Russell Bentley – Fort-Russ Aug 18, 2020
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In these days of gaslighting, misinformation, disinformation and downright bullshit, the fevered postulations of some self-styled “pundits” about a secret weapon or mini-nuke being used in the Beirut blast are as irritating as they are inaccurate and improbable. That the US and or Israel are responsible for the detonation is indeed, highly likely, but yet to be proven, and not the point in question. But the irresponsible and absolutely unsubstantiated claims of a Hezbollah weapons depot, mini-nukes and secret weapons are not only preposterous, but provably false, and the otherwise respectable authors and news outlets that have published them have done themselves and their readers a real disservice. Allow me to set the record straight.
Before I get into the facts of the explosion in Beirut, I’d like to mention that I served three years as a 12-B Combat Engineer, a demolition specialist, in the US Army, and I have been trained on, worked with, and detonated pretty much every non-nuclear explosive, including quite a bit of ammonium nitrate. I’m not saying I am an expert, but I can assure you I know more about explosives than any of these armchair experts who have never even thrown a hand grenade. So, let’s get to it.
THE HEZBOLLAH “WEAPONS DEPOT”
The first thing I notice about all these sensationalist, bogus and unfounded articles is that they all seem to take for granted that Hezbollah (HZB) actually had a weapons depot at the port. That’s bullshit right off the bat. HZB DID NOT STORE WEAPONS OR AMMO AT THE PORT. HZB certainly knew, as probably every secret service in the world did, that there was a ticking time bomb sitting there since 2013, and if they stored ANY weapons ANYWHERE near the port, they’d be giving the zionist entity (ZE) a perfect excuse to destroy half of Beirut and blame it on HZB. Furthermore, they (HZB) couldn’t have stored any kind of weapons there, even if they wanted to. The port is controlled by Hariri’s “Future Movement” political party, the true source of corruption in Lebanon, and the true enemies of HZB, and has been since before the Rhosus docked there in 2013. The port is in the affluent north of Beirut, HZB’s political base is in the proletarian south. Hassan Nasrallah himself has said, “No weapons, no ammo, no rockets, HZB stored _nothing_ at the port”. It makes sense, and there is NO reason to doubt his word. For HZB to store weapons at the port, under the control and observation of their main political rivals in Lebanon, next to a enormous explosives stockpile that could be detonated by an ostensibly “justified” strike by Israel on HZB weapons, is as counter-intuitive and absolutely illogical and self-defeating, not to mention needless, as Assad gassing civilians in Ghouta or Russians poisoning the Skripals in the UK. It just doesn’t make sense. So, HZB says they didn’t store weapons there, there was zero reason for them to do so and myriad reasons not to, and they literally could not have, even if they had wanted to.
SECRET WEAPONS AND MINI-NUKES
Some authors have posited that the explosion was “too powerful” to be anything but a “mini-nuke” or some new “secret weapon”. First of all, this is baseless speculation on their part, and furthermore, proves that they know nothing about explosives. Well, I do, so let me explain. First of all, the smallest “mini-nuke” is the M-388 “Davy Crockett”, a true “mini-nuke” with an explosive payload between 10 and 20 tons of TNT. The explosion in Beirut of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was equal to about 1,800 tons of TNT. Explosives vary in their detonation speed, which is directly related to their explosive power. TNT is the standard explosive by which other explosives are compared. The Fat Man atomic bomb , dropped on Nagasaki 75 years ago this month, had an explosive power of 21 Kilotons, which is the explosive equivalent of 21,000 tons of TNT. Ammonium nitrate is, in fact, a low explosive, with a detonation speed 2,700 meters per second, as compared to TNT’s speed of 6,900 m/s. TNT is a high explosive. There were 2,750 tons of AN stored at the Beirut Port. 2.75 kilotons of AN have the explosive power of between 1.2 and 1.8 kilotons of TNT. As you can see from the blast calculator below, a 1.8 kiloton explosion would in fact be quite similar to the destruction and damage actually caused by the Beirut Port blast, with heavy damage out to 0.22 Km, moderate damage out to about 1 Km. and lighter damage in an area of about 6.5 square kilometers.
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So, in fact the damage is actually precisely what could be expected from a detonation of 2,750 tons of AN. And while AN is considered a stable explosive, it does NOT require fuel oil to be added to make it explosive, and it can be set off in a chain reaction with a relatively small amount of Semtex, TNT, C-4 or dynamite. In fact a small backpack with 20 pounds of high explosive, placed correctly, would certainly be enough to detonate the entire warehouse of AN, which was haphazardly stored in 2,750 one ton bags. As you can see, they were stored close together, touching, in fact, which would allow for sympathetic detonation. Once one went, they all would go. Instantly.
