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Explosion in Beirut

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/officials-knew-danger-beirut-port-years-200805032416684.html

 

Analysis of public records and documents published online show senior Lebanese officials knew for more than six years that the ammonium nitrate was stored in Hangar 12 of Beirut's port.

And they were well aware of the dangers it posed.

So how did this happen? Here's what we know so far.

The cargo of ammonium nitrate arrived in Lebanon in September 2013, on board a Russian-owned cargo vessel flying a Moldovan Flag. The Rhosus, according to information from the ship-tracking site, Fleetmon, was heading from Georgia to Mozambique.

It was forced to dock in Beirut after facing technical problems at sea, according to (PDF) lawyers representing the boat's crew. But Lebanese officials prevented the vessel from sailing, and eventually, it was abandoned by its owners and crew - information partially corroborated by Fleetmon.

The ship's dangerous cargo was then offloaded and placed in Hangar 12 of Beirut port, a large grey structure facing the country's main north-south highway at the main entrance to the capital.

Months later, on June 27, 2014, then-director of Lebanese Customs Shafik Merhi sent a letter addressed to an unnamed "Urgent Matters judge", asking for a solution to the cargo, according to documents shared online.

Customs officials sent at least five more letters over the next three years - on December 5, 2014, May 6, 2015, May 20, 2016, October 13, 2016, and October 27, 2017 - asking for guidance and warning that the material posed a danger, Badri Daher, the current director of Lebanese Customs, told broadcaster LBCI on Wednesday.

They proposed three options: Export the ammonium nitrate, hand it over to the Lebanese Army, or sell it to the privately-owned Lebanese Explosives Company.

One letter sent in 2016 noted there had been "no reply" from judges to previous requests.

It pleaded: "In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount" to the Lebanese Explosives Company.

Again, there was no reply.

A year later, Daher, the new Lebanese Customs director, wrote to a judge once again.

In the October 27, 2017, letter, Daher urged the judge to come to a decision on the matter in view of "the danger ... of leaving these goods in the place they are, and to those working there".

Nearly three years later, the ammonium nitrate was still in the hangar.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Tuesday declared the explosion at the port a "great national disaster" and promised that "all those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price".

Lebanese President Michel Aoun called the failure to deal with the ammonium nitrate "unacceptable" and vowed the "harshest punishment" for those responsible. An investigation has now been launched, and the committee is to refer its findings to the judiciary within five days.

The cause of the explosion is still not clear, but many Lebanese were quick to point out what they believe to be the root causes; immense mismanagement in a broken state run by a corrupt political class who they say treat the country's inhabitants with contempt.

It is also not lost on Beirut's residents that this tragedy emanated from the city's port, a public utility known locally as the "Cave of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" for the vast amount of state funds that have reportedly been stolen there over the decades.

The allegations include claims that billions of dollars in tax revenue never reached the state treasury due to schemes to undervalue imports, as well as accusations of systematic and widespread bribery to avoid paying customs taxes. 

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Dnaguy

Dnaguy 11964

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

 

 

33 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Little kid in the first video handled it like a boss....window blows smack into his face, doesn't even appear to be crying.

 

Yeah but the parent though......

 

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'stache

'stache 21816

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, 'stache said:

I'll bet a pizza that the joint chiefs didn't say that and will have to awkwardly correct the record in cr fashion.

 

16 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

DOD says no indication it was an attack.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/politics/defense-officials-contradict-trump-beirut/index.html

 

 

16 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:


he’s literally just making shit up and going completely going off script. 
 

 

Lol, it's just too easy at this point.

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Guest

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Posted
Posted (edited)

y'all run with your narrative... Jesus christus on a cracker.

 

everything.  No matter fucking what...

 

"can't talk about anything without slamming cheetoboy...um...including politics.   let us post more in DT.  We're not getting to cry there too. "

Edited by slorch
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faps

faps 806

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, AUS-97HORN said:

That Silo took a shitload of the blast and A) partially survived and B) probably saved a shitload of lives in that direction

Yeah in the vids you can see a little hole in the shockwave that the silos made. Crazy.

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'stache

'stache 21816

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Posted (edited)

The Commander in Chief said it was an attack. The Department of Defense corrected that statement and said it wasn't based on what they currently know. Those are facts that are important in discussing this event. Do you really think those facts should be ignored here because of how it reflects on the president?

Edited by 'stache
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lemonlime

lemonlime 5503

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, 'stache said:

The Commander in Chief said it was an attack. The Department of Defense corrected that statement and said it wasn't based on what they currently know. Those are facts that are important in discussing this event. Do you really think those facts should be ignored here because of how it reflects on the president?

