Viktor Bout: The Merchant of Death Trial

* First Video:




In Merchant of Death, Douglas Farah and Stephan Braun tell the true story of Viktor Bout, a young Russian intelligence officer who, since the end of the Cold War, has redefined how wars are fought in much of the developing world.

By gaining access to unguarded weapons arsenals and a fleet of several dozen aircraft, Bout became a one-stop shopping service for all sides in many wars, from Afghanistan, where he armed the Norther Alliance and the Taliban, to the jungles of Colombia and the diamond-rich regions of West Africa. The human cost of the illicit weapons trafficking has been enormous, enabling criminal and terrorist groups to achieve new levels of violence and destruction.

The national security cost has also been high, enabling a sometime-ally to enrich his coffers in order to develop new lines of business into Somalia, Lebanon and Nigeria, where he arms those seeking to destabilize entire regions and plot against the United States.


* Second Video:




A criminal court in Thailand has rejected a request by the U.S. to drop a second set of charges against alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The decision dents Washington's plans to have the man extradited to the U.S to face trial on terrorism-related charges.

A new hearing is expected to begin in Bangkok on October 5th. RT gets more analysis from investigative journalist and author Daniel Estulin who has interviewed Victor Bout in Thailand.


* Third Video:




Douglas Farah, the author of 'Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible', talks about the human cost of war.

* From the author publisher :

"While there's no shortage of books on international terrorism, drug cartels and genocide, the international weapons trade has received less attention. Journalists Farah and Braun center their absorbing exposé of this source of global misery on its most successful practitioner, the Russian dealer Victor Bout. Throughout the Cold War, they show, the Kremlin supplied arms to oppressive regimes and insurgent groups, keeping close tabs on customers; after the U.S.S.R. collapsed, the floodgates opened in the 1990s. With weapons factories starved for customers, Soviet-era air transports lying idle and rusting, and dictators, warlords and insurgents throughout the world clamoring for arms, entrepreneurs and organized criminals saw fortunes to be made. The authors paint a depressing picture of an avalanche of war-making material pouring into poor, violence-wracked nations despite well-publicized U.N. embargoes. America denounces this trade, but turns a blind eye if recipients proclaim they are fighting terrorism, they say. Ruthless people who shun publicity make poor biographical subjects, and Bout is no exception. The authors' energetic research reveals that rivals dislike him, colleagues admire him, enemies condemn him, and Bout describes himself as a much-maligned but honest businessman. Although an unsatisfactory portrait, the book surrounds it with an engrossing, detailed description of this wildly destructive traffic." (Source: Amazone.Com)