OT: Pray for Beirut and Lebanon

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by merckxman

The ship on its side from the blast in photo above is 390 feet long, passenger ship Orient Queen.

And looking at the picture, it's a good half mile away from the blast site. Which is some serious DAMN!!!

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

For sure.

For a lot of us 2020 sucks, for many more things just got a whole lot worse.

what a mess. i'm sure Covid is just going to complicate and slow the recovery.

very sad.

They are talking about how ICUs were almost full before this and now, multiple hospitals are completely destroyed. That they had to pull patients out cause they couldn't stay in them. This entire thing is just incredible.

I have a customer who is over there right now. He's from Lebanon. Goes there in the Summer and stays in Miami in the Winter. He lives a few miles from the city center. He told me he felt it and had more than a few things fall from the shockwave. Luckily he and his family is safe.

[weisan]

As always...

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...191032840.html

[Bruce K]

Can’t read it without the app.

BK

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Gsinill

And today called an "attack" by... well, take a guess!

That's easy....

[verticaldoug]

I'd think over the years either Hezbollah was stealing it to make explosives, or someone else was stealing it to make explosives.

Finally, while stealing some it, someone accidently set it off.

This seems like simplest explanation... The rest of the government bungling just created the opportunity.

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

I'd think over the years either Hezbollah was stealing it to make explosives, or someone else was stealing it to make explosives.

Finally, while stealing some it, someone accidently set it off.

This seems like simplest explanation... The rest of the government bungling just created the opportunity.

This is also a wholly incorrect answer, full of ignorance, mendacity and maliciousness. Possibly bigotry as well.

The ship was originally Russian cargo bound for Mozambique with a shady owner who treated the crew like hostages, and then scheduled an illegal stop at Beirut to try to pick up extra cargo. Lebanese bureaucratic dysfunction and corruption then lead to it being stranded in a dangerous location for years since no one wanted the responsibility of moving the cargo.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/europ...ntl/index.html

Now the original fire which is seen before the big blast, plenty of other more knowledgeable sources have said that it may have been some sort of weapons or military materials or other dangerous explosives cache.
Rob Baer (the inspiration for George Clooney's character in Syriana)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/middl...hnk/index.html

Tony May, former ATF agent:
https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/l...464ff5fdb6b36b

[verticaldoug]

Originally Posted by yinzerniner

This is also a wholly incorrect answer, full of ignorance, mendacity and maliciousness. Possibly bigotry as well.

The ship was originally Russian cargo bound for Mozambique with a shady owner who treated the crew like hostages, and then scheduled an illegal stop at Beirut to try to pick up extra cargo. Lebanese bureaucratic dysfunction and corruption then lead to it being stranded in a dangerous location for years since no one wanted the responsibility of moving the cargo.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/europ...ntl/index.html

Now the original fire which is seen before the big blast, plenty of other more knowledgeable sources have said that it may have been some sort of weapons or military materials or other dangerous explosives cache.
Rob Baer (the inspiration for George Clooney's character in Syriana)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/middl...hnk/index.html

Tony May, former ATF agent:
https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/l...464ff5fdb6b36b

I'm neither disputing the origin of the cargo nor the dysfunction of the government in setting the stage for a disaster.

I also note the increase tension between Hezbollah and Israel down at the border and the Israeli increasing aggressive stance.

There is a history of car bombs. It's possible Hezbollah is too legit now and well supplied by Iran, hence I hedge and said maybe others. I should have probably emphasized criminals stealing.

Considering what is happening to the financial system in Lebanon, I'd expect crime to be increasing, not unlike what we see in NYC.

You have a long list of bad actors in the region to chose from.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/12907...gence-or-graft

[rnhood]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

I'd think over the years either Hezbollah was stealing it to make explosives, or someone else was stealing it to make explosives.

Finally, while stealing some it, someone accidently set it off.

This seems like simplest explanation... The rest of the government bungling just created the opportunity.

I'd argue that this is a pretty accurate hypothesis.

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by rnhood

I'd argue that this is a pretty accurate hypothesis.

but usually a hypothesis is a reasonable explanation made BEFORE getting additional tests/facts, and that further investigation/data gathering can then determine the accuracy of the original speculation (hypothesis).

Having nit-picked, it does seem plausible that some sort of criminal-to-terrorist activity could be contributory, if not the direct cause.

I wasn't able to read all the links articles in this thread--do they know yet what was on fire initially, and for how long?

This may end up a 'perfect storm' type of real-life-but-perfect-for film event once the investigation is done.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by jimcav

This may end up a 'perfect storm' type of real-life-but-perfect-for film event once the investigation is done.

I'm afraid we may never really know the answer as there already seems to be lots of finger pointing and accusations according to some of the articles.
Who gets the blame my not be who is actually at fault.

Really sad to see this happen in still reeling from so much fighting over the years.

[robertbb]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

I also note the increase tension between Hezbollah and Israel down at the border and the Israeli increasing aggressive stance.

Defending borders from infiltration is aggressive?

[CMiller]

Originally Posted by robertbb

Defending borders from infiltration is aggressive?

Well that's a complicated question for that area... for many reasons haha

[maunahaole]

My brother in law lives in Beirut. They just returned almost simultaneously to the blast. I talked with him over FB messenger last night and all of our friends and extended family are well. One friend had his windows blown in and had some interior damage to his apartment. He is well though. BIL’s take is that everything has been so fubared there for so long that a lot of folks are just maintaining the status quo (i.e. lots of backup generators in place already). It is making some already existing issues worse in a number of ways. Lebanese people have been so resilient. I hope that they have more in the tank. The political and economic situations don’t help and are many layers of complexity deep.

[weisan]

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/in...051903120.html