Lebanon Revisits Mystery Death of Colonel After Urging Removal of Combustibles from Port of Beirut

Col. Joseph Skaf, former chief of drug control for the Lebanese customs agency, wrote a letter in 2014 warning that a cargo of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate seized from a Russian-owned ship the previous year at the Port of Beirut was “highly dangerous and constitutes a threat to public safety.” Skaf died under cloudy circumstances in 2017, while the cargo he warned about evidently detonated on Tuesday, causing over a hundred deaths and wiping out a sizable portion of the city.

Skaf’s 2014 letter specifically referred to MV Rhosus, the cargo ship filled with ammonium nitrate that was detained in Beirut on its way to Mozambique in 2013. The substance is purchased in bulk for use as fertilizer, but is also highly explosive and prized by terrorists – from Lebanon’s Hezbollah to the Oklahoma City bomber in 1995 – as bomb-making material. There is some confusion about exactly what happened to the ammonium nitrate, but as of 2014, Skaf’s letter stated it was still on board the Rhosus, which was impounded by the Lebanese government for safety and mechanical issues. The ship’s cargo – and, for a time, the crew – were kept in Beirut to pressure the owner, Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin, into paying the ship’s fees. Skaf is one of several Lebanese officials who went on the record saying this was a bad idea, and in any event it did not work, because Grechushkin declared bankruptcy after the ship was seized. Some government sources in Lebanon have expressed surprise over the past few days that the ammonium nitrate cargo was not auctioned off during the past six years, or distributed to Lebanese farmers for use as fertilizer.

The Saudi network Al-Arabiya on Friday found Skaf’s fate suspicious, without explicitly accusing anyone of bumping him off to silence his warnings about the ammonium nitrate stockpile: Skaf died in 2017, but the cause of death wasn’t determined definitively as there were two conflicting autopsy reports. Major Lebanese newspaper an-Nahar reported at the time: “Did the retired Colonel Joseph Skaf’s foot slip or was he thrown off a height of three meters? A question which remains unresolved, especially after the two contradictory forensic reports commissioned by the Public Prosecution from two medical examiners,” citing a source in Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF). The ISF source said at the time: “One of the two reports rules the incident an accident, and the other confirms that it was deliberate due to finding bruises on the deceased’s head.”

Skaf was hardly the only official to voice concerns about the Rhosus cargo over the years. Among other red flags, customs officials pleaded repeatedly with a judge to order the cargo moved out of the port, but the judge claimed not to have the jurisdiction to issue such an order. As the shock of the horrifying port explosion fades, the Lebanese public is growing very angry about the number of warnings that were inexplicably ignored. 16 people have been taken into custody by the police for questioning in relation to the explosion, most of them reportedly port or customs officials.

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/08/07/lebanon-revisits-mystery-death-colonel-after-urging-removal-combustibles-port-beirut/

Colonel who died suspiciously had asked for removing ammonium nitrate: Lebanese media

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/07/Colonel-who-died-suspiciously-had-asked-for-removing-ammonium-nitrate-Lebanese-media.html

How judges responded to warnings about ammonium nitrate stored at the Beirut port

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/middleeast/lebanon-explosion-ministry-of-justice-intl/index.html

A vast store of explosive material sat in Beirut for years despite repeated warnings

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-vast-store-of-explosive-material-sat-in-beirut-for-years-despite-repeated-warnings/2020/08/05/c3ed5ce2-d714-11ea-a788-2ce86ce81129_story.html

Substance that reportedly sparked Beirut explosions was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ammonium-nitrate-beirut-explosion/

VIDEO: Portland Rioters Douse Elderly Woman with Paint, Harass Another Using Walker

Rioters threw paint on an elderly woman and harrassed another trying to put out a fire at Portland’s East Precinct on Thursday. “Once again, the Portland Police Department was forced to declare a supposed protest an ‘unlawful assembly’ after assessing that the intent of the rioters was ‘to vandalize or attempt to burn down the precinct,'” according to the Daily Wire. The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) on Friday shared a photo of an elderly woman wearing an orange jacket outside the precinct, whom protesters had doused in white paint. However, the PPB wrote in a later tweet that it was not the woman in the photo who had a walker, but the other woman at the scene who tried to put out the fire rioters lit in a garbage can.

