Victor Bout sold weapons of war to banned parties making the world a more dangerous place.
Bout is particularly notorious for his role in the first and second Liberian civil wars, which killed 250,000 people and destroyed much of the country. Between 1989 and 2003, Bout sold arms to warring factions in the conflict, most notably to corrupt former President Charles Taylor, violating several United Nations arms embargoes.
In addition to Liberia and Afghanistan, Bout was also active in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Angola, Yemen, Somalia, and the former Yugoslavia. Bout was arrested on March 6, 2008, in Thailand in a sting operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. If Bout were to return to his old work, the U.S. military would focus on relaying to allies in Africa that he does not have their best interests at heart, the senior DoD official said.
Former DEA official Derek Maltz said that the trade was a “blow to the rule of law.”
“Americans should be very careful traveling around the world,” he said. “This decision has put Americans at a huge risk.”
Even New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez said he had concerns about Bout being free.
“We cannot ignore that releasing Bout back into the world is a deeply disturbing decision,” he said. “We must stop inviting dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans overseas as bargaining chips, and we must try do better at encouraging American citizens against traveling to places like Russia where they are primary targets for this type of unlawful detention.”
Months ago another former DEA official sounded the alarm on the potential trade.
Rob “Zach” Zachariasiewicz wrote an op-ed for USA Today and warned against making a trade of Bout for Griner.
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