THE MUSHROOM CLOUD
There have also been ridiculous claims that mushroom clouds “prove” the explosion was nuclear. The fact is, that mushroom clouds are commonly caused by conventional explosives in large amounts, (such as, say, 2,750 tons, and even much less) and even by volcanoes. So anyone who tells you the mushroom cloud is significant as an indication of a nuclear component has exactly zero credibility. ZERO. The reddish-brown color of the smoke is also consistent with large detonations of AN, and the white vapor clouds seen forming with the shock wave are also completely common in large explosions and are in no way indicative, much less proof, of a nuclear blast. Again, if anyone tries to tell you this is proof of a nuclear detonation, it only proves they don’t know what they are talking about, at all.
THE RADIATION “SPIKE”
Of course, the most conclusive proof that the explosion was non-nuclear is the total lack of radiation increase. There was a fake news piece passed around about a “strong spike in radiation levels” picked up in Sicily shortly after the blast. Apparently, the image being touted was actually a malfunction, since the “spike” actually occurred several hours before the blast itself. You can also see the monthly and annual radiation levels of the exact monitor here, and note the “spike” is well within normal parameters, and in no way remarkable. Here is the fake reading –
Looks pretty scary, until you look at the timestamp of the spike, 1:30 PM. The explosion in Beirut happened at 6:08 PM, and there is only one hour time zone difference between Italy and Beirut. Any competent or responsible journalist would have noted the timestamp and realized the data was irrelevant. Furthermore, Sicily is 1,200 miles from Beirut. So if a radiation “spike” had registered in Sicily, it would have also registered in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and even in southern Russia. If it did, none of the monitors in any of these places have seen fit to mention it. Which, if there was evidence that an actual nuke had been used against a civilian target for the first time in 75 years, (which could have only been done by one of nine nations) you’d think one of these monitoring nations would have had something to say about it. They didn’t. No radiation, no nuclear detonation. Period.
SHAVING THE MONK AND THE HITMAN’S LOGIC
In the early 1300’s, a philosopher and theologian named William of Occam developed the Law of parsimony, a principle of logic and problem solving later to be known as Occam’s Razor. The law, in its essence, states that the simplest explanation for an event is usually the correct one, and that when presented with competing hypotheses about the same prediction, one should select the solution with the fewest assumptions. Likewise, a soldier or a hitman, faced with a life or death mission, will remember Murphy’s Law and choose the method to accomplish the mission with the fewest possible things that can go wrong.
The ammonium nitrate was a sitting duck, an easy target and a ticking time bomb. Personally, I have little doubt that the Zionist Entity, in connivance with neo-con elements in the US (and other fascist governments) were the culprits and the cause of the explosion, most likely along with Lebanese traitors. But the method by which they destroyed the Beirut Port and have attempted to bring Lebanon and above all The Resistance to its knees neither used nor required mini-nukes or new secret weapons. If a single competent, reliable and trusted operator could have detonated the AN with a small backpack full of untraceable conventional explosive, then why would the enemies of Lebanon even consider using F-16’s and missiles, much less mini-nukes or secret weapons? The simplest way is the most reliable, the most deniable, the most effective and in fact, the most inexpensive. Israel and other enemy countries have at least hundreds of trained operators in Lebanon, with access to any weapon they might need. An F-16 costs about $15 million, and $8,000 per hour to operate. Why risk one of those, with or without a secret weapon or mini-nuke, when a dude with a backpack can bribe a port guard for a hundred bucks or so and leave an absolutely reliable and untraceable detonator that will do the job even better?
The point of all this is don’t fall for sensationalist bullshit. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. When someone gives you an incredible story, remember exactly what “incredible” means. Trust your gut, use your common sense. Don’t fall to the temptation to be the first to share some secret revelation or amazing story or “inside information” that later turns out to be bullshit We’ve all done it, and I have too, but it’s pretty sheepish when you realize you got chumped. The bullshit artists are usually the first with the wild hypothesis that falls apart in a few days. Don’t let them fool you. Truth and our own credibility are among our most valuable assets and our most important weapons. Don’t buy no magic beans or trust the old hag in the gingerbread house. We’ve got a lot of important work to do, and avoiding bullshit is job one. Understanding, discerning and sharing the truth. the objective truth, goes right along with it. As Bob Dylan wrote, “There are many here among us who think that life is but a joke. But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate, so let us not talk falsely now, the hour’s getting late.”
Warning: BULLSHIT ALERT.
