YouTube video of the Ammo Dump fire...

[americanstranger]

...found by a guy who comments on my blog. It's on his blog:

http://piglipstick.blogspot.com/2006/10/news-blackout-on-major-disaster-near.html

He's got a video - it's in Arabic, but hang with it. It's shot from quite a distance, and nothing looks like it's happening until nearly four minutes in.

Then you see a huge explosion. Whatever blew up must must have killed a lot of people.

A must-see video. That fire was much, much worse than anyone is telling us. That one explosion is proof.

- as

[Ian David]

1. Nobody will be dead until after November 7th.

Up until then, they're on double-super-secret maneuvers.

[lebkuchen]

76. No doubt the Iraqis will continue to try to make news until then

and the US will continue not to report it.

[HeeBGBz]

2. Holy shit, was that what it looked like?

That was one big boom.

[xultar]

4. Looks like shawk and awe came a little late.

[Maraya1969]

82. Here is another video taken by a Marine. I don't know if it is the same

but there are many explosions. And the smoke is horrible. Besides the immediate casualties I am sure people got sick or are going to get sick from breathing this stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBMqTpDnitA&mode=related&search=

[pooja]

3. some fireworks...looks like it was completed by a nice little mushroom

cloud..

[Subdivisions]

5. OH, is that the ammo depot that the MSM was showing

blowing up the other night, only to hear nothing more about it once they realized it was bad for their adgenda to report on it?

[niallmac]

7. Remember them bad Commie Russkies that had that there PRAVDA

tellin lies to the people? I am so glad we have a freee press and demokratik eelekshuns.

[Jcrowley]

6. Major explosives

From a news forum:
"General al-‘Ithawi said that the Falcon base was the biggest US arsenal in central Iraq and was the launching point for US military operations. The arsenal contained more than 50 tanks; numerous artillery pieces; a landing strip for Chinook helicopters, some of which were parked there when the place exploded; in addition to armories containing weapons and ammunition. He said that all the buildings and furnishings of the base had been totally destroyed, and the archive records of the US troops was completely wiped out."

Other reports have it that there were massive casualties that required five transport planes for evacuation to hospitals. In any case, this was an unprecedented attack that recieved scant attention by the whoring corporate media determined to keep us in the dark about what's really going on with Bush's little crusade.
I found an Arab news broadcast and uploaded it to YouTube. Bear in mind the base is located 11 miles from Baghdad. Notice at about 3:55 into the film what appears to be a small nuke going off.

http://piglipstick.blogspot.com/2006/10/news-blackout-on-major-disaster-near.html

Look closely at the form of the explosion, what does that resemble? Pure speculation on my part.

[enlightenment]

12. Any large explosion will create a mushroom cloud

it's just the physics of the thing -- nice picture from the NTS, though . . . may have to borrow that one for my class!

[KatieB]

14. Wow - why hasn't this been on the main stream media?

[HeeBGBz]

17. It wouldn't be prudent

Election just weeks away and a video of what looks like a blast of light followed by a mushroom cloud. Really. What would the neighbors say?

[nolabels]

39. "What would the neighbors say?"

Are sure there are some neighbors left :shrug:

[countryjake]

38. It was. Cable channels were showing live footage, as it burned...

It was breaking news for quite a while. Then, it was on the evening news, later. But the entire story was superseded by the Lidle airplane crash.


Mushroom like cloud is seen over Baghdad as huge explosions rocked the Iraqi capital early Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006. A fire broke out at an ammunition depot at a U.S. base in southern Baghdad on Tuesday night, setting off a series of explosions from detonating tank and artillery shells that shook buildings miles away. The U.S. military said there were no immediate reports of casualties. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)

[magellan]

8. What I'd like to know

...besides the truth about the aftermath of this, is what that thing was that flies into the air right after the explosion and comes down again.

on edit: or how far the camera was from the base. It's impossible to judge the true size of this without knowing the distance.

[BrotherBuzz]

9. An M1A2 Abrams main battle tank that got all blowed up?

[Richard Steele]

22. An Abrams would be much too small to see at that distance.

Those lights in between the camera and the fire are BUILDINGS;
even if they are TINY buildings, that fire was HUGE.

Whatever that was we saw coming down, it was much larger than
a tank.

And that earth-shattering KABOOM that lifted it? There's just
no way that there were no casualties from that.

No way.

[HeeBGBz]

25. A building, maybe?

I finally saw it after the 4th watch. I have this weird jaw-dropping reaction that mesmorizes me with the surprise boom every time I watch it.

[BrotherBuzz]

28. Yes, I suspect a medium sized Hallibuton™ ammo bunker

I was just being snarky with the tank comment. You know what I mean, Vern?