“Put your mask on, bitch. Put your mask on,” someone in the crowd yelled at her as she conversed with another man. Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling shared video footage of the elderly woman with the walker outside the East Precinct as a rioter bashed what appeared to be a can of paint into a wooden barrier. Ngô later tweeted a video of the woman as she tried to put out the garbage can fire. “Just let her do it. Let her do it,” someone in the crowd told the protester standing between the woman and the can, adding, “It’s the highlight of her life.” In a press release Friday, the PPB said rioters used the thank you notes on blue hearts that community members had placed on the front of the precinct to accelerate the flames. The release continued: An elderly community member came forward in an attempt to extinguish the fire. As she did this, group members stood in her way. As the group attempted to keep the fire ignited, several others in the group shined lasers at the security cameras affixed to East Precinct and continued tagging the building with graffiti. Shortly after, PPB with the help of OSP [Oregon State Police] began dispersing the crowd. As officers dispersed the crowd, they were hit with projectiles ranging from glass bottles to heavy rocks. Large rebar ties were thrown into the street with the intention of popping police vehicle tires. Several police vehicles ran over these ties which caused damage to tires. While officers dispersed the crowd, several custodies were taken.

“Several arrests were made during the event outside of East Precinct, including an individual who had a loaded handgun on their person,” the PPB noted. On Friday morning, Ngô shared photos of the rebar ties used to damage police vehicles’ tires. At a press conference Wednesday, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell called for an end to the nightly violence, adding that it was “an attempt to either lash out against government or the establishment in general or to provoke a response from the police.”

https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2020/08/07/video-portland-rioters-douse-elderly-woman-paint-harass-another-using-walker/

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1291605805167386624

Exclusive from General Flynn: This Is My Letter to America

August 6, 2020

By Michael Flynn

Published August 5, 2020 at 11:17am

We are witnessing a vicious assault by enemies of all that is good, and our president is having to act in ways unprecedented in decades, maybe centuries. The biblical nature of good versus evil cannot be discounted as we examine what is happening on the streets of America. It’s Marxism in the form of antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement versus our very capable and very underappreciated law enforcement professionals, the vast majority of whom are fighting to provide us safe and secure homes, streets and communities.

When the destiny of the United States is at stake, and it is, the very future of the entire world is threatened. As Christians, shouldn’t we act? We recognize that divine Providence is the ultimate judge of our destiny. Achieving our destiny as a freedom-loving nation, Providence compels us to do our part in our communities. It encourages us in this battle against the forces of evil to face our fears head-on. No enemy on earth is stronger than the united forces of God-fearing, freedom-loving people. We can no longer pretend that these dark forces are going to go away by mere prayer alone. Prayers matter, but action is required. This action is needed at the local, state and federal levels. Action is also required in the economic, media, clerical and ecclesiastical realms. Decide how you can act within your abilities. Stand up and state your beliefs. Be proud of who you are and what you stand for. And face, head-on, those community “leaders” who are willing to allow dark forces to go beyond peaceful protests and destroy and violate your safety and security.

Churches and houses of worship must return to normal. We invite everyone of goodwill to not shirk their responsibilities and instead act in a fraternal fashion. If for no other reason or with no other ability, act in a spirit of charity. We cannot disrespect or disregard natural law along with our own religious liberties and freedoms. I am witnessing elderly people lose their connection to all that is good in their lives: connections to their faith, their families and their individual freedoms, especially the simple act of attending church, something they’ve been doing for decades. Let us not be intimidated or fear those who cry out that we are in the minority; we are not. Good is always more powerful and will prevail over evil. However, evil will succeed for a time when good people are divided from each other and their personal lives — children away from their teachers, preachers from their congregations, customers from their local businesses.

America will never give in to evil. Americans work together to solve problems. We do not and should not ever allow anarchy and the evil forces behind it to operate on any street in our nation. No one should have to fear for their very life because some dark, disturbed force is challenged by the very essence of what America stands for. We are “one nation under God” and it is our individual liberties that make us strong, not liberties given to our government. Our government has no liberty unless and until “we the people” say so. God bless America and let’s stand by everything that was and is good in our lives, in our communities and in our country. Otherwise, America as the true North Star for humanity will cease to exist as we know it.

https://c-vine.com/blog/2020/08/06/exclusive-from-general-flynn-this-is-my-letter-to-america/

>>10223069

Noticing you have 3 headlines..and NO SAUCE.. we are supposed to believe you?

>>10223069

>>10223136

1058d4

Really Now, Guess what…YOU LOSE, WE SEE YOU

General Flynn is not calling for violence, but what he is calling for is to look where you live, call out those things that don't uphold the constitution, rule of law, etc. How can it be done, using your voice at city/town meetings, write an opinion piece in your local paper, use social media to spread the information, there are local forums, put it out there, ask probing questions, get people thinking, questioning and looking for answers. You would be surprised how asking few simple questions people hadn't thought about before makes them look for the answers. Some will look with the idea that they are going to prove there is nothing to see, and then they find out there is moar than meets the eyes.

As Americans it is our Civic Duty to keep those in leadership positions in line with our Constitution, Rule of Law, and Values.

>>10223375

Lets see, You tag this post >>10223053 Exclusive from General Flynn: This Is My Letter to America with >>10223069 >It's fun to see these people calling it a Marxist movement, but dare not mention the Jewish nature of Marxism, including Marx himself, who was Jewish. And NO Sauce!