Russian arms dealer Victor Bout has armed Islamic extremists and sold weapons to some of the Third World's most abusive and murderous dictators and warlords—and he's known for fueling both sides of conflicts.
His success is rooted in the legacy of the Cold War, whose messy unraveling left him with easy access to massive inventories of weapons and ammunition built up by the Soviets. We talk about Bout with journalists Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, who've co-written a book about him: Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible.
the interview brings out that this international gunrunner is on the state dept's prohibited list, but the defense dept has actually bought arms from him, so he profits from both ends of conflicts he helps start, while neither of our hands knows what the other one's doing.
typical! [i know i'm using that word too much lately. sorry.]
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