"The man who armed the world" BBC2 17/11/08

[SWBKCB]

Hour long documentary about Viktor Bout on BBC2 at 19.00 on Monday.

[allyn]

...stuff...watching it now....

[Stratofreighter]

If you live in the UK, try
BBC iPlayer - This World: The Man Who Armed the World (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fqppz) and enjoy!

If like me you don't live in the UK, well... :sad: :(:{ you are not allowed to access it...

[allyn]

You might be able to find it on Bittorrent or Rapidshare or possibly Youtube in a few days.....

An amazing story...

I suspect that there will always be "Viktor Bouts" out there...

[SpringHeeledJack]

Whilst I wouldn't wish to defend Viktor bearing in mind how he has facilitated a whole lot of suffering in the 3rd world these last years, it was a little disingenuous not to have mentioned where a lot of these arms were purchased and with who's tacit blessing they were shipped.


regards


SHJ

[mini]

Haven't seen the doc but if what SHJ says is correct then only half the story was told...

No surprise I guess... :sad:

[johnriketes]

Where is Bout at the moment? Still in the States being "debriefed"?

[AircraftOperations]

In a Bangkok jail, trying to resist extradition to the USA with the help of the Russians.

His right-hand man, AS, is apparently giving evidence against him in the USA.

[tflier]

Which AS would that be?

[AircraftOperations]

Andrew Smulian

[snarfel]

Indeed only half the story was told, …say, a ministory.
BTW, the people that trapped Bout were the same people that used his services for dirty dangerous jobs in Iraq and elsewhere.
The US authorities had always turned a blind eye to his activities in Africa. After the 11 September catastrophe and the subsequent assumption of his purported connections with Al Qaeda, Viktor Bout had to take refuge in Moscow.
However, his alleged previous link with Al Qaeda didn’t mean, in the view of US officials, that the US and UK governments shouldn’t cooperate with him covertly. Indeed the US-UK coalition forces were using airlines owned by Viktor Bout to transport supplies to Iraq. In 2003 a subsidiary of the British Gulf International Airlines, headquartered in Sao Tome & Principe and with base in Sharjah, was created in Kyrgyzstan, and still uses name, offices and staff of its Sao Tome counterpart. Intelligence agencies have linked Bout to this firm’s planes, and money transfers have been traced between BGIA and a Bout-linked company, San Air General Trading. BGIA’s flight manager admitted that his firm frequently flew supplies to several Iraqi locations. Also Bout’s Kazakhstan air company, Irbis Air, which took over assets and operations from Bout’s Air Cess/Air Bas, frequently flew into Iraq. Irbis planes bought fuel 142 times from military stocks in Baghdad.
Since Iraq airports are most dangerous, Bout's aircraft, pilots and personnel provided the US authorities with "plausible deniability" in case an airplane is downed. It was even told that Bout would be amnestied from the multitude of international charges he faced in return for his services. In 2004 the Bush administration began to press for Bout to be left off planned UN sanctions, in spite of French efforts to freeze his assets and an outstanding Interpol warrant for his arrest. When Condoleezza Rice was National Security Adviser, she pre-empted an attempt by United Arab Emirates authorities to arrest Bout at Sharjah and gave clear orders to the CIA and FBI not to touch him. Through BGIA and Irbis Air, Bout was running arms for the Bush administration. He changed from an international pariah into a potential asset for U.S. intelligence services. His air-freight services have been used not only by the U.S. military for arms transportation but by the United Nations as well for relief transportation, himself so buttering his toast on both sides.
Lately an An-12 owned by BGIA and carrying FedEx cargo crashed shortly after takeoff from the US air base Al Asad in Western Iraq (ASN Aircraft accident Antonov 12B S9-SAO ? Al Asad AB (http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20081113-0)). However, for some or odd reason Bout was at some time no more in favour of the US. He was trapped and had to admit that his game was over.