[HeeBGBz]

11. Oh, man, you're gonna make me watch it again.

It creeps me out.

[magellan]

13. Creeps me out too.

But I didn't catch this till I watched it a second time. I was looking for some perspective in the picture to gauge the distance to the base.

[troubleinwinter]

20. ooops. n/t

[sofa king]

40. 11 miles away.

But there may be illusions of distance which must be considered, because Iraq is flatter than Kansas, the trees are short and most buildings aren't more than a few stories high.

Unless someone did something very, very stupid, there should have been a 1,000 meter (minimum) buffer zone all around the dump. Since the explosion occured four minutes into a live-feed broadcast we can safely assume that the attack was some time before that, which probably gave the guards posted in the area plenty of time to get away.

Properly constructed, ammo dump explosions usually have few fatalities in the initial event, but the aftermath almost always kills people, as the cleanup is overwhelming for bomb disposal experts and amateurs are invariably put on the job--and they die.

The flying, burning object in question was probably something large and hollow, perhaps one of the ubiquitous containers which serve multiple purposes in Iraq, including housing and office space. Or more ominously, it could have been one of several Chinook large-capacity helicopters which were supposedly stored in or near the dump. That would be really bad, as there is already a shortage of the vulnerable but highly useful "shithooks," as the Rangers call them.

[magellan]

44. Very informative

Thank you! So it could be the military is telling the truth and there were no casualties. I hope so.

One of the articles I read mentioned containers used to store munitions. It's possible that's what can be seen flying up. It had a long jagged edge, like torn metal would.

One other thought on this: if the buffer zone around one of these dumps is at least 1000m or about a mile, imagine how big the entire base is. And Camp Falcon is just one of several bases in Baghdad. What or who used to occupy all the land being used by the military....?

[ContraBass Black]

45. My uneducated guess was that it was building or large storage tank

Sized.

I wonder what/who it landed on.

[jollyreaper2112]

10. wow

For those not watching, the camera is pretty far away from the dump. you think you might be looking at a stadium in the distance because of all the light, then you realize that it's fire. You notice some strobing flashes but nothing too elaborate. You have the feeling it's probably hellish up close but you're far enough away that it's not too impressive. Then BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! 85% of the screen is whited out because of whatever cooked off. Huge mushroom cloud is visible in the reflected light of the fires below. Was talking to my dad tonight and he confirmed what the DU vets here were saying about how poorly the ammo dumps were secured back in Nam. Looks like we haven't learned a fucking thing. The one that cooked off at his base saw two poor bastards trapped in a bunker for 55 hours waiting until it was safe to come out. The gunny sgt. was trying to get them to go in there and move ammo out while the small arms ammo was cooking off. When the bigger stuff started popping they just laughed at him. No fucking way, man.

[hootinholler]

19. Seems we haven't learned jack.

That's a huge dump/depot. Reporting this also raises a tactical issue, effectively it would provide a BDA to whoever's shooting stuff at our guys. The loss of that much ammo I expect would lead to some problems for the brass and the feet in the street.

-Hoot

[tuvor]

15. Don't forget to rate the video on YouTube's site...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlM3BDojdLo&eurl=

[HeeBGBz]

16. I wonder how long it will last before it gets pulled

Truth hurts.

[Generic Other]

18. Unbelieveable. Where were the networks on that explosion?

We should have seen it hundreds of times by now. I saw the fire shots previously. But not that huge explosion!! It was a mushroom cloud! Crap. Not big enough news, CNN? Not as important as the latest Paris Hilton gossip? Jesus Crap.

[elehhhhna]

47. Networks LOVE WAR -- it's a moneymaker, but not when we're losing.

[Robbien]

21. Operations return to normal after mortar attack on FOB Falcon

Blackanthem Military News, FOB FALCON, Iraq – Less than 24 hours after enemy 82mm mortar rounds hit an ammunition holding area, causing a torrent of explosions and fires that continued to smolder through the next day, life on Forward Operating Base Falcon has retuned to normal.

Despite triggering multiple explosions and causing fire crews to work overtime, there were no casualties, and little damage was sustained to the buildings and vehicles positioned throughout the large military base located in Baghdad’s Doura neighborhood, said Col. Michael Beech, commander, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

With the help of seven Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams, the Soldiers at FOB Falcon were quickly able to locate and dispose of all unexploded ordnance near the explosion site, which enabled business to return to normal Thursday morning.

"Ultimately, this incident has had a minimal effect on my brigade's operations within the last 24 hours," Beech said. "This attack did not effect ongoing Baghdad security operations in our area of responsibility, and the loss of ammunition will not degrade the operational capability of the 4th Brigade Combat Team.”

