As a result of the warlords indifference to the suffering of the Lebanese
Neglect and corruption are the cause of the devastating disaster in Beirut
The Beirut explosion resulted in 10% of the city's residents losing their homes. A.F.B.
The governor of Beirut cried as he spoke to the press while searching for the missing firefighters. Archives
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The Governor of Beirut, Marwan Abboud, cried, and his tears fell as he spoke, searching among the rubble of the destroyed Beirut port for the remains of the missing firefighters. "It is a national disaster," he said, comparing the devastating bombing that occurred in Beirut to what happened in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, after they were exposed to a nuclear explosion in World War II.
But there is another nuclear analogy to what happened in Beirut, which is the meltdown of the Chernobyl reactor during the Soviet period in 1986. The explosion of the warehouse that contained ammonium nitrate was not the result of conflict or orchestrated violence, but as happened in the former Soviet Union, it was the result of inefficiency , Economic corruption, and neglect.
The Lebanese authorities declared Beirut a disaster city, following two major explosions that left the city with widespread destruction. Social networking sites filled with pictures of the missing, who are still searching for them.
Additional burden
The economic losses of what happened were very large, as between 250 and 300 thousand people lost their homes, or about 10% of the city’s population, and thousands needed treatment in hospitals that were already teeming with Corona virus patients. The value of the destroyed homes is estimated at 3 billion dollars.
This is an onerous burden for most of Lebanon's population, who are struggling to earn a living. Even before the two bombings, Lebanon was on the brink of collapse, as there is the Syrian refugee crisis, which is about to enter its tenth year. But in reality the problem is not the refugees and securing their needs. The World Food Program has stated that about half of the Lebanese people struggle to meet their basic needs. "By the end of this year, 75 percent of Lebanon's population will be living on food aid, but the question arises: is it possible for us to have food to distribute," assistant professor at the American University of Beirut, Martin Kellwartz, told the Telegraph last June.
So far, the Corona pandemic has made hospitals in a very difficult situation, as this pandemic comes at an unprecedented time of economic poverty, as this country is under the weight of its large debts. Food prices have so far increased by 247%, and given the destruction of tons of food stocks in the port as a result of the explosion, and the destruction of the port itself, the situation is expected to worsen rapidly. Even before the two explosions, Lebanese demonstrations spread everywhere, and the Lebanese Foreign Minister, Nassif Hatti, resigned one day before the explosions, warning that Lebanon would slide into the status of a failed state.
Terror theory
Looking at the history of Lebanon, many people, including US President Donald Trump, believed that the incident occurred as a result of a terrorist act, but in reality it was not violence that caused the deterioration of the country during the past three decades, but rather corruption.
Although details are still emerging, the official Lebanese government account says that the two explosions were caused by the ignition of a shipment of ammonium nitrate, which has been present in the port since 2013, and is still there until the date of the explosion. This substance is well-known in the history of terrorist acts, where the American extremist, Timothy McVay, detonated two tons of it in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people and destroying 300 buildings. But apart from McVeigh’s extremism, why is 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate, 1,000 times the amount of McVeigh, allowed to remain in a warehouse in the heart of Beirut? Was it "awaiting an auction, for example?"
the responsibility
We do not know whether corruption, negligence, or both are responsible for this disaster, but surely the responsibility is not on the port workers who did not check the material in the warehouse, or that they received some bribes to stay away from the warehouse, but the responsibility falls on whoever Hire them there, and who made this rotten system in the country. When the civil war in Lebanon ended in 1990, most of the warlords, who had committed chilling crimes, replaced the militias with a civilian suit and tie, escaped accountability for everything they committed, and took control of what remained of post-war Lebanon.
The Lebanese ruling classes drained the state to the point of intoxication, and they have enjoyed absolute impunity for many generations. Their corruption and greed have implicated Lebanon in the recurring crises, even without regard for the sectarian rampant rampant among the political elite, and the failure of organization and inefficiency have become the permanent concern of the state.
The most important of these crises, the garbage that left mountains of rotting garbage everywhere, which made the air suffocate in Beirut, the deteriorating economy, the great inflation and poverty, all of which push families to the brink of starvation, where there are many warnings of the possibility of famine.
The crisis of deteriorating living conditions led to the outbreak of demonstrations that lasted for several months against the Lebanese government, as the Lebanese sects unified under the slogan "Everyone means all", which is a condemnation of all the ruling class, and a rejection of the sectarian political system in the country.
Since the two bombing incidents, both the General Director of Beirut Port, Hassan Quraitem, and the General Director of the Lebanese Customs Administration, Badri Daher, announced that they were wary of the danger of the presence of these explosive materials in the port, and demanded their removal. However, the Lebanese authorities have since announced that the port's employees are responsible for storing and guarding the ammonium nitrate. But the traditional "not me" blame game in Lebanon is now beginning, with former warlords lining up to place blame and accountability on others, always far from them.
But how to manipulate the Lebanese people, who have been pushed beyond the point of endurance, and not raised so far? It is an issue that is still unknown, but the hashtag of "hang on the gallows", which has become popular in Arabic on "Twitter", can make corrupt warlords in Lebanon wonder if their immunity will be questioned now.
The epidemic of arrogance
In fact, Chernobyl was not the story of a catastrophic accident at a Soviet nuclear power plant, but rather the result of how an epidemic of arrogance, neglect, and despotism could lead to the formation of a system that would allow for such a disaster. This nuclear facility represented the Soviet Union, but in a miniature way, where fatal errors over several decades of political failure and neglect helped the collapse of the entire country. Although some local officials were convicted and imprisoned as mired in errors, they were not the ultimate culprits.
Likewise, the story of the Beirut warehouse explosion is not a construction accident that led to a disaster, but rather the story of how a gang of warlords divided the state, ruling it with bias and favoritism, incompetence, and absolute indifference to human suffering, while robbing this weak and helpless people.
As was the case in the story of Chernobyl, it would be guaranteed that no one who was truly responsible for the disaster and the crimes he committed will be held accountable.
Oz Catterjee is a British freelance journalist working in the Middle East
Looking at the history of Lebanon, many people, including US President Donald Trump, believed that the accident was the result of a terrorist act, but in reality it was not violence that caused the deterioration of the country during the past three decades, but rather corruption.
We do not know whether corruption, negligence, or both are responsible for this disaster, but surely the responsibility is not on the port workers, who did not check the material in the warehouse, or they received some bribes to stay away from the warehouse, but the responsibility falls on Who employed them there, and who made this rotten system in the country.