Wife Says Viktor Bout 'Card In Political Game'

[mark45y]

Intro:

There are days in my life when everything is dreary

I grow pessimistic, sad and world weary.

But when I'm tearful and fearfully upset

I always sing this merry little minuet:

They're rioting in Africa

They're starving in Spain

There's hurricanes in Florida

And Texas needs rain.

The whole world is festering

With unhappy souls

The French hate the Germans,

The Germans hate the Poles

Italians hate Yugoslavs

South Africans hate the Dutch

And I don't like anybody very much

But we can be grateful

And thankful and proud

That man's been endowed

With a mushroom shaped cloud

And we know for certain

That some happy day

Someone will set the spark off

And we will all be blown away

They're rioting in Africa

There's strife in Iran

What nature doesn't do to us

Will be done by our fellow man.

Written in 1950 something. I had it on a Kingston trio album when I was a kid.

I read somewhere on the internet that there 150 small wars going on today.

To the Aussies and American and all the other paramilitary do gooders stay the heck out of Thailand and leave us alone. Arrest your criminals and save the world somewhere else. Take your values and weapons and morals and unload them on some other poor unsuspecting country. Take all your Thai rant threads and stick em where the sun don't shine.

[TAWP]

News article in Sweden's biggest morning paper about the US Army allegedly supplying the Iraqi Army with some of its purchased AT4's.

That is a breach of the end-purchaser agreement and a possible breach of arms-trade standard.

So what were you saying?

[craigt3365]

I'm afraid you're right and that's a bitter shame.

The world (read: Homo Sapiens) is not able to self-control because of money, power and greed; not necessarily in that order though.

However, we should be wary for the ones that are strongest, forcing their will and powerss upon other smaller and weaker nations, groups and/or individuals but at the same time creating shady and misty environments and circumstances, hiding their own goals, only to create (more) power.

LaoPo

Oh no! Looks like the Netherlands has climbed into bed with the US on international crime prevention! Jeez, LaoPo, the US might have your fingerprint data soon!?!?!?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/418673-us-and-the-netherlands-sign-agreement-to-prevent-and-combat-serious-crimes/

[LaoPo]

I'm afraid you're right and that's a bitter shame.

The world (read: Homo Sapiens) is not able to self-control because of money, power and greed; not necessarily in that order though.

However, we should be wary for the ones that are strongest, forcing their will and powerss upon other smaller and weaker nations, groups and/or individuals but at the same time creating shady and misty environments and circumstances, hiding their own goals, only to create (more) power.

LaoPo

Oh no! Looks like the Netherlands has climbed into bed with the US on international crime prevention! Jeez, LaoPo, the US might have your fingerprint data soon!?!?!?

http://www.thaivisa....serious-crimes/

Nah...the US climbed into bed with the Dutch; smaller and cosier

Positive development so we can watch out for all those American "criminals" smoking pot in the Amsterdam coffee shops ; you would be surprised by the number of Americans, visiting all those coffeeshops. Tens of thousands of them. As a matter of fact there were some American Gents, interviewed tonight on national television and they looked pretty happy in that Coffee shop.

The Netherlands will benefit a lot more from the American database which is a lot larger of course ...

Oh, before I forget; the US have my fingerprints already since the end of the '80's when I opened my businesses and such; needed vor visa, insurance, health checks etc. No problem, and I'm also not on the most wanted list

LaoPo

[craigt3365]

For sure, I visited one of those cafe's back in the early 80's. Great stuff. I saw this on TV the other day...seems you guys are cracking down on seed growing, etc.

http://www.examiner.com/top-news-in-denver/pot-entrepreneur-moving-his-hempire-to-denver

So where does one of the biggest cultivators of marijuana seeds in and hemp-related products go when the laws get a little tougher on people in his line of work in Amsterdam, a city known for its leniency toward cannabis?

Why, to Denver, of course.

But new rules in Amsterdam have been a bit of a buzzkill for the industry, so Dunn is moving his operations to Colorado, with headquarters in Denver, a move that surprises even him.

“The thing about America was they still had a very, very negative idea of cannabis,” Dunn said in an interview with CNNMoney. "I was in a sort of dream world over here.”

The dream started to end for Dunn when Amsterdam started instituting new rules for those selling marijuana such as not permitting coffee shops selling marijuana to a advertise that fact. Later, in March, a marijuana superstore on the Belgian border called Checkpoint was fined $13 million for keeping too much marijuana on the premises. The store served approximately 3,000 customers per day.

[LaoPo]

For sure, I visited one of those cafe's back in the early 80's. Great stuff. I saw this on TV the other day...seems you guys are cracking down on seed growing, etc.

http://www.examiner....mpire-to-denver

So where does one of the biggest cultivators of marijuana seeds in and hemp-related products go when the laws get a little tougher on people in his line of work in Amsterdam, a city known for its leniency toward cannabis?

Why, to Denver, of course.