Yesterday (if I remember that far back), three Hamas chaps were convicted in their absence for the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Even the fake news reported that no evidence was provided for their convictions. Hariri was killed by micro nuke. Hamas does not have micro nukes. You can search for the images. Cars were incinerated 100m from the crater and one man at this distance was still alive in his car & attempting to climb through the window, but his body was charred black. The recent NWO attack on Beirut resulted in a 47m deep crater. No conventional (none nuke/subcritical exotic weapon) explosive can make craters this deep unless the charge is buried or hits the ground at incredible speed with delayed ignition.
I only read the start of Russell Bentley’s article. I didn’t read any further. I am not going to entertain utter bollox.
“THE JEWS DID IT “
Good piece, I agree that 2750 t ammonium nitrate in itself can cause the damage done to the port of Beirut. That does not exclude the Usual Suspect of this monstrous attack to the people of Beirut.
Okay then, if you use your Occam’s Razor and shave away all of your political and hypothetical possible motives you are left with a few simple facts – – the careless storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate (i.e. – the ticking time bomb – the huge fire beside the ticking time bomb – the non-nuclear explosion of the ammonium nitrate – indicate that in all probability it was an accident and there is no real basis to suggest the US or Israel did it. If you want to bring motive into it to accuse anyone, you will have to spell out the precise motive, or the cui bono, of the explosion. If to terrorize the Lebanese people then by whom and why? If to cut off the food supply to control the people in conjunction with the plandemic, as one story on this site suggested, does anyone see any mass hunger in Lebanon coming out of this? Seems like an accident, unless there is some specific and very significant gain to the party you wish to accuse.
Certainly rich food for thought. Though some knowledgeable “sounding” comments seem to think that the hole gives the game away. I have no way to discern things like if the size of the hole is too big for AN. Also, I am with out any means to analyze the composition of what is below the blast. Some have said “solid rock”… but it looks like beach sand in the photos. The other bit of your presentation that I wonder is about the fuel. Such a strong blast from just AN just seems unlikely to me. How would gunpowder explode if the charcoal & sulphur were not present & it was just potassium nitrate. My guess is that it wouldn’t even be a fizzle, more like a dud. Why would explosive guys bother to add deisel, if AN can give good blast. Most of the commentors with even a passing knowledge of fetilizer devices, poo, poo the ascertion of a robust event with just AN.. So I am not buying unless you spell it out how a no fuel one can make people think nouk… I agree with the ease of the backpack, scenario, but don’t think with no fuel we get a 500 ft hole. But I do allow it possible.
Is there any Doubt that Israel did this Bombing of Beirut, what is so hard to believe Netanyahu has been Waiting years for the Opportunity.
BTW it is known that ammonium nitrate becomes more sensitive to detonation (compared to when it is first manufactured) after being stored in an uncontrolled environment where it is exposed to temperature fluctuations and humidity.
This is apparently why some ammonium nitrate powered air bag inflators have exploded, killing some drivers with shrapnel.
Also, the bureau of mines has done tests with charges of pure ammonium nitrate similar in size to those seen in storage at the port and the studies show that sympathetic detonation can occur between charges that are not touching but spaced apart by several feet (with S50 = 12.8 feet or something like that; i.e. one ton charges have a 50% chance of sympathetic detonation when spaced 12.8 feet apart).
There is just one problem with the backpack with high explosives detonating the AN. There’s no proof of either and the photo of the AN bags could have been from anywhere at anytime. No proof of what is in those bags either. Just like on 911 the Muslim hijackers going into the airport is a prop in a false narrative. The bags could just be filled with rocks and act as props in a made for TV movie.
The fact that the media all parrotted the fertilizer theory is indicative of a coverup since no investigation had even been launched, no facts at all, an d no evidence that some 2750 tons of fertilizer went boom or even could have exploded or was even on site. If you think that is what happened prove that the fertilizer was in the warehouse.
What evidence do we have? People seeing aircraft just before the explosion. Missile streaks then an explosion. Netanyahu holding a photo of Beirut and talking about Hizbollah you can’t hide from us. Plus we have an explosion, filmed from every angle, that looks like a nuke. It looked like a nuke and all the talking heads are telling you not to believe your own eyes, but to believe their lies.
The MSM is proven non-stop lying. If they are insisting you believe in ANFO then that on the face of it is false. I say it was a nuke and I say Israel did it. And I say Israel is using many nukes to take out the Arabs. And that is the information being covered up. Israel is using nukes all of the time and getting away with it.
Now there is a big reason to provide cover for a nuke explosion. Israel officially doesn’t have a nuke bomb production facility, and no one has officially admitted that Israel has stolen Davy Crockett W-54 warheads. So it can’t be an Israel nuke in official circles and thus the need for this article. The nuke theory MUST be swept under the rug as this article does superbly.
This is what we said all along from day one.