The most damage occurred in areas directly surrounding the large steel shipping containers that held the various types of tank, artillery and small-arms ammunition, he said.

http://www.blackanthem.com/News/military200610_1476.shtml

[Richard Steele]

24. BULL>>>FRICKING>>>SHIT!

"No casualties"..."little damage"...minimal effect"


BULLSHIT!!!!

No way in HELL is any of that press release true.
That was a HUGE fire; the camera was 11 miles away fer Chrissake!

And that huge blast, 4 minutes into the film?
If there were ANY crews close enough to be
fighting that fire, they are frickin DEAD now.

[Robbien]

27. Yeah, but thought it was interesting to post what the military is saying

Military says no problem.

So what else is new.

[Richard Steele]

31. Of course; My post title was not directed at YOU, naturally!

But that press release was just such an OUTRAGEOUS pack of lies
that I'm, well....outraged!

That's like one of the PRAVDA articles they used to
show us in Social Studies class as an example of what
utter bullshit the State-Controlled Soviet Media was!

[elehhhhna]

48. & 911 was a massive series of coincidences managed from a cave

[gulfcoastliberal]

23. K&R

nt

[Rex]

26. Dam whatever that was at 4 minutes, must have been massive.

It lit up the entire area. Probably a MOAB. Not good. :(

[Tom Joad]

32. It may encourage the US to leave sooner. That's good.

I hope that no lives were lost. I am glad that these weapons were destroyed.

[banana republican]

29. Mushroom Clouds.......

[Tom Joad]

33. conventional explosions can cause mushroom clouds.

if it were a small nuke, we would be talkin tens of thousands no longer living. including thousands of US soldiers.

[blogslut]

36. What about that big-assed flash of light?

What causes that?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

43. Explosions. n/t

[ContraBass Black]

46. If it had been nuclear, the city would have been leveled.

[Tom Joad]

56. Right, Even N. Korea's little dud would have caused very extensive

damage. Baghdad would be nearly gone.

[blogslut]

58. Wouldn't it depend on size of the nuke?

Aren't we supposed to be creating low-level nukes these days?

Did you watch the video @ 3:55?

[ContraBass Black]

60. The tiniest nuke is a lot bigger than that.

Also, just heating or disturbing nuclear material or a nuclear bomb does not cause a nuclear explosion. If it did, building nukes would be easy, every country would have them, and there would be no need for nuclear testing.

[blogslut]

71. Okay, I understand that

It's been a while since I did any peace work from the days of the trident missiles and Bush 41 defying first-strike treaties. As I recall, the warhead must be "charged up" or something like that.

I will concede that was probably not a nuke. However, it was big, very big. Perhaps a lot of arms and small bomb-type deals blown up all at once. Just the same, that blast covered a lot of area. I find it hard to believe everyone escaped that blast.

[rman]

72. How big? I heard 0.01KT existed in 1961

I'm not saying the video does show a nuclear detonation, just that nukes do exists that are small enough not to level a city.

[blogslut]

73. The blast was this big [PICS]

[rman]

74. I know, i saw the video

What i ask is what ContraBass Black thinks how big the tiniest nuke is.

[rman]

68. big-assed flash of light caused by big-assed explosion

seems a plausible enough explanation.

[Beelzebud]

69. Exactly. Most cameras aren't set to be exposed to that much light.

Especially if they're set up at night.

[Beelzebud]

65. Chemical plant blew up outside my town last year. Mushroom cloud

It's physics. A mushroom cloud is not exclusive to nuclear weapons.

[banana republican]

30. How long does it take for

radioactive material to travel from Baghdad to North Korea?????

[LiberalCompassionate]

51. exactly

what I was thinking! Another coincidence?

:think:

[Tom Joad]

57. Some people...

this is so ridiculous in the extreme.

[Beelzebud]

70. Lack of knowledge....

They don't stop to think about how many countries the radiation would pass over.

They also don't stop to think about how a nuclear bomb works. They are very complex. It's the main reason the idea of a terrorist group getting plutonium just makes me laugh. They wouldn't know what to do with it once they got it. You can't just set a nuclear bomb on fire and expect it go off. You also can try to blow one up with explosives, unless it's a uranium-gun design, and even then, it would be blind luck to get the thing to detonate.

We have had planes with nuclear bombs on them crash.

[aikoaiko]

34. hard to say -- flashes of light look huge in B & W video at night

[Canuckistanian]

35. Wow, what a blast

Too bad we'll never get to find out what happened.

Unless someone writes a book about it.

[trekbiker]

37. That blast was 11 miles away??!!?!!?!

what kind of munition could cause something that big other than some sort of small tactical nuke? or maybe its possible for an entire stockpile to set off instantaneously like that??

