Why are the US and Britain protecting the notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout?

In short, to put it very bluntly, because, according to the Financial Times, he's apparently our bastard. Specifically, Bout seems to have made himself useful to people in the Defense department. And he's alleged to have been the recipient of "recycled" US government contracts in Iraq, which I take to mean subcontracts.

According to the FT investigation:

Western diplomats say they have been told of reports that an air freight company associated with Mr Bout, who is subject to a UN travel ban because of his activities in Liberia, may be involved in supplying US forces in Iraq and that the US may be "recycling" his extensive cargo network.

A former UN official familiar with the sanctions process said he had also heard of Mr Bout's Iraq connection. The ex-official said he had been told by a reliable source about a month ago that "the American defence forces are using Victor's planes for their logistics".

A well informed human rights activist friend writes me, "He totally works for the CIA. According to Doug Farah's book, he was the supplier to the Northern Alliance when we got into Afghanistan. He'd supplied them before, then switched to the Taliban. Unreal."

Is this for real? Does the US really have nobody else to fly supplies into Iraq, than a company belonging to a man who has been described as "the merchant of death?" And whose very same cargo planes have carted gold for al Qaeda and attack helicopters to Liberia? Isn't that a bit cynical, even for the likes of this bunch?

If this is true, the US government should be shamed into getting this guy off the US payroll at least. [Right after the Pentagon finds that INC personal services contract and cancels it.] Why the British let themselves be bullied by Washington into keeping Bout's name off a UN sanctions list of individuals whose assets should be frozen because of their involvement with Charles Taylor, arms trafficking to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the blood diamonds trade, is beyond me.

UPDATE: My human rights activist friend has been digging about Bout. He permits me only to summarize some of his findings below.

Victor Bout, 37, was born in Soviet Tajikistan, became the leading international arms dealer, and has his own air fleet, flying out of Dubai. "He delivers not only small arms, but whole weapons systems, including attack helicopters. The '90s were big for him, dealing to many Congolese factions, UNITA. A lot of the weapons came from Bulgaria, via Togo..."

Bout became linked to Charles Taylor through Sanjivan Ruprah, a
Kenyan, in 2000. Ruprah was a biz partner of Bout's, and has two Liberian passports...Bout and Ruprah got some diamond mines in exchange for their services...Bout was happy to take diamonds in payment for his lethal loads to Liberia, Congo and Angola. He had even tried to set up a diamond export business in the Congo...

By the late 1990s US intelligence officials had discovered another Bout tie that worried them far more: possible weapons supplies to the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Lee Wolosky, the Clinton-era NSC director for transnational threats...noticed that Bout's name popped up in almost every conflict the NSC was tracking, from the African wars to the Philippines...

I'll summarize - he was supplying the Afghan government before the Taliban took over, and then switched sides. He did this from his base in the UAE - one of the governments that recognized the Taliban, along with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It was a financial and gold clearinghouse. He also supplied parts to Ariana Airways and the Taliban airforce. Ariana was a vital link in the Taliban and Al Qaeda's financial network. He also flew charter flights to Taliban HQ in
Kandahar.

The Clintonistas were upping the pressure on the UAE to boot Bout, but the Bushies dropped the ball. After 9/11, "Suddenly he was back on out radar screen in a very significant way. His importance suddenly loomed very large."

...At Belgium's urging, Interpol issued a red notice on Bout for illegal weapons trafficking on February 25, 2002...

In other words, not the kind of guy one would expect the US would want to do business with in Iraq. And would protect from UN sanctions. Unless what?

Posted by Laura at May 17, 2004 03:22 AM