The Lord of War comes to the U.S.
Viktor Bout (the Russian arms dealer who inspired Nicolas Cage's character Yuri Orlov in the movie "Lord of War") has just been extradited to the U.S. He arrived in NYC yesterday:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/17/...Top+Stories%29 I also recommend the latest blog post by Douglas Farrah (who wrote the book "Merchant of Death", which is about him): http://www.douglasfarah.com/ So, what do y'all think? |
Is he going to get off like in the movie?
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On the contrary, I think getting him tried and convicted would be extremely beneficial to the U.S. For the current administration, putting Bout on trial would be another way for Obama to claim that the rule of international law works. It would also let him brag that he can fight a counter-terrorism war better than his predecessors who failed to deal with Bout even while he was selling arms to militants and terrorists that have killed Americans (A.G. Holder is already making claims of this nature). So the short answer is, probably not. If he was going to get away clean, his best chance was while he was still in Thailand and the Russians still had some leverage (the Thai government tries to keep good relations with us and the Russians simultaneously, so they were in a difficult position when the Russians insisted they not extradite Bout). Now that he's in the U.S. and being tried in Federal court, it's all over for him. Of course, this doesn't mean he's necessarily going to get the punishment he deserves (death by lethal injection, if I had my way). He'll probably get some sort of deal if he testifies before a CT committee in Congress and provides information that could help us. But he will be looking at a long prison term and the loss of his business and fortune. |
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What Bout has done is the equivalent of an FFL selling weapons repeatedly to fugitives who are wanted for multiple murders, when he knew exactly who they were and what they intended to use the weapons for. Any FFL who did that would go to jail, and likewise, an international arms dealer who sells to people like Mullah Omar or Charles Taylor deserves the same (or worse) punishment. He has to be held accountable for what he's done, and personally, I'm happy that it's us and not some disorganized bureaucratic international body that took custody of him. |
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I guess the thing that bothers me is not that they're going after him, but that Bout is being handled by the civilian criminal justice system. I find the implications of the government claiming jurisdiction over the entire world to be quite chilling. I don't see any reason why this couldn't be handled the old fashioned way. |
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Anyway, there are international laws regulating arms sales, too. Not all of Bout's sales violated internationl law, but some did - including the sale of RPGs and SAMs to Marxist FARC rebels, which is what he's being charged with. FARC is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., EU, and many other countries, which means that selling them weapons is illegal. Especially since we have him on record telling his "customers" that the weapons he had to offer them would be ideal for shooting down U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. The bottom line is, if you sell weapons to people who you know are prohibited from owning them, you get in trouble. This is true in both U.S. and international law. That's what Bout did, and that's why he's facing charges. Quote:
Bout is going through the American criminal justice system because he was caught in a DEA operation, and charged by the DoJ. If he had been caught by someone else (Interpol, for instance), he would have gone through the appropriate system. But we caught him, so we get to prosecute him. |
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