The Case

    Due to a number of planned and unplanned events, I have had the unique chance to observe the developing case of VB in Bangkok, Thailand, as he faces extradition to the US. I am half-Thai, half-white, working in the education field.

    VB ran successful air transport companies in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, even having companies registered in the United States.  He began by transporting flowers and chickens, making profits on these endeavors.  He ventured further into air transport, opening numerous companies used to manage his airline operations.  However, his businesses declined, and he settled into semi-retirement, living openly in Moscow, Russia. His wife operates a fashion business, under the Alla Bout brand. 

    There can be hours of debate about whether  or not any of the planes that ever flew under a company registered by VB ever carried arms illegally, but the business ethics question that arises is:  is a taxi driver responsible if he unknowingly transports a wanted felon?  Is FedEx responsible for allowing counterfeit DVD’s or drugs to be transported by its planes and trucks? Is VB responsible if a plane hired by a company is labeled as ‘shovels’ when in fact it contains AK-47’s?  What about the selling and the buying parties?  How about the customs officials at the ports of entry?  Are they being charged with conspiracy to kill Americans? No, they aren’t… but VB is! (One person is easier to bring in than interfering in the systems of many countries and governments, even if that one person has done nothing wrong. If the people think he has done something wrong, that is sufficient).  Even if VB knowingly shipped arms, why is he being charged with much more severe crimes?

    Additionally, the presentation of evidence incriminating Viktor Bout himself would be necessary to prove his guilt.  The dealings for the supposed arms deal were done with Andrew Smulian, not Viktor Bout.  There hasn’t been any presentation of evidence directly showing Viktor Bout was trying to sell anything but 2 cargo planes. 

    But why spend millions of dollars reeling in VB?  There are many suggestions – that VB really is an evil Merchant of Death, that VB knows ‘too much’ about American operations in the Middle East, that VB knows ‘too much’ about the Soviet and Russian militaries, that VB was connected to the sale of weaponry used in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.  There is a long list.

    Or, perhaps, is it simply a matter of business?  The DEA (yes, that’s right, the DRUG enforcement agency) detained VB in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2008.  The span and budget of the DEA increased dramatically this past decade, surpassing the CIA in the number of field offices around the world. These organizations operate in every country, because they can do things there (semi-legally) that they cannot do on American soil.  The “War on Terror” has been an expensive one – one that many people question.  Again, perhaps this is a simple case of business.  Here’s what I mean – if you are the director of a department at a large multinational corporation, you are expected to use the resources you have to bring in results.  In the case of a business, those results are usually revenue, brand recognition, goodwill, market share etc… That manager is responsible for those results.  The DEA is also a company, in a sense. They have managers who have responsibilities and budgets.  If a director spends millions of taxpayers’ dollars on an operation, and he fails, he will most likely be asked to leave the organization, and will lose quite a bit of respect as well.   On a macro level, if the US government is waging a war on terror, shouldn’t they be arresting of kinds of evil terrorist – type people? You know, showing the result of all the money being spent and personal liberties being taken away (Patriot Act)? Accountability.

    This was an easy one – a seldom-seen mustached ex-Soviet officer with lovely nicknames like ‘Lord of War’ and ‘Merchant of Death.’ He already had a blockbuster Hollywood movie starring Nicolas Cage to his name (it was very much a movie, not a documentary).  He already had a book written about him (again, in a very negative, evidence-less story). His name was linked to Al-Qaeda.  He was operating in Africa…. The list goes on.  Most of the people I have talked to about this topic do not know who he is, or if they do, they know just what they catch in the mass media reports… something like… “Lord of War awaits extradition in Thailand on arms trading charges.”

    So, VB comes to Bangkok.  He is detained by Thai police and DEA officers at a luxury hotel. Charges are brought against him by Thailand.  Then, when Thailand realizes that there is no real evidence, they drop all charges against him, and he is re-arrested, for the same reason, this time at the request of the US government.

    This is important:  he has been living in the Klong Prem Remand Prison since March 2008, and he is not charged with anything by Thailand. His extradition to the US was already denied, because the Thai court determined that a Russian being charged by the US government for doing something in Thailand just doesn’t cut it. They also ruled that the FARC in a political organization, not a terrorist organization.  Additionally, Thailand will not extradite people for political reasons.  One more thing – Thailand has no charges against VB. However, the US has charged him with:

1) Conspiracy to kill Americans

2) Conspiracy to kill American officers and employees of the US government

3) Conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles

4) Conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization

    Now, I am not naïve enough to say that VB has never broken an import law or embargo, but he is being charged with offenses that total 2 life sentences in an American prison. It’s the end of his life, basically.  It’s a case of being charged with being a terrorist, and people believe it.