Posted on 08/05/2020 10:58:16 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Bibi alleged they were doing just that at this location.
Ammonium nitrate is an oxidant. You don’t get an explosion like the one we saw without adding it to something that can be oxidized. Diesel fuel, paraffin wax, etc.
My guess is this was the basis of a Hezbollah project for a major strike against Israel, but the Israelis got to them first, using whatever new technology has been bedeviling the Iranian nuclear program lately. Rods from God, perhaps?
I'm not sure. There are reports of Hezbollah soldiers "around" the container, and some (unconfirmed) claims an official of the group was on site, so it could have been targeted. But Israel is loathe to strike Lebanon, and has avoided Beirut for decades. Their activity has been defensive, on the Northern border, dealing with infiltrations.
In retrospect, a very bad idea. They should have sent it out to sea immediately and banned the vessel from ever entering Beruit port again.
Yup, and mix it with diesel fuel and you get..
All you need to do is set it off with a blasting cap or something.
No, it can blow up all on its own. The oxygen in the NO3 is perfectly adequate to decompose the NH4. Not likely if it’s completely pure and dry. But 6 years in a dank ships hold can easily produce moisture, and as fertilizer, it’s probably not lab-grade purity to begin with. The decomposition of the NH4 is super exothermic and at least partially produces NO2, quite flammable. Once the reaction gets going, it runs away.
The materials spent the last 6 years sitting in bags in a warehouse along the waterfront. The materials reportedly were produced in Australia as an explosive ingredient, not a fertilizer, and then ended up in the warehouse when the ship they were on came into the port with mechanical problems.
Supposedly the materials were on the way from the country of Georgia to Mozambique.
Think shotgun pellets. Dropped from the shot tower into water.
Think shotgun pellets. Dropped from the shot tower into water.
My guess is that the Muslim terrorists were building the MOABs to hit Israel when someone lit a Camel on break.
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