Mr. AGSPRT04 said:

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Hence my last sentence

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so in other words "nevermind".

Nah. I responded to

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Like in this video, I don't know if the right call was to run back inside or not...

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I think everyone has acknowledged that there's not enough time to form a committee and deliberate proper procedure upon seeing an explosion like this take place. But that doesn't mean there's not still a right and wrong answer.

lunchbox said:

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Welp, a military coup to replace the current government in Lebanon isn't looking too promising.

I'm guessing someone knew what was there, kept as quiet as possible about it, and lit the fuse.

Again demonstrating people and structures react way differently to pressure wave and behind glass is the worst place to be.

Whitetail said:

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Unbelievable, the woman outside barely moved...the woman inside flew about 25'. Anyone smarter than me care to explain how that happens?

The shock wave compressed against the building wall past the one girl outside and didn't move her much as it reflected back, but the glass gave way easily and the shock wave carried the girl inside and stuff beyond it away with it as it came through.

Hurricane vs tornado?

The energy in the exploding glass was transferred into her.

It's a pressure wave, not a gust of wind. As you can tell from the other people in the video, the source of the wave is parallel to the plane of the glass destroyed.

anyone else curios why there is a camera in their bedroom? IFYWIM

Read that it was most likely a retail (furniture) store.

Fountain said:

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Whitetail said:

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Unbelievable, the woman outside barely moved...the woman inside flew about 25'. Anyone smarter than me care to explain how that happens?

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Think of Chicago and the wind coming around the buildings.

You can stand, broad, in the wind and be just fine. You can also stand on the leeward side of a building and not feel much.

Step into a bottleneck and you can get blown over.

Now multiply that by about 100.

SirLurksALot said:

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Fountain said:

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Whitetail said:

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Unbelievable, the woman outside barely moved...the woman inside flew about 25'. Anyone smarter than me care to explain how that happens?

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My guess is that the force of the blast was amplified once it had go through the confined doorway. The woman outside was in an open area that allowed the force to be more spread out.

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The woman inside had been red pilled.

Not vouching for this in any manner. But thought it was interesting enough to post.

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Yet the fireworks scenario is being met with intense skepticism, given the obvious dangers such a close storage arrangement would present.

"I do not believe there was that amount of ammonium nitrate at the port of Beirut, nor that there was a fireworks depot," explosives expert Danilo Coppe told Italian daily Corriere.

"When ammonium nitrate detonates, it generates an unmistakable yellow cloud. Instead, from the videos of the explosion, in addition to the white sphere that can be seen expanding which is condensation of the sea air you can clearly see a brick orange column tending to bright red, typical of lithium participation. Lithium-metal is a propellant for military missiles, so I think there were armaments there."

"It seems like an explosion of an armament warehouse," said Coppe.

A US military explosives expert who has worked closely with the Lebanese army told Asia Times on condition of anonymity that according to his contacts among the Lebanese armed forces, the explosion was an "act of sabotage" against the hangar, which was holding not only ammonium nitrate, but also short-range missiles, allegedly impounded.

The official explanation is that the now infamous Hangar No. 12 was used as a catch-all for dangerous and illicit items confiscated by Customs authorities. But the public has not yet been given a credible explanation for why ammonium nitrate would have been placed next to other hazardous items.

The bizarre arrangement has raised suspicions the ammonium nitrate may have even served as a shield for arms underneath.

"I've spoken to several (Lebanese former and current) military people that all agreed this was an arms depot exploding after the first strike, and that the ammonium nitrate would not ignite without a fuse, in this case an explosion," said Riad Kahwaji, head of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

The Lebanese army does not store arms or ammunition in the port.

"It all moves immediately to the barracks. No explosive material permitted to stay at the ports," said Kahwaji. "If it was not the army, who else has arms depots?"

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A number of Lebanese defense analysts believe Israel did likely carry out the attack, but did not intend for damage of this magnitude.

"The official word, is this was an accident," said Kahwaji. "Everyone was surprised by the magnitude of the explosion, including the Israelis themselves, and hence they don't want to take responsibility. Hezbollah won't say because they don't want to admit having weapons in the city."

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LINK

I've said this from the start.

From the color of the cloud, to the claim of "fireworks", and everything else about it, this looked like a strike on weapons. Maybe Israel didn't know what all was there, but they knew something was.

