Quote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur
Is he going to get off like in the movie?
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That's what I had in mind. Obviously, it's embarrassing to the U.S. government that (A.) they actually hired him to fly weapons into Iraq (for use by the new Iraqi Army and the Sunni militias we armed in Anbar), and (B.) the CIA actually dealt with him in Afghanistan even though he was known to be a Taliban supplier. But in this day and age, the past two administrations have had so many foreign policy fuck-ups in the War on Terror that this one probably won't get any more attention. There's nothing he can say that would embarrass the U.S. government any more than they've embarrassed themselves already - contrary to what "Lord of War" would have you believe.
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.