But new rules in Amsterdam have been a bit of a buzzkill for the industry, so Dunn is moving his operations to Colorado, with headquarters in Denver, a move that surprises even him.

That story is incorrect but Dunn likes to tell the US audience the story HE wants to tell them. But his business in Denver will be shut down in no time as soon as the Federal watch dogs learn more about it.

Cultivating and selling seeds is not a problem in Holland and a huge business. There is one Dutch chap who has a worldwide business, growing and collecting seeds from all over the world: Caribbean, S America, Africa, Middle East.

They sell seeds in circular boxes for a lot of money; it's a multi million dollar business and growing and growing.

Another example: 5 Skunk #11 seeds, a top qlty seed (100% guaranteed feminine) sell for € 30 ($ 41) or Baht 1,230

Maybe it's legal to grow seeds in Thailand ? If so what the heck are you waiting for

Bout was in the wrong business...

LaoPo

[craigt3365]

For sure, I visited one of those cafe's back in the early 80's. Great stuff. I saw this on TV the other day...seems you guys are cracking down on seed growing, etc.

http://www.examiner....mpire-to-denver

So where does one of the biggest cultivators of marijuana seeds in and hemp-related products go when the laws get a little tougher on people in his line of work in Amsterdam, a city known for its leniency toward cannabis?

Why, to Denver, of course.

But new rules in Amsterdam have been a bit of a buzzkill for the industry, so Dunn is moving his operations to Colorado, with headquarters in Denver, a move that surprises even him.

That story is incorrect but Dunn likes to tell the US audience the story HE wants to tell them. But his business in Denver will be shut down in no time as soon as the Federal watch dogs learn more about it.

Cultivating and selling seeds is not a problem in Holland and a huge business. There is one Dutch chap who has a worldwide business, growing and collecting seeds from all over the world: Caribbean, S America, Africa, Middle East.

They sell seeds in circular boxes for a lot of money; it's a multi million dollar business and growing and growing.

Another example: 5 Skunk #11 seeds, a top qlty seed (100% guaranteed feminine) sell for € 30 ($ 41) or Baht 1,230

Maybe it's legal to grow seeds in Thailand ? If so what the heck are you waiting for

Bout was in the wrong business...

LaoPo

I know this is way off topic, but please give me some leeway. I actually had a part interest in a growing operation in Los Angeles. Never made any money, but at least didn't lose anything!!!!!!

I still think Bout biz is better for making money...governments are too fickle to grow pot, but arms...at times...slip through the cracks!

[LaoPo]

I know this is way off topic, but please give me some leeway. I actually had a part interest in a growing operation in Los Angeles. Never made any money, but at least didn't lose anything!!!!!!

I still think Bout biz is better for making money...governments are too fickle to grow pot, but arms...at times...slip through the cracks!

You've been a naughty boy and you were either too early, selling bad qlty seeds or wrong location (and also no internet . )

It's a huge profitable business now, especially also via Internet.

LaoPo

[TAWP]

News article in Sweden's biggest morning paper about the US Army allegedly supplying the Iraqi Army with some of its purchased AT4's.

That is a breach of the end-purchaser agreement and a possible breach of arms-trade standard.

So what were you saying?

Suddenly everyone went quiet about the topic...

Edited November 20, 2010 by TAWP

[craigt3365]

I know this is way off topic, but please give me some leeway. I actually had a part interest in a growing operation in Los Angeles. Never made any money, but at least didn't lose anything!!!!!!

I still think Bout biz is better for making money...governments are too fickle to grow pot, but arms...at times...slip through the cracks!

You've been a naughty boy and you were either too early, selling bad qlty seeds or wrong location (and also no internet . )

It's a huge profitable business now, especially also via Internet.

LaoPo

I was a VERY silent partner. Growing in California is still in the grey area of legality. My partner didn't know what he was doing...and got nervous after some new laws were passed. Oh well, at least for a year, I could say I was a grower!

[Buchholz]

A rather amusing report in the other paper today with Bout's wife plan to sue the Thai government and to use the funds to pay for his legal defense in the USA.

Good luck with that one, Alla.

[mark45y]

A rather amusing report in the other paper today with Bout's wife plan to sue the Thai government and to use the funds to pay for his legal defense in the USA.

Good luck with that one, Alla.

Newsweek has said he is worth 6 billion. They must be wrong.

[craigt3365]

A rather amusing report in the other paper today with Bout's wife plan to sue the Thai government and to use the funds to pay for his legal defense in the USA.

Good luck with that one, Alla.

Newsweek has said he is worth 6 billion. They must be wrong.

He had to have made BIG money in his biz. Even if it was legit, it was a BIG operation. Now he is claiming he has no money....maybe it is to show the courts he was never involved in anything "illegal"? It will be an interesting case for sure....but this guy for sure has money....

[Credo]

The wife maybe planning on opening a little botique and needs the money. You just never know in this economy.

