| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Home Front: WoT | |
| Bout, Monzer, DEA & FARC | |
| 2008-06-18 | |
I never know how to categorize The Belmont Club - News, Blog, or Opinion - but whichever, this is an interesting piece. (EFL)
Victor Bout was a notorious Russian arms dealer, doing business all over the world, who was arrested in a DEA sting operation in Thailand, where he remains. The Americans want him tried in New York. The Russians don't. The agency says he came to Thailand to negotiate the sale of Igla surface-to-air missiles to two undercover agents posing as officers from FARC. As Bout was fuming in his Thai cell, another distinguished figure from the shadow world was disembarking in New York city in the custody of -- the DEA. His name is Monzer al-Kassar, and he had recently come off a flight from Europe. The Jerusalem Post writes that Monzer al-Kassar was the man who supplied weapons to terrorists and criminals the world over: Kassar has in fact played a key role in some of the worst atrocities committed against Israeli and Jewish civilians, and his links to one Arab regime in particular - that of his native country, Syria - deserve special scrutiny at a moment when Jerusalem is just about to begin potentially historic negotiations with its government. Earlier this year, he was arrested by Spanish authorities after allegedly offering to sell weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency posing as representatives of Colombia's FARC guerrilla group. On Friday he was extradited from Madrid to New York City, where he is scheduled to face trial on charges that also include conspiracy and money-laundering. But the gathering of these two shadowy figures in New York City raises some interesting lines of speculation. Among the questions which immediately come to mind are: why Bout and Monzer, guilty of a string of crimes as long as your arm, happened to go down in connection with a MANPAD missile sale involving Columbia's FARC? Is there a connection between Monzer's sudden loss of official protection and the mooted peace deal between Israel and Syria? Is the DEA handling this affair because other agencies might have a conflict of interest in any trial involving Bout and Monzer? What political candidate(s) may be embarassed by revelations about FARC and connections to Lebanon or Syria? Here's my guess. The US wants both Monzer and Bout down for offenses not limited to the FARC manpad missile sale. But making the FARC missile sale the actual offense of record means that the discovery will go to places nobody minds visiting, except certain politicians who are now frantically checking so see whether they are in any shape, way or form connected with FARC, Syria and Lebanon. A Bout and Monzer trial would tar a whole lot of people on both sides of the aisle. By all accounts these guys did all the jobs civilization didn't want to hear about. They know where all the bodies are buried. That was why they stayed out of the stir for so long. But now something has happened to make the Bush administration go after both of them. | |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #6 Based on everything I know, Comrade Bout will likely be the starting first baseman on the Supermax softball team. The Russkies in Bangkok are making a major play to have him released and no doubt money has changed hands to have few doors left unlocked. The Thais know what side their bread is buttered on and it comes down to who they want to piss off - the US or Russia ?Extraditon hearings are ongoing and we should know something by late July. |
| Posted by: Bangkok Billy 2008-06-18 17:48 |
| #5 "Try the sushi, Comrade!" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-18 12:04 |
| #4 Guys like these always think they are going to get off the hook until the trap door actually drops out from under them. If they started squealing, I'd be surprised. Obviously the Russians, FARC, Tamil Tigers,Chavez, and who knows who else are involved in some very nasty business together that they are desperate to keep quiet. The last thing Russia needs right now is to be implicated in providing support to a terror group through official or semi-official channels. Look for Bout to have a sudden heart attack. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-06-18 11:49 |
| #3 Victor Bout has been dispensing Russian arms for years. No doubt of his worth. Let's compromise with Putie. Send someone over, walk in with a silencer. Put it right between his eyes and turn out the lights. |
| Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2700 2008-06-18 10:59 |
| #2 "Is the DEA handling this affair because other agencies might have a conflict of interest in any trial involving Bout and Monzer?" Bout still has a reputation to uphold. Dropping dime on someone like Hugo the Toad will make closing the deal with the next Tin-Horn a lot more difficult. Viktor may be, at present, in the Jug but his fleet still flys. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2008-06-18 09:02 |
| #1 Methinks NEITHER THE USA NOR RUSSIA, ETAL. WILL WANT TO SEE VIKTOR PROSECUTED - NOT ALIVE AND CREDITABLE AND "SPILLING THE BEANS", anyways??? Ala ENEMY OF THE STATE = STATES/WORLD!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-06-18 00:34 |