Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible

This well-written book was delivered on time and in good condition. My review title is light-hearted, the subject of the book is not. This is an inside look at the rise of Victor Bout, a former Soviet Air Force officer, as the superstar of modern gun running. The details of how he did it, and how the US and other nations and NGOs tracked and treated his organization, are all in the book. This is an eye-opener for the common citizen on one of todays most pressing transnational threats. >Sam

If you're buying this book to get a novelized version of the "Lord of War" film, look elsewhere. This book is a very, very non-fiction account of a wealth of data that has been assembled. Don't get me wrong, this was a fascinating and interesting read. The mountain of data the authors have collected is amazing. The story this data weaves is engaging and scary all at once. For a dry, VERY non-fiction book, it's still a very easy read.

If you've ever wondered how all these poor impoverished nations waging civil wars can get their hands on seemingly endless supplies of weapons, you'll find some answers here... Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible by Douglas Farah & Stephen Braun. It's an interesting look into the murky world of arms merchants, and a big player in that game... Viktor Bout. Contents: The Delivery Man; Planes, Guns, and Money; A Dangerous Business; Continental Collapse; At a Crossroads; The Chase Begins; The Taliban Connection; Black Charters; Gunships and Titanium; "Get Me a Warrant"; Now or Never; "We Are Very Limited in What We Can Do"; Welcome to Baghdad; Blacklisted and Still Flying; Epilogue; Notes; Index Farah and Braun dig into the history and background of one Viktor Bout, a Russian who has built an empire in transporting cargo. Using old Soviet-era planes, often barely airworthy, he flies anything and everything into global hotspots related to war and combat. While many of the loads do involve legal items like appliances and food, quite often the trips are much more clandestine and involve massive amounts of weapons. This can be anything from crates of AK-47s to full attack helicopters. And he's not terribly selective in who he sides with. On a number of occasions, he's actually supplied the weapons for both sides of the conflict. So long as someone will pay, he'll deliver the goods. Using global shell companies and partnerships, he can change plane registrations, launder money, and operate in violation of numerous UN sanctions and restrictions. Based on the research here, it doesn't look like any of the resolutions and embargoes have had much effect on his operations. He's well-known to many governments that pay lip service to stopping him, but few have actually done anything other than posture and talk. The interesting part of the book is towards the end, when the authors start dealing with the Iraq war and the supply of US troops. A number of the contractors who fly in supplies will subcontract with others who actually own and fly the planes. And guess who owns a number of the subcontractors? Bout. Again, it's a matter of the government knowing that this is going on, but not wanting to do anything about it as it would limit the supply line into Iraq. The US government also will not put pressure on the Russian government to shut him down, as they don't want to create waves in other areas. This is a classic example of where right and wrong is clear, but expediency and politics turn it all grey. The only issue I have with the book is that it becomes a bit repetitive at times. The research is thorough, but after awhile it seems like an endless litany of companies, corrupt leaders, and operations in various countries. Still, it's hard not to be dismayed that people and operations like this are allowed to exist, and that it's nearly impossible for international sanctions to be effective...

"Merchant of Death" is probably the most important book written in this year, amidst plenty of other non-fiction bestsellers. The authors provide us key clues for why there are thousands of civil-wars fought throughout the world, when simple negotiations could bring lasting peace. The meticulous research done by the authors confirm that the peace negotiations are always disrupted by "war mongers", who have a vested interest in the arms trade run by Victor Bout. Sri Lanka (the Tsunami hit, war-torn, small island off of southern India)'s military expenditure increased from US$7.5 million in 1977 to a budgeted US$1.2 BILLION for the year 2007 - an almost two hundred fold increase. During the same period, foreign aid to Sri Lanka has kept pace with Sri Lanka's increasing military expenditure. Clearly, the donors (including the US) who continuously pour money into the small, poor nation clearly wouldn't have sold them arms, or at least would have questioned them if the Sri Lankan government bought arms from them. So where do they get the arms from? Tamil Tigers, the insurgent group fighting for a minority homeland in Sri Lanka are clearly cut-off from the rest of the world after many nations (including the US) listed them as a terrorist group. Yet, the group is still able to militarily challenge a $1.2 BILLION Sri Lankan army. Where do THEY get the arms from? Failed and rogue states like Sri Lanka, who continuously violate human rights by abducting and killing its own people, and Tamil Tigers, who have a history of recruiting child soldiers should not be given the opportunity to purchase arms - from any source. But unfortunately, the capitalistic nature of this trade run by Victor Bout is making arms trade as easy as commodity in the global front. The price? Peace loving citizens who pay billions in taxes every year unknowingly fuel world conflicts when their respective countries send money as foreign aides to rogue states who simply make a U turn and go to the corner "arms grocery" run by Victor Bout. "Merchant of Death" is an eye-opening and timely book that is written with amazing precision of details about one of the notorious men in the world. Every peace loving world citizen should read this to understand the "ugly truth" behind every conflict in the world. N.Sivakumar Author of: America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World

This is a frightening book. Victor Bout, the Russian merchant of death, is a guy who pushes the "free marketplace" ethos as far as it can go. Each year he black-markets millions of dollars' worth of weapons, from pistols to missiles, to any government or group with the scratch to pay for them. Ideology means nothing to him. He's perfectly happy to sell weapons to both sides in a civil war, for example. He's simply, as he describes himself, a "businessman" looking for the best deal. (Diabolically, he also calls himself a "humanitarian" because of his occasional highly publicized "charities"--which always, by the way, earn him huge profits.) We all know that arms merchants, legal or otherwise, are big global players (the Nicholas Cage flick, "Lord of War," publicized the industry). But what may be less known is that many of them, with Bout at the top of the list, operate with the at least implicit complicity of governments around the world. So long as Bout markets his stuff as "weapons in the war against terrorism," so long as he sells to thugs whom governments approve, he seems to have lots of friends in high places who shield him from international police warrants and criminal prosecution. So one of the more chilling subtexts of Farah and Braun's book is that creeps like Bout aren't really outlaws so much as allies of governments. He's like one of those slightly embarrassing cousins that you don't especially want at family reunions, but which everyone in the family secretly turns to when they need something. The Bouts of the world come and go. But their perennial presence in our midst is guaranteed by oceans of surplus weapons built by past and present superpowers, and the willingness of the remaining superpowers to turn a blind eye so long as those weapons are sold to the right people. Dirty hands all the way around.