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sidis

sidis 9828

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Posted

welp, in my constant collection of empirical observations to support finding the ideal balance between appropriate regulation for protecting people/environment/etc... and stifling, bureaucratic red-tape regulation, we will notch this one up for increasing regulation if you are going to let some abandoned, maldovan-flagged ship that some clearly piece of shit russian living in cyprus abandoned in your port seven years ago that is packed with fucking AMMONIUM NITRATE just languish there for all seven years while rolling the dice on a minute-by-minute basis that you don't eradicate your city.  good fucking god. sounds like they need to get shipped a little red tape.

maldova and cyprus really should be isolated and frozen out of participating in anything ever.  nothing good comes from there...just like sychelles, panama, cayman, etc...  unfortunately, the biggest goons in the world who consistently leverage its usefulness are the ones with the power to do so.

finally, anyone having a temper tantrum over people expressing concern and/or being dismayed by the president and commander in chief of the united states just going with an extraordinarily irresponsible, apophenic, and ad hoc horseshit insinuation of hostilities with absolutely no basis to do so and then lying about the source of said horseshit really needs to be examined in the fucking head.

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XYZ

XYZ 2154

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/officials-knew-danger-beirut-port-years-200805032416684.html

 

Analysis of public records and documents published online show senior Lebanese officials knew for more than six years that the ammonium nitrate was stored in Hangar 12 of Beirut's port.

And they were well aware of the dangers it posed.

So how did this happen? Here's what we know so far.

The cargo of ammonium nitrate arrived in Lebanon in September 2013, on board a Russian-owned cargo vessel flying a Moldovan Flag. The Rhosus, according to information from the ship-tracking site, Fleetmon, was heading from Georgia to Mozambique.

It was forced to dock in Beirut after facing technical problems at sea, according to (PDF) lawyers representing the boat's crew. But Lebanese officials prevented the vessel from sailing, and eventually, it was abandoned by its owners and crew - information partially corroborated by Fleetmon.

The ship's dangerous cargo was then offloaded and placed in Hangar 12 of Beirut port, a large grey structure facing the country's main north-south highway at the main entrance to the capital.

Months later, on June 27, 2014, then-director of Lebanese Customs Shafik Merhi sent a letter addressed to an unnamed "Urgent Matters judge", asking for a solution to the cargo, according to documents shared online.

Customs officials sent at least five more letters over the next three years - on December 5, 2014, May 6, 2015, May 20, 2016, October 13, 2016, and October 27, 2017 - asking for guidance and warning that the material posed a danger, Badri Daher, the current director of Lebanese Customs, told broadcaster LBCI on Wednesday.

They proposed three options: Export the ammonium nitrate, hand it over to the Lebanese Army, or sell it to the privately-owned Lebanese Explosives Company.

One letter sent in 2016 noted there had been "no reply" from judges to previous requests.

It pleaded: "In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount" to the Lebanese Explosives Company.

Again, there was no reply.

A year later, Daher, the new Lebanese Customs director, wrote to a judge once again.

In the October 27, 2017, letter, Daher urged the judge to come to a decision on the matter in view of "the danger ... of leaving these goods in the place they are, and to those working there".

Nearly three years later, the ammonium nitrate was still in the hangar.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Tuesday declared the explosion at the port a "great national disaster" and promised that "all those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price".

Lebanese President Michel Aoun called the failure to deal with the ammonium nitrate "unacceptable" and vowed the "harshest punishment" for those responsible. An investigation has now been launched, and the committee is to refer its findings to the judiciary within five days.

The cause of the explosion is still not clear, but many Lebanese were quick to point out what they believe to be the root causes; immense mismanagement in a broken state run by a corrupt political class who they say treat the country's inhabitants with contempt.

It is also not lost on Beirut's residents that this tragedy emanated from the city's port, a public utility known locally as the "Cave of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" for the vast amount of state funds that have reportedly been stolen there over the decades.

The allegations include claims that billions of dollars in tax revenue never reached the state treasury due to schemes to undervalue imports, as well as accusations of systematic and widespread bribery to avoid paying customs taxes. 

Typical third-world country bullshit with a corrupt, inoperative justice system. The judge who ignored the pleas, I very much doubt that he will be held accountable, because they are generally untouchable.

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

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3 hours ago, slorch said:

y'all run with your narrative... Jesus christus on a cracker.

 

everything.  No matter fucking what...

