[wwwhizz]

I'm not American, and I am genuinely curious, why does the FBI investigate this?

I can imagine the US government wanting an investigation in cases like this, and I can understand Beirut wanting (or maybe just allowing) different countries to investigate, but isn't foreign investigations a job of the CIA (or, at least, not the FBI)?

[papercrane]

FBI has expertise in the matter and was invited by the Lebanon government to help with the investigation.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/15/beirut-explosi...

[mike_d]

The FBI investigates suspicious deaths of Americans overseas, and 1 US citizen died in the blast.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/search-rescue-continues...

[bredren]

The CIA is tasked with intelligence gathering and covert foreign operations.

So there may have well been CIA officers around the FBI mission, they would not have played a public role.

If I understand it correctly, the CIA would offer their assessment of the blast to the United States DNI and President. This report might contain unflattering information, evidence of corruption or recommendations of subjects of new or continued surveillance.

Whereas, the FBI, per their publicly accepted invitation would share a classified report with the Lebanese government as an expected result of their visit.

The FBI report would likely be be more consultative, the mechanism of the explosion. Sort of like a car mechanic explaining why your car is making this squeak sound.

Whereas, the Lebanese government would neither have insight into the amount of CIA resources aimed at Lebanon or this particular event, nor how these intelligence conclusions affect US foreign policy in the Mideast.

[newsclues]

Or the CIA can just get the report from the FBI and debrief the field team when they get back?

[wincy]

So like the CIA agent would be posing as an FBI agent though right?

[hn_throwaway_99]

From the article:

> FBI investigators came to Beirut after the blast at Lebanon's request.

> A senior Lebanese official who was aware of the FBI report and its findings said the Lebanese authorities agreed with the Bureau on the quantity that exploded.

[pixl97]

FBI has specialists that investigate fertilizer explosions. It's not uncommon for domestic terrorists to use this type of weapon in the US. Oklahoma City being a prime example.

[the-dude]

Maybe they want to confirm their knowledge about nitrate bombs for domestic purposes.

IIRC, the Oklohoma bombing was a simple fertilizer/nitrate bomb.

[bogomipz]

As was the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

[Forge36]

When 2000 to tons of explosive go missing paranoia about "where did it go?" is bound to attract attention from both.

[baybal2]

In this case, it's likely it literally "Went South"

[pvaldes]

Fertilizer can be used as fertilizer also

[jdavis703]

The CIA doesn’t really do these kinds of investigations. To be honest I would’ve expected ATF (they specialize in investigating explosions in the US) to have been the US agency lending technical assistance.

[bogomipz]

One of the remits of the FBI is to protect the US from terrorist attacks. And as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombings were fertilizer-based this likely would have fallen into their purview. The CIA is supposed to be concerned only with intelligence-gathering. The FBI has offices around the world. See:

https://www.fbi.gov/about/leadership-and-structure/internati...

[csommers]

Why wouldn’t the US want to be involved? FEST responds to vast majority of these incidents, simply because we want to know if someone was behind it.

[Invictus0]

I imagine it's a good training exercise for the FBI staff, given that there aren't too many giant explosions like this in the States.

[rickeydidio]

I am American and this was my first thought when reading the headline. “Why is the FBI involved?” I can understand the CIA, like you said. So weird but a sign of our times.

[raincom]

There are multiple reasons:

- Lebanese govt invited them.

- USA wants to keep tab in that part of the world.

- Talented investigators in FBI and others want to keep their brains sharp.

- Advance knowledge about explosions, how to prevent them, etc.

[dboreham]

FBI is just "the police", so it's very normal and happens all the time that police experts from one country are invited to help investigate crime in another country.

[refulgentis]

When you hear CIA think intelligence (as in espionage), when you hear FBI think investigation, never failed me