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Beirut Port Explosion

forensic-architecture.org

51–60 of 226 posts

Re: Beirut Port Explosion

#51
post #44
post #26

In the past this kind of material would be collected and analyzed by state intelligence services. Combined by allies and used to gain leverage for individual or combined strategic priorities. Something like, “Here is how negligent you were. Install this person in power or we leak this and your people revolt and you won’t be able to walk away.” More recently, it seems, some news organizations have begun assembling rep…

OSINT is certainly a thing, but there's a parallel development in shamelessness and polarization so that accurate reporting of the real history of events makes much less difference. Are there that many people whose support of the police will be shaken by the NYT report, or is the support of the police a matter of political affiliation that leads them to dismiss it as "biased"?

It’s not necessarily a binary though, is it? Articles like that enrich the discussion with new information, and may act to shift policy and perspectives over time. Expecting one article to turn someone’s opinions around completely is usually expecting too much. It’s a common expectation that “this story will change everything” but it seems to me that it takes time for things like this to sink in and change the momentum.

Re: Beirut Port Explosion

#54
post #26

In the past this kind of material would be collected and analyzed by state intelligence services. Combined by allies and used to gain leverage for individual or combined strategic priorities. Something like, “Here is how negligent you were. Install this person in power or we leak this and your people revolt and you won’t be able to walk away.” More recently, it seems, some news organizations have begun assembling rep…

While not directly assembled by state intelligence services, some of today's "independent" reports surely are supported or financed by them.

I'm not saying this one is, but verifying the independence and financing of any organisation is quite hard. A lot of work has gone into this fantastic presentation, and somebody had to pay for that. Since I watched it for free, it wasn't me...

Re: Beirut Port Explosion

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the cause of the fire was found? Wasn’t it sparks from workers welding on a security door to prevent someone from sneaking into the warehouse and setting off the giant bomb they had built?

From what I remember, the welders did their job and left, then the fire started later. Also, they never question why 2 tons of unclaimed ammonium nitrate was just sitting in the warehouse for 5-6 years. This stuff is expensive yet no one was trying to get it back. They never touched those controversial parts of the explosion: -jets -was the fire intentional? -what was it doing there to begin with

Just because you finish a job doesn't mean there isn't hot items still around. Many companies and OSHA specifically, in the states require several hours of observation after doing things that create sparks in high combustible areas. Sparks from metal can also migrate quite far or catch easier to burn metals too.

The unclaimed ammonium nitrate was simply government negligence, it wasn't unclaimed it was confiscated and never moved or properly secured.

Re: Beirut Port Explosion

#56
post #26

In the past this kind of material would be collected and analyzed by state intelligence services. Combined by allies and used to gain leverage for individual or combined strategic priorities. Something like, “Here is how negligent you were. Install this person in power or we leak this and your people revolt and you won’t be able to walk away.” More recently, it seems, some news organizations have begun assembling rep…

While not directly assembled by state intelligence services, some of today's "independent" reports surely are supported or financed by them. I'm not saying this one is, but verifying the independence and financing of any organisation is quite hard. A lot of work has gone into this fantastic presentation, and somebody had to pay for that. Since I watched it for free, it wasn't me...

[deleted]

Re: Beirut Port Explosion

#57
post #26

In the past this kind of material would be collected and analyzed by state intelligence services. Combined by allies and used to gain leverage for individual or combined strategic priorities. Something like, “Here is how negligent you were. Install this person in power or we leak this and your people revolt and you won’t be able to walk away.” More recently, it seems, some news organizations have begun assembling rep…

While not directly assembled by state intelligence services, some of today's "independent" reports surely are supported or financed by them. I'm not saying this one is, but verifying the independence and financing of any organisation is quite hard. A lot of work has gone into this fantastic presentation, and somebody had to pay for that. Since I watched it for free, it wasn't me...

The funding link works. I suspect there was just a typo in the other posters link:

https://forensic-architecture.org/about/funding

Re: Beirut Port Explosion

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the cause of the fire was found? Wasn’t it sparks from workers welding on a security door to prevent someone from sneaking into the warehouse and setting off the giant bomb they had built?

From what I remember, the welders did their job and left, then the fire started later. Also, they never question why 2 tons of unclaimed ammonium nitrate was just sitting in the warehouse for 5-6 years. This stuff is expensive yet no one was trying to get it back. They never touched those controversial parts of the explosion: -jets -was the fire intentional? -what was it doing there to begin with

They also didn't investigate reports of John McClane (of the Die Hard movie fame) tossing a cigarette into the warehouse, backwards while walking away, a few minutes before the explosion... I'm unsatisfied that they didn't entertain my conspiracy theory! /s

If you actually informed yourself properly about this explosion (instead of reading -- I'm going to assume -- conspiracy websites), why the whole thing was sitting there for so long is pretty clear, and is actually briefly covered in the video (6:05): no one in the government nor military felt responsible nor did they want to take responsibility, having a fight using letters instead of recognizing the danger and acting to fix it. As to the source/why no one wanted it back, that's also been covered in the media.

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