Well, I'm certainly not believing Beirut was happenstance. Who the fuck keeps thousands of tons of explosive material in a densely-populated area like that? And for six years. Whatever the Lebanese equivalent is to our ATF would have been all, "we need to move that shit far away from here, otherwise it could crater and level the son of a bitchin' port one day."
The question is why would you not expect it to be sheer incompetence.
It's no different than when people thought the explosion at Halifax was purposeful (like how couldn't it have been?) only to find out it was just carelessness.
Sure, incompetence is always my primary assumption and always a possible explanation. I'm not saying the explosion is a distraction. I definitely don't believe it was an accident though. As for Halifax, two ships colliding is nothing like stashing a catastrophe waiting to happen in a crucial port for six years.
Well, I'm certainly not believing Beirut was happenstance. Who the fuck keeps thousands of tons of explosive material in a densely-populated area like that? And for six years. Whatever the Lebanese equivalent is to our ATF would have been all, "we need to move that shit far away from here, otherwise it could crater and level the son of a bitchin' port one day."
Just couldn't get around to it in six years, huh?
It's Beirut.
The question is why would you not expect it to be sheer incompetence.
It's no different than when people thought the explosion at Halifax was purposeful (like how couldn't it have been?) only to find out it was just carelessness.
"Beirut, the city of brotherly love and extreme competence" it says it right on the sign/
Sure, incompetence is always my primary assumption and always a possible explanation. I'm not saying the explosion is a distraction. I definitely don't believe it was an accident though. As for Halifax, two ships colliding is nothing like stashing a catastrophe waiting to happen in a crucial port for six years.