Maybe I'm the only one who saw it, but about a week ago Israel got hit with rockets, and retaliated with air strikes and maybe some land movements into either Lebanon or Syria. They flat out said they were going to strike at all the weapons stores and targets.
I don't know why this port would be any different.
Add in the Iranian places going up in smoke and it paint a fairly clear picture of Israel striking while they can.

The plume also matched the soil color...

Which would be expected with a crater that size.

TexasRebel said:

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The plume also matched the soil color...

Which would be expected with a crater that size.

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Fair point. This is the first time I have seen where lithium was mentioned in relation to the red color, though. Have no idea if that is accurate.

lunchbox said:

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Oh my God. That poor woman was nearly broken in half

lunchbox said:

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That's an interior corridor or atrium! That's an inward swingng door that was blown clean past it's jamb.

She's even more lucky she didn't go over the rail.

I'll bet her back is broken though.


Going back to an earlier topic, that door is like a rocket nozzle; concentrating the blast and focusing it at a normal direction.

I was unaware of Hezbollah's affinity for ammonium nitrate.

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1. Sections of the Beirut port are under the control of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Israeli officials have long complained that the Beirut port "the Hezbollah Port" was being utilized by the terrorists to smuggle contraband and weapons into Lebanon. As UN Ambassador Danny Danon recently stated: "Israel discovered that Iran and its Quds Force have been exploiting civilian maritime channels, and specifically the Port of Beirut."

2. Hezbollah has a long history of illegally acquiring and stockpiling ammonium nitrate in civilian areas. In 2015, Britain's M15 and Metro Police carried out a raid on a secret Hezbollah warehouse in London that contained 3 tons of ammonium nitrate. The British government shamefully covered-up the raid in order not to damage relations with Iran shortly after signing the dangerous Nuclear Deal. It is believed Hezbollah was planning on using the chemicals for an attack in the UK. Click here.

3. The same year, police in Cyprus discovered a Hezbollah warehouse storing 8.3 tons of ammonium nitrate. A Hezbollah operative was arrested and charged with planning a terror attack. "A state prosecutor said Lebanese-Canadian Hussein Bassam Abdallah admitted that Hezbollah aimed to mount terrorist attacks against Israeli interests in Cyprus using the ammonium nitrate that he had been ordered to guard at the Larnaca home of another official of the Iranian-backed group." Click here.

4. Israeli intelligence gave German police information, earlier this year, of the location of a Hezbollah stockpile of ammonium nitrate in southern Germany. The fact that the Iranian terror group was warehousing the explosives on German soil helped to push Berlin to outlaw all wings of the Hezbollah organization. "Mossad reportedly gave Germany information about warehouses in the south of the country where Hezbollah stashed hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives." Click here.

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5. Hezbollah has a long history and deliberate strategy of stockpiling rockets, weapons and explosives in civilian areas. Hezbollah intentionally utilizes civilian neighborhoods including the basements of schools, mosques, residential buildings and hospitals as missile depots. The terrorists understand that the Israeli air force would be hindered in responding to rockets launched from civilian centers during the next war with Lebanon. And if Israel does attack the launchers and kills civilians, Hezbollah is counting on the UN, the Europeans and the ICC to immediately accuse Israel of war crimes. Hezbollah calls it this "Human Shield" program. Click here.

6. In 2016, Hezbollah's chief terrorist Hassan Nasrallah had threatened to fire rockets at an ammonia storage facility in Haifa. He vowed that the explosion would be like a nuclear bomb striking Israel. He repeated this threat on several occasions causing Israeli officials to remove the storage tanks. "Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened in the past to destroy Israel by causing a massive explosion in the port of Haifa using ammonia tanks that he said would be like a "nuclear" explosion. In addition Hezbollah allegedly sought to acquire ammonium nitrate via Syria since 2009 and tried to infiltrate the agriculture ministry in Lebanon to do so, according to leaked diplomatic cables." Click here.

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They're just great.

aggiehawg said:

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I was unaware of Hezbollah's affinity for ammonium nitrate.

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1. Sections of the Beirut port are under the control of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Israeli officials have long complained that the Beirut port "the Hezbollah Port" was being utilized by the terrorists to smuggle contraband and weapons into Lebanon. As UN Ambassador Danny Danon recently stated: "Israel discovered that Iran and its Quds Force have been exploiting civilian maritime channels, and specifically the Port of Beirut."

