Yesterday’s tragedy in Beirut must lie firmly at the feet of corrupt militias.

Yesterday’s tragedy in Beirut must lie firmly at the feet of corrupt militias.

Shocking video of the tragic port explosion in Beirut yesterday highlights the very tenuous existence of the State of Lebanon.

The political system there is tribally split and dominated by the Iranian sponsored Hezbollah movement.

Hezbollah means “Party of God” in Persian.

In Lebanon, politicians who don’t toe the line are assassinated, so is it any wonder that the administration there is corrupt and ineffective.

The question no one seems to be asking is why some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate apparently salvaged from a sinking vessel was stored for 6 years at the port before it blew up.

When only a small percentage of Lebanese GDP derives from agriculture – ammonium nitrate is a useful fertilizer, but also great for making bombs – that’s rather alot of fertilizer to hang on to.

The obvious conclusion to me is that someone in power thought that this fertilizer might come in handy for other more nefarious reasons.

Lebanese politicians being put under house arrest is a joke when these poor saps are probably shit scared, and living in a “country” where turning a blind eye for a bribe is preferable to being topped for speaking out.

It would be a joke if it wasn’t so tragic.

I bet Carlos Ghosn wishes he was back in a Japanese prison cell.