Everything said above is absolutely correct. Consider the fact that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used “only” two tons of ammonium nitrate to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

This was the result of their act of domestic terrorism:

A multi story building (containing men, women and children) was blown away.

By comparison, the dock in Beirut had 1,000 times the amount that was used on the Murrah building.

That said, because I know how easily the West could distort this into some casually racist hot take like, “Well why did ~those people~ keep it stored there like that?” I think it’s important to add that, while corrupt members of the local government knew about the poorly stored explosives, the average citizen in Beirut did not know. And the people took to the streets in justified anger, mad that their government would allow the conditions for such an unnecessary catastrophe occur.

Deregulation of safety precautions is done to save corporations m o n e y.

Greed.

Even if it costs innocent workers and unsuspecting neighbors their lives. So this is not something unique to Lebanon. Not hardly.

Does anybody remember the push for deregulation, the “anti-red tape” agenda, and Grenfell Tower? How about what happened in West, Texas?? Greedy Republican Governors routinely cut “red tape” and scrap safety rugulations for big businesses. (x) (x) (x) (x)

So yes, safety regulations are written in blood, and no, regulations are not repressive red tape.

My heart goes out to the people in Beirut. Such a catastrophe, and what makes it even more maddening is because it was completely avoidable.