One minor problem, AN is not explosive whatsoever. It is a component in explosives only. Please read any explosives chemistry written by a trained professional with a real name.
Just as Israel deliberately and repeatedly attacked the USS Liberty in 1967, killing 34 and wounding 171 Americans; just as Israelis planted the explosives that brought down WTC I, WTC II and WTC 7 on 11 Sept 2001; just as Israelis drove Palestinians BACK into the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla to a sure death by the Phalangist allies of Israel in Sept of 1982; Israel nuked the port of Beirut to intimidate Lebanon to abandon Hezbollah. The Satanic Khazar criminal trash of Israel want the Litani River, which the Satanists of Israel can not have with Hezbollah in the way. ABANDON ISRAEL NOW.
Inside Job.
The motive for Israhell to do this was the uprising and chaos they got from the people. They have made a stronger division in the divide and conquer of Lebanon. I know little or nothing about what hit or exploded but only a fool could not see Israhell and the USA are behind this. Who else has or had a motive?
There was according to the official story 2750 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut port. Separated into 30kg bags there would be a total of 91,667 bags of ammonium nitrate.
My simple calculations below.
1 cubic metre is 1,000,000 cubic centimetres.
Size of one 30kg bag of ammonium nitrate is approx
50cm by 50cm by 22.5cm or .056 cubic metres
(rough estimate)
X 18 bags is 1.008 cubic metres
18 X 30kg bags = 540kg
2750 tons of ammonium nitrate is
2,750 tons divide by .540 tons that comes to
5093 cubic metres of ammonium nitrate.
72metres X 72metres X 1metre = 5184 cubic metres of warehouse floor space
64metres X 64metres is 4096 square metres, just a little over 1 square acre.
One acre being 4046 square metres.
Loosely stacked on pallets with access in between would require even more space. Hard to believe it all remained there for many years occupying prime port warehouse space.
Even harder to believe it all detonated so cleanly and powerfully.
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I wrote this a few days ago before seeing the image of them 1 ton bags of AN which appear to me to be about 1 cubic metre.
I read the article yesterday and did not believe it. Only wished I’d posted what I thought yesterday but my old mac wouldn’t let me. There were no comments then so I thought it was going to escape ridicule, I am grateful that it has not
Just checking my notes again. There would have had to have been 5093 of those bags to have exploded all within a fraction of a second. Quite ridiculous.
I can see 1000 on them bags so perhaps my approximations are slightly wrong. But it appears to me that them sacks are bigger than 1 cubic metre.
Anyway at a minimum there would have to have been 2750 of them still a lot of warehouse space. And I doubt that is a photo of what we are told blew up.
People seeing aircraft just before the explosion,this is a fact
Beirut was attacked, it wasn’t some accident.
This article is wrong because the port was attacked by jets, listen to the F-16s attack then the explosion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuduBHY_8Eo
F-16 conducts Close-Air Support with Mk-82 bombs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anC1uWPW9Xo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTEkcO7czs8
Ammonium nitrate IS EXPLOSIVE BY ITSELF – that is, it will explode without being mixed with any fuel (under the right conditions). The historical record of disastrous explosions of pure ammonium nitrate proves this beyond a doubt.
Of course by itself it is an insensitive and weak explosive (but it has a positive oxygen balance). In order to be useful in commercial practice, it is mixed with a fuel such as fuel oil, usually in a stoichiometric ratio, thereby creating a mixture with a zero or approximately zero oxygen balance, which is more powerful and more sensitive than pure ammonium nitrate.
Published: 21 July 1962
Detonation in Ammonium Nitrate
STEWART PATERSON & JEAN M. DAVIDSON
Nature volume 195, pages 277–278(1962)
Abstract
IT has been appreciated for many years1–5 that ammonium nitrate, even when free from combustible material, can detonate. This is not surprising, since the products of decomposition must be entirely gaseous and have substantially less energy of formation than the original substance. For example, if the nitrogen is not oxidized, the energy released at constant volume, with water in the vapour phase, is 380 cal./gm. or 8.7 kcal. per mole of gas. This is, of course, rather low compared with typical values for explosives, which lie in the range 20–50 kcal./mole gas. The temperatures and pressures reached in the detonation wave will therefore also be relatively low, and one might expect the substance to detonate with difficulty and only under good confinement. This is found to be so. For normal material at densities around 1 gm./cm.3, cartridge diameters of many inches or heavy metal tubes are necessary6,7, and even then the measured speeds are much lower than the maximum values calculated for products N2 + 2H2O + ½O2. This has led eome authors8 to conclude that an equilibrium involving oxides of nitrogen is more appropriate, and that the release of energy is of order 230 cal./gm.
www(dot)nature(dot)com/articles/195277a0