[lse7581011]

41. This Was Not

anything like the what I saw on my local news! It's outrageous how we are being duped by the MSM!

[reprehensor]

42. Whoa.

Thanks for posting.

[Ian David]

49. It looks like Bush's "comma" probably got a lot bigger. n/t

[ContraBass Black]

64. Now it's a semicolon.

[progressoid]

50. It was just a barbeque that got out of control.

[grizmaster]

52. good find k & r

[tk2kewl]

53. Shock and Ooops!

[Cooley Hurd]

54. The big explosion was from a singular device...

...it wasn't from smaller munitions "cooking off."

My guess is that it was a MOAB or a tactical nuke.

That was a pretty spectacular explosion.:wow:

[sakabatou]

55. "...what appears to be a small nuke going off."

DAAAAAMMMMNNN....

[ContraBass Black]

59. Absolute nonsense.

Any big explosion causes a mushroom shaped cloud as a column of hot, smoky air rises. If that had been a nuclear explosion, the lights would have gone out and the city would have disappeared.

[americanstranger]

61. Right. Definitely not a tactical nuke.

I don'r think even the military, with the help of the corporate media, could keep that quiet.

As people have pointed out upthread, it was probably a very large bomb - bunker-buster, maybe?

- as

[sakabatou]

62. Yeah I know it's not a nuke.

I was just commenting on it that it just looks like I nuke.

[sakabatou]

63. I know it's not a nuke

I was just commenting on it that it just looks like I nuke.

[ContraBass Black]

66. A nuke looks like this.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Xb-u4wQuCw

[sakabatou]

67. ...

You know what forget it...

[KansDem]

77. Man! Did you see what happened to the mannequin at @4 mins in?

I assume the mannequin was about the weight of a real human. But it was picked up and thrown like a rag doll! :scared:

[lebkuchen]

75. lots of US casualties are bound to be covered up before an election

Bush sure could use a big bad dog-wag.

[onenote]

85. so why is this the highest casualty month in a long time?

You act like its easy to cover up casualties. Its not. Forces stationed in Iraq are in fairly regular contact with their families via email, phone etc. If a week went by without a large number of personnel contacting their families (particularly all from the same unit), questions would be asked.

As has been established in any number of posts on the topic of the ammo dump explosion, it would not be surprising that there were few if any serious injuries, even from a major explosion. Troops aren't stationed on top of ammo dumps.

[lebkuchen]

86. Do you really think there have been only 2,784 US deaths in Iraq?

It's the highest casualty count because we're a few weeks before a US election. Does that surprise you?

The last thing on families' minds is checking the Iraqi Casualty Count list to see if their loved one has been included.

I've seen wounded come into Landstuhl from Balad, by the bus-loads. Most of them head straight to ICU, and if they die in Germany, they aren't included on the list.

Any ideas why not?

[onenote]

87. Yes, I'm rather certain of it.

And the claim that wounded who die in Germany aren't included in the KIA list is a myth that has be debunked so many times that anyone repeating it must be suspected of intentionally distorting the truth.

Here's just one post rebutting this nonsense.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3834025#3834448

[lebkuchen]

88. The initial Iraq death toll was wildly inaccurate

Currently, the Lancet Medical Journal says roughly 600,000 Iraqis have died (close to the 640,000 killed in the Civil War). Bush refuses to believe this number, and in fact the DoD has put pressure on any Iraqi organization going to morgues to do body counts, hence Tommy Franks' "We don't do body counts."

Wouldn't it be easier for the US to hide its own body counts, not to mention the greater incentive (eg American voters) than those of the Iraqis?

[onenote]

89. no it would be harder

US troops have families here in the states. They stay in contact with those families. If they get killed, they get sent home and are buried by those families.

There really is no comparison.

[gristy]

78. The video camera saturated

That's why it looked the way it did. It was certainly a large explosion, given the mushroom-shaped cloud that rose afterwards, but I wouldn't use the blinding flash as a measure of its intensity.

[blogslut]

79. Could be

I'm no video expert. Seemed to me that the light swept over a large radius outside the site. The land underneath the light was lit up as the blast receded. Must be a trick of the light, I guess.

[bajamary]

80. those little car lights in the foreground

Hi Folks,

I have a question that I hope someone can answer.

Those little lights in the video's foreground seem to me to be car lights yet they do not move during the entire video.

Any explanations?

Thanks.


www.4-my-country.com

[L0oniX]

81. We brought the WMD's to Iraq

:nuke:

[reprehensor]

83. After boom-boom.

http://rense.com/general73/falcphotos.htm

After boom-boom pics.

[butterfly77]

84. I think that this should be kept out in the open and talked about..

until we get some answers.