 

"can't talk about anything without slamming cheetoboy...um...including politics.   let us post more in DT.  We're not getting to cry there too. "

 

1 hour ago, high side 3 way said:

Guess they forgot the "no politics" recommendation in the thread title. November cannot come fast enough.

if there was a celebrity who constantly, like every time he opens his mouth or fingers touch a keyboard, said and tweeted stupid fucking shit and lied, this whole board would rail his ass every time he did it. just because this stupid celebrity happens to be the president of the united states doesn't all of the sudden make him off limits because he's on your team. stupidity is stupidity. it should be called out when it happens.

you know how you can make us can stop calling out his stupidity, make him stop saying stupid shit. pretty fucking simple.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted (edited)

The bomb attack almost seems like it did not come from up above at all.  It seems strange that the worlds most robust satellite observation system cannot pick  up what the 2G Lebanese cell phone network was able to record and upload.  This is so strange because usually the world looks to us in situations like this for Intel and operational awareness.   I guess the satellites must’ve been turned off yesterday.  That’s a thing right?

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RoundRobin

RoundRobin 828

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

 

if there was a celebrity who constantly, like every time he opens his mouth or fingers touch a keyboard, said and tweeted stupid fucking shit and lied, this whole board would rail his ass every time he did it. just because this stupid celebrity happens to be the president of the united states doesn't all of the sudden make him off limits because he's on your team. stupidity is stupidity. it should be called out when it happens.

you know how you can make us can stop calling out his stupidity, make him stop saying stupid shit. pretty fucking simple.

You mean Sean Penn?

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Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, sidis said:

 

finally, anyone having a temper tantrum over people expressing concern and/or being dismayed by the president and commander in chief of the united states just going with an extraordinarily irresponsible, apophenic, and ad hoc horseshit insinuation of hostilities with absolutely no basis to do so and then lying about the source of said horseshit really needs to be examined in the fucking head.

No tantrum.  You're just guessing...about politics...and running your absolutely objective inquiry towards the truth, eh?  Guess what chief, you don't know shit.

 

Every fucking topic.  Y'all can't fucking stop.    Can't limit it to Cloakroom or somebody might just talk about the event and holy furk, that's just not allowed.

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sidis

sidis 9828

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, slorch said:

No tantrum.  You're just guessing...about politics...and running your absolutely objective inquiry towards the truth, eh?  Guess what chief, you don't know shit.

 

Every fucking topic.  Y'all can't fucking stop.    Can't limit it to Cloakroom or somebody might just talk about the event and holy furk, that's just not allowed.

"no tantrum." and i am going to have another tantrum to prove it!

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19 minutes ago, sidis said:

"no tantrum." and i am going to have another tantrum to prove it!

No.  It was a response to CR posts in DT.

Standard refrain for all of you motherfuckers:  If we had a different President, life would be:  We got it.  Now let's discuss the Beirut disaster...

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'stache

'stache 21816

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3 hours ago, slorch said:

No tantrum.  You're just guessing...about politics...and running your absolutely objective inquiry towards the truth, eh?  Guess what chief, you don't know shit.

 

Every fucking topic.  Y'all can't fucking stop.    Can't limit it to Cloakroom or somebody might just talk about the event and holy furk, that's just not allowed.

You don't think it's relevant to a Daily Texan post to discuss whether it was a deliberate bomb or a warehouse of ammonium nitrate? The president said it was a deliberate attack, the Department of Defense said it most likely was not based on what was immediately known. How is pointing this out CR? Sure, there is an implication that we all understand based on the president's past behavior, but what has been pointed out here are the facts of what high ranking officials, includiing the commander in chief, has said what about the possible cause of the explosion. That is 100% Daily Texan.

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F250

F250 28777

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, miguelito said:

Probably already posted, but this is surreal.

 

 

That's a major sign from God to not get married.

Did the cameraman start chanting Allah Akbar? I guess that's the equivalent of someone suddenly reciting the the Lords Prayer. When someone suddenly does that it's hold on to your butts time.

 

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11049

Posted
Posted

 

I haven't read the entire thread, so sorry if this has already been posted.

 

The reddish brownish color in the cloud after the explosion (which you can see in some of the posted videos) means ammonium nitrate explosion. At high temps, the exothermic decomposition reaction of ammonium nitrate produces NO2, a brown gas at high temps, which turns into some other nitrogen oxide (can't remember which one) as it cools, so the red-brown color quickly fades.

 

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Cajun

Cajun 11705

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, XYZ said:

Typical third-world country bullshit with a corrupt, inoperative justice system. The judge who ignored the pleas, I very much doubt that he will be held accountable, because they are generally untouchable.

To be fair, judges aren't held accountable here in the U.S. either.

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DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, slorch said:

No tantrum.  You're just guessing...about politics...and running your absolutely objective inquiry towards the truth, eh?  Guess what chief, you don't know shit.

 

Every fucking topic.  Y'all can't fucking stop.    Can't limit it to Cloakroom or somebody might just talk about the event and holy furk, that's just not allowed.

You fucking clown. He completely lied about being told it was a bomb by “his generals” and then “his generals” quickly and publicly stated they told him no such thing.

you seem pretty upset people are pointing out those facts. You ok, snowflake?

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