankruptcy.

Activists who called for Friday’s protest set up symbolic nooses at Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to hang politicians whose corruption and negligence they blame for the explosion.

The blast was fueled by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored at the port for more than six years. Apparently set off by a fire, the explosion was by far the biggest in Lebanon’s troubled history and caused an estimated $10 billion to 15 billion in damage, according to Beirut’s governor. It also damaged 6,200 buildings and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

“Resignation or hang,” read a banner held by protesters, who also planned to hold a symbolic funeral for the dead. Some nooses were also set up along the bridges outside the port.

Khodr Ghadir, 23, said the noose was for everyone who has been in power for the last 30 years. “What happened was a spark for people to return to the streets.”

A placard listed the names of the dead, printed over a photo of the blast’s enormous pink mushroom cloud. “We are here for you,” it read.

Dozens of protesters stormed the buildings of government ministries and the headquarters of the banking association, turning their rage to state and financial institutions.

Earlier Saturday, the protesters entered the empty buildings of the foreign ministry, declaring it a headquarters of their movement. Others then fanned out to enter the economy and energy ministries, some walking away with documents claiming they will reveal the extent of corruption that permeates the government. Some also entered the environment ministry.

Documents that surfaced after the blast showed that officials had been repeatedly warned for years that the presence of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port posed a grave danger, but no one acted to remove it. Officials have been blaming one another, and 19 people have been detained, including the port’s chief, the head of Lebanon’s customs department and his predecessor.

quote:

It also damaged 6,200 buildings and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless!

Holy Shit!

Times of Israel: Hezbollah may have been storing ammonium nitrate for potential bombs to be used against Israel.

Link

quote:

Hezbollah apparently planned to use the ammonium nitrate stockpile that caused a massive bast at Beirut’s port this week against Israel in a “Third Lebanon War,” according to an unsourced assessment publicized on Israel’s Channel 13 Friday night.

The report was broadcast hours after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a speech “categorically” denying that his group had stored any weapons or explosives at Beirut’s port, following the massive explosion there Tuesday that has claimed over 157 lives and wounded thousands. “I would like to absolutely, categorically rule out anything belonging to us at the port. No weapons, no missiles, or bombs or rifles or even a bullet or ammonium nitrate,” Nasrallah said. “No cache, no nothing. Not now, not ever.”

Israel has not formally alleged that Hezbollah was connected to the Tuesday blast.

Fast forward to 9:30 for the blast, the video picks up the overpressure on the buildings until the camera is hit.




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-vGkIKxGAg

That's just incredible. .... my God....

screen captures from Scuba Steve Sigs' HD video above

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
Fast forward to 9:30 for the blast, the video picks up the overpressure on the buildings until the camera is hit.

Thanks for that video. It showed the fireworks going off before the main blast better than the others I've seen and an amazing view of the effects of the blast on nearby buildings.

You know, people mock the 1950s and 1960s "Duck and Cover" videos. Assuming you are within the fireball zone, it won't matter and afterwards you have radiation to deal with, but watching these videos people had a second or two to react after seeing the explosion. Dropping their cell phone and jumping away from the plate glass window that was about to shatter into their face, sliding under a table, ripping the curtain off and turning away, etc. When you see an explosion that big, you are going to feel it shortly afterwards. I know that's Monday Morning quarterbacking and I don't know how I would react in the same situation, but hopefully this doesn't happen again, and if it does, more people will trust their instincts over their desire for Youtube footage. From what I read, the Texas City explosion in 1947 killed so many because hundreds came to the pier to watch the spectacle of the orange smoke and the steaming water. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
You know, people mock the 1950s and 1960s "Duck and Cover" videos.

Yes, and I have silently shaken my head for years at their ignorance of how explosions work—and that includes nuclear explosions.

The mockers who consider themselves to be so smart assume that nuclear weapons would obliterate everything that was located within sight of them or that the radiation would accomplish the same thing. In fact, though, once someone is located a sufficient distance from an explosion, taking cover in the second or few before the shockwave hits can make a huge difference in the outcome. People in wartime London didn’t tape their windows to keep them from breaking, but to help keep the glass from becoming deadly secondary missiles. Injuries from flying glass and other debris are a major source of casualties in situations like the Beirut explosion, and even dropping to the floor could make a difference.

The “duck and cover” advice was given when there could have been a much more significant delay between seeing the explosion and the arrival of the blast wave. Would attempting to take cover have made a difference if ground zero was a block away? Of course not. Would it make a difference if it were two miles away? Possibly.

This is the same video that Scuba posted above, but repeated three times with each successive clip getting slowed even further down -

Beirut explosion.

It is interesting that the beam of sunlight angling down from the left side of the frame never gets obstructed as the shock wave rolls through it.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
that shock wave had a velocity of several kilometers per second...

Yes, that’s hard to imagine. The velocity of an ammonium nitrate detonation is ~2,700 m/s. Being a gun forum we’re all familiar with feet per second which puts the detonation velocity at ~8,900 FPS or just over 6,000 miles an hour. I can’t help but think about the number of people staring out their windows watching the fire (something most of us would likely have done as well) when the explosion occurred.

Michael

a slight twist

was watching OANN during my lunch break yesterday and they were running a story that fills in a blank on the departure of the PM and President as well as the cabinet

according to sources, the government was informed back in July about the possibility of an explosion and did nothing

the source said that the materials were mostly stolen and were being stockpiled to use in several terrorist attacks but that the attack on the port location was imminent

the fire that touched of the event was serendipitous