I never want to hear anything about gun control from Libs again.
2010 CBS News.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/viktor-bout-capturing-the-merchant-of-death/"Rarely does the U.S. government want anyone more than it wanted Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death."...U.S. saw him as a threat because of his ability to arm terrorists targeting the United States.
"Viktor Bout in my eyes is one of the most dangerous men on the face of the Earth," Michael Braun, the former chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told correspondent Armen Keteyian.
The U.S. has indicted him on four terror-related charges, including "conspiracy to kill Americans."
Asked what makes Bout a threat to the United States, Braun said, "He is a shadow facilitator. He's arming not only designated terrorist groups, insurgent groups, but he's also arming very powerful drug trafficking cartels around the globe."
According to the U.S. indictment, Bout had a unique selling point when it came to weapons trafficking: "a fleet of cargo airplanes capable of transporting weapons and military equipment" anytime, anywhere. With more than 60 planes in all, it was his own private air force.
U.S. Treasury documents reveal a Bout empire so sophisticated, so complex - hidden behind a thick curtain of front companies - that even the U.S. government unwittingly contracted with two of his companies to deliver supplies to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Bout drove to a hotel and met the two fake arms buyers in a conference room on the 27th floor. There, the DEA's undercover team told Bout they want his weapons to kill Americans.
"The Comandante and Eduardo make it very clear. They said, 'We're fighting against the United States.' Bout responds and says, 'Look, they're after me too.' He said, 'But we are together in this. They are my enemy also.' "
Gosh, I wonder if he'll go back to his old ways. Our stuff to Ukraine is on the black market. How long before the drug cartels have a bunch of it?
