As is being reported everywhere, Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who provided the basis for the Nicholas Cage character in the underrated Lord of War, has been arrested in Thailand. Most recently, Bout is alleged to have sold weapons to FARC, the Colombian insurgent group that is currently at the center of the Venezuela-Colombia-Ecudador imbroglio. Bout has a long history in the arms trade, however. He took full advantage of the collapse of the Soviet Union and of contacts within the Soviet military to build a huge arms export business, built around a fleet of old Soviet transport aircraft. Bout's one self-prohibition, apparently, was dealing with Al Qaeda or the Taliban, although the Treasury Department accused Bout of supplying weapons to both sides in Afghanistan prior to 2001.
One lesson to take from the career of Viktor Bout is that the Cold War isn't really over; we will continue to live with the fallout from the collapse of the Soviet Union for the rest of our lives, and probably much of our children's lifetimes.
More at Danger Room and Defense Tech. And Alex at Yorkshire Ranter has a good round-up and a description of the arrest.
-- Robert Farley