2. Hezbollah has a long history of illegally acquiring and stockpiling ammonium nitrate in civilian areas. In 2015, Britain's M15 and Metro Police carried out a raid on a secret Hezbollah warehouse in London that contained 3 tons of ammonium nitrate. The British government shamefully covered-up the raid in order not to damage relations with Iran shortly after signing the dangerous Nuclear Deal. It is believed Hezbollah was planning on using the chemicals for an attack in the UK. Click here.

3. The same year, police in Cyprus discovered a Hezbollah warehouse storing 8.3 tons of ammonium nitrate. A Hezbollah operative was arrested and charged with planning a terror attack. "A state prosecutor said Lebanese-Canadian Hussein Bassam Abdallah admitted that Hezbollah aimed to mount terrorist attacks against Israeli interests in Cyprus using the ammonium nitrate that he had been ordered to guard at the Larnaca home of another official of the Iranian-backed group." Click here.

4. Israeli intelligence gave German police information, earlier this year, of the location of a Hezbollah stockpile of ammonium nitrate in southern Germany. The fact that the Iranian terror group was warehousing the explosives on German soil helped to push Berlin to outlaw all wings of the Hezbollah organization. "Mossad reportedly gave Germany information about warehouses in the south of the country where Hezbollah stashed hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives." Click here.

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5. Hezbollah has a long history and deliberate strategy of stockpiling rockets, weapons and explosives in civilian areas. Hezbollah intentionally utilizes civilian neighborhoods including the basements of schools, mosques, residential buildings and hospitals as missile depots. The terrorists understand that the Israeli air force would be hindered in responding to rockets launched from civilian centers during the next war with Lebanon. And if Israel does attack the launchers and kills civilians, Hezbollah is counting on the UN, the Europeans and the ICC to immediately accuse Israel of war crimes. Hezbollah calls it this "Human Shield" program. Click here.

6. In 2016, Hezbollah's chief terrorist Hassan Nasrallah had threatened to fire rockets at an ammonia storage facility in Haifa. He vowed that the explosion would be like a nuclear bomb striking Israel. He repeated this threat on several occasions causing Israeli officials to remove the storage tanks. "Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened in the past to destroy Israel by causing a massive explosion in the port of Haifa using ammonia tanks that he said would be like a "nuclear" explosion. In addition Hezbollah allegedly sought to acquire ammonium nitrate via Syria since 2009 and tried to infiltrate the agriculture ministry in Lebanon to do so, according to leaked diplomatic cables." Click here.

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LINK

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As I said earlier in the thread, the Lebanese response of "we'll figure out who stored all this stuff" doesn't hold water. They know exactly who it belonged to, and I would wager a guess that several people very high in the Lebanese gov't knew every detail about it.

Even though Hez doesn't hold an "actual" majority in their gov't doesn't mean they don't pay off other officials. Nor do they really care what the other officials/parties think of them (see backing by Iran). Hezbollah has the strongest military presence in Lebanon, with the ability to rapidly augment forces by Iran, and everybody knows it.

Who's going to take them on? The military? Right.

Here's another very long article describing the various explosions (3) that occurred in Beirut. Also has a lot of the political structure and power levers in Lebanon.

First mini explosion and fire was in Hanger 9. After the second small explosion it moved on to Hangar 12. Those were the two closest warehouses to the port, as in prime real estate for quick and easy unloading and loading. Why Hangar 12 would have been monopolized for so many years couldn't happen without the port authority's knowledge.

Two other things of note. According to this author, the ammonium nitrate was weapons grade, not fertilizer grade. Further Turkish officials were not going to allow the ship Rhosus to traverse the Bosphorous but Erdogan personally intervened to give passage.

Interesting read. Enjoy.

LINK

Yes, interesting article, thanks for posting.

Another short one that re-emphasizes my point re. Hez.

https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/08/hezbollah-denies-link-to-beirut-explosion.php

"The statement "we don't know what's happening inside the port" is difficult to believe. It is unlikely one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the world isn't aware of the activity going on at a major commercial transport hub in its own country."

Twitter thread speculating about lithium being the origin of the reddish orange color.

Wonder of this was bigger or smaller than the Texas City and Halifax, NS explosions.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Wonder of this was bigger or smaller than the Texas City and Halifax, NS explosions.

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Saw elsewhere that TC was 2200 tons, this was 2750 tonnes.