The Off Topic Topic

[Sheilbh]

From people citing sources on Twitter: the ammonium nitrate (2,700 tons) had been confiscated and held by the Lebanese govt for 7 years, and the fire and explosion occurred when someone "welded a small hole to prevent theft".

I've heard so many different timeframes for that ammonium nitrate from different figures in the Lebanese government from 1 year to 12 years. It feels like, probably, only a few dock workers and customs officers actually knew how long it had been there.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Never mind, POTUS says it was a bomb. 

[Sheilbh]

Under normal Presidents you would trust that. But Daniel Dale in the pool tweeted this which doesn't sound super confident:

Asked if he's confident this was an attack and not an accident, Trump says, "It would seem like it, based on the explosion." He says he met with some "great generals" and they "seem to feel" that it was an attack. He then adds it was a "bomb of some kind." ?

As he notes Trump makes up stories about conversations he has with generals quite often (just like the various men - steel workers, bikers, anyone "tough" - who come up to him in tears to thank him).

[The Brain]

"Great generals" kind of gives it away. Which great general wouldn't resign in disgust rather than serve under Trump?

[HisMajestyBOB]

Yeah, it sounds like Trump is just speculating (I.e., making shit up or repeating made up shut he saw on Fox): "It looks like a terrible attack" and "it was a bomb of some kind".

Next we'll get "some people are saying it was a bomb".

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, it sounds like Trump is just speculating (I.e., making shit up or repeating made up shut he saw on Fox): "It looks like a terrible attack" and "it was a bomb of some kind".

Next we'll get "some people are saying it was a bomb".

I mean he may have had a briefing.

But it does feel like this will end up with him rejecting suggestions it's not a bomb and we'll have the US government's official position being it's a bomb to avoid contradicting the President while everyone know it wasn't

[Valmy]

What? The fucking president has to interject himself into an explosion in Beirut?

What a damn clown. This has nothing to do with us, shut up!

[mongers]

So that's what a small nuclear weapon attack on a major city will look like in the age of the smartphone.



This disaster needs a separate thread? Mods??


Edit:
I should add the English language Al Jazeera channel seems to have pretty comprehensive coverage of this, with correspondents at the scene and informed people formerly in the Lebanese govt/administration.

[Sheilbh]

This disaster needs a separate thread? Mods??

Yeah when there were the first videos I posted here, but as more came in this is clearly far bigger than I thought

[Sheilbh]

What? The fucking president has to interject himself into an explosion in Beirut?

What a damn clown. This has nothing to do with us, shut up!

It is just extraordinary that under other Presidents, if the President stands at a podium and says something like "we believe this was an attack/bomb". You think there's chances are at least some truth to it. Whereas this is the headline and sub about Trump:

Trump proposes attack theory to explain Beirut blast

The president seemed to contradict Lebanese officials' explanations that it was caused by confiscated explosives.

[jimmy olsen]

2700 tons sounds like way too much. That's like a small tactical nuke. I'd be surprised if those highrises could withstand an explosion like that.

[jimmy olsen]

Photos of Beirut

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/aug/04/beirut-explosion-in-pictures

[The Brain]

2700 tons sounds like way too much. That's like a small tactical nuke. I'd be surprised if those highrises could withstand an explosion like that.

2700 tons doesn't sound obviously unreasonable to me when I look at the explosion and its effects. Remember also that the TNT equivalent is lower if it's ammonium nitrate.

[Sheilbh]

God this footage is insane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=41CCFYOy6Ww&feature=emb_title

[Monoriu]