Douglas Farah in "New Republic" on Viktor Bout's operations

By Andrew Cochran

Douglas Farah has an article, co-authored with Kathi Austin, in the January 23, 2006 issue of the New Republic magazine, titled, "Air America: Viktor Bout and the Pentagon." Bout and 30 companies and four individuals in his international arms-trafficking network were designated by the Treasury Department on April 26, 2005 (with a link to a diagram of the Bout network), thus freezing their assets in the U.S. But the Pentagon continues to contract with the Bout network, as Doug has repeatedly written about here and in the press. Here are excerpts from the new article - you can download the entire piece here from Doug's site (Acrobat file):

The punitive actions were based on Bout�s relationship with Taylor, but, in announcing the OFAC action, the Treasury Department stressed another facet of Bout�s activities, noting that he made $50 million in profits from arms transfers to the Taliban when the regime was hosting Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. The Treasury statement also said Bout had used his aircraft to �transport tanks, helicopters, and weapons by the tons� all over the world and helped �fuel conflicts and support U.N.-sanctioned regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Sudan.�

Yet, remarkably, given this record and the international efforts to shut him down, Bout also counts among his clients the U.S. military and its contractors in Iraq, NATO forces in Afghanistan, and the United Nations in Sudan. The New Republic has learned that the Defense Department has largely turned a blind eye to Bout�s activities and has continued to supply him with contracts, in violation of the executive order and despite the fact that other, more legitimate air carriers are available. Revenues from these flights enable Bout to carry on the profitable business of nurturing conflicts in other, less covered parts of the world, threatening further international instability.

As slow and incomplete as these U.S. efforts have been, they are far better than those of other nations. Russia, for example, has failed to move against Bout, despite the Interpol arrest warrant for him. His assets remain untouched, and he reportedly lives in the open in Moscow, frequently dining at a favorite sushi restaurant. Since 1999, the UAE, from which most of Bout�s aircraft operate, has consistently rebuffed requests by American officials to help identify Bout-associated companies. The British military acknowledges hiring, through contractors, Bout aircraft on seven occasions in 2005.

The consequences of Bout�s continuing operations have been devastating, both in human terms and for U.S. foreign interests. His network thrives because, while some dedicated public servants try to shut it down, there is no concerted effort to put Bout out of business. Perhaps there are too many people who feel they need to keep him around to fly into the next Iraq or Afghanistan.The Bush administration and the United Nations say they want to remove a threat to international peace. Rewarding Bout with lucrative contracts makes a farce of that goal.

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