[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 11, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1869-S1870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ARREST OF VIKTOR BOUT

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I was pleased to hear about the recent 
arrest of Viktor Bout, one of the most notorious arms dealers in the 
world. Last week, Mr. Bout, was arrested in Thailand by a U.S. sting 
operation in collaboration with Thai authorities which apprehended him 
as he was allegedly trying to sell weapons to the FARC the main 
Colombian rebel group and an organization that has also been placed on 
the U.S. terrorist list.
  If Bout is charged and convicted in Thailand, he faces 10 years in 
prison, while if the U.S. is able to extradite him he will face 15 
years. I certainly recognize the need to ensure a free and fair trial 
for Mr. Bout that is his right but I am nonetheless pleased that after 
numerous attempts he has finally been arrested. For years, Bout has 
been able to evade law enforcement officers around the world, despite 
investigations by the U.N., the media, and even intelligence sources 
that indicate his complicity in arms smuggling and his role in fueling 
some of the world's most brutal wars in some cases by providing weapons 
to both sides of the conflict.

[[Page S1870]]

Despite an outstanding 2002 Interpol warrant, until last week he was 
able to successfully dodge arrest.
  Mr. President, Viktor Bout benefited from the unrestrained capitalism 
and weak institutions that emerged in the aftermath of the fall of the 
Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He used that 
tumultuous period for his own personal gain, as he built an aircraft 
fleet, purchased cheaply from the stockpiles of discarded Cold War 
weapons, and sought out clients around the globe to help perpetuate his 
diabolical money-making schemes. He exploited the dearth of arms 
control initiatives in fledging countries and recognized that the lack 
of an international framework would serve his interests well.
  According to Douglas Farah, one of the authors of the recently 
published ``Merchant of Death,'' ``[it] is highly unlikely [Bout] could 
have flown aircraft out of Russia and acquired huge amounts of weapons 
from Soviet arsenals without the direct protection of Russian 
intelligence, and, given his background, the [Russian military 
intelligence] seems the most likely candidate.'' Indeed, it is likely 
that such assistance was needed to create such a vast empire.
  Mr. President, this empire had many and varied clients. In fact, 
during the early years of the Iraq war, Bout's aircrafts were used to 
support U.S. Government contractor and subcontractor work. I inquired 
about the use of these aircrafts at a 2004 Iraq hearing in the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee and learned shortly thereafter that both 
the State and Defense Departments had done business with Bout. Not long 
after my inquiry, this business relationship was purportedly terminated 
and Bout's assets were frozen by the Treasury Department. But despite 
this corrective action, Bout's work remained uninhibited and, according 
to some credible reports, he continued to associate with other entities 
of the U.S. Government.
  Bout was clearly a savvy and dependable broker, but he used these 
talents to do business with some of the most unsavory characters in the 
world. The U.N. investigative team which pursued Bout found that he was 
pouring small arms and ammunition into Afghanistan, Angola, Rwanda, 
Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo for years--enabling 
millions of innocent people to be slaughtered and supporting carnage at 
unprecedented levels.
  Bout was able to circumvent both national and international arms 
controls by exploiting holes in the system. Despite the arrest 
warrants, asset freezes, and international embargoes, he was able to 
operate with impunity because of the lack of concerted international 
cooperation within the arms control and law enforcement arenas. Last 
week's arrest is a testament to the importance of that global 
cooperation and a reminder that as our world continues to globalize we 
must work together in order to hold individuals like Bout accountable 
for their actions.

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