[Buchholz]

A rather amusing report in the other paper today with Bout's wife plan to sue the Thai government and to use the funds to pay for his legal defense in the USA.

Good luck with that one, Alla.

Newsweek has said he is worth 6 billion. They must be wrong.

He had to have made BIG money in his biz. Even if it was legit, it was a BIG operation. Now he is claiming he has no money....maybe it is to show the courts he was never involved in anything "illegal"? It will be an interesting case for sure....but this guy for sure has money....

well we know he's been Mirandized...

The Miranda warning (also referred to as Miranda rights) is a warning that is required to be given by police in the United States to criminal suspects in police custody

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?”

because then we have...

Bout, 43, wearing a brown shirt and black sweatpants, pleaded not guilty during an 8-minute initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where his court-appointed attorney,

http://detnews.com/article/20101118/NATION/11180399/1020/rss09

mai mee satang...

.

Edited November 21, 2010 by Buchholz

[TAWP]

It could also be a case that any numbers assigned to him is infact propaganda...

[Buchholz]

Wife of accused arms dealer says she plans to sue Thai officials

The wife of suspected international arms dealer Viktor Bout said Monday that her husband was illegally extradited to the United States -- and she plans to take legal action against those responsible. "It's definitely directed at [the] Thai government and the prime minister and those persons who signed the release of Viktor Bout onto the hands of U.S. authority, because they ...breached the law of their own country," Alla Bout told reporters in Bangkok. "Reading between the lines of the media reports, you can see now a message that's very clear: we have not got [Osama] bin Laden yet, but we have got Viktor Bout, and that's the second best," she said.

Alla Bout later told reporters that she hoped to convince the Thai government to bring her husband back to Thailand and release him. Viktor Bout is now in U.S. custody awaiting trial on charges that he agreed to sell millions of dollars of weapons to a Colombian narco-terrorist organization. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a U.S. courtroom in New York to four counts of terror-related crimes.

Continues:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/22/thailand.bout.extradition/index.html?section=cnn_latest

CNN - November 22, 2010

[Buchholz]

.

Meanwhile, in other litigation news...

Bout May Sue Hollywood

Angered by what she describes as “a campaign of demonization” against her husband, the wife of alleged arms trafficker Viktor Bout said on Monday that legal action is possible against “those who have caused terrible damage to my husband's image.” She also suggested that Thailand and the US may have cut a deal linking her husband's extradition with US assistance regarding former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Asked whether the US should punish those who published or made allegations against her husband, Alla Bout said: “I have advised my husband that he should take legal action against some of those who have published unfounded allegations,” adding that, “Action should definitely be taken against those who created the movie 'Lord of War.'”

The film stars Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian gun runner apparently modeled on Viktor Bout, with other characters resembling former Liberian President Charles Taylor and his son Chuck. Charles Taylor—currently on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague for war crimes allegedly perpetrated during the 1990’s civil war in Sierra Leone—is thought to be a beneficiary of Mr Bout's alleged arms cargo business.

In recent months, Viktor Bout's case has become entwined with Thailand's domestic politics. When asked about links between Viktor Bout's extradition and former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Alla Bout said: “There might have been some political offer from America to Thailand.” On Nov. 18, Peua Thai MP Surapong Towichakchaikul said that the extradition may have been approved by the Thai Government in hopes that in return the United States would arrest and extradite Thaksin, who is facing a two-year jail term for corruption charges in Thailand. Thaksin visited Russia at least twice during 2010.

Continues:

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20146

Irrawaddy - November 22, 2010

[Buchholz]

.

Sue the government, sue Hollywood, and now... bring Viktor back to Thailand...

Wife wants Bout brought back to face charges here

Victor Bout, the alleged arms smuggler who was extradited last week to the United States, should be returned to Bangkok to face pending court cases here, his wife said yesterday.

"However absurd it may sound, we will try to make the Thai government, which released Victor into the hands of the American authorities, bring him back from the United States to Thailand and release him," Alla Bout told a press conference.

She argued that Bout's lawyer on October 8 appealed an earlier ruling. Under Thai law all court cases must be cleared before an extradition can be carried out. Alla Bout said she would take legal action against the Thai government, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the authorities who signed the extradition papers.

"The government of Thailand has once more shown its complete subservience to Washington, and willingness to fulfill any order of their American bosses," she said.

Thailand insists that it strictly followed judicial procedures in the Bout case, and there was no political interference involved.

"The extradition was carried out as all the outstanding cases had been addressed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said. He added that there was no evidence that Bout's lawyer had submitted an appeal on October 8. Bout was extradited to the US on November 16 after a Bangkok court dropped a final case against him.

The decision to allow Bout's extradition irked the Russian government, which accused Thailand of bowing to US political pressure.

Bout faces charges of illegal arms trading and selling millions of dollars worth of weapons to a terrorist organisation for killing Americans. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

US officials alleged Bout's air cargo business was a cover for transporting weapons and military equipment around the world, including to Africa, South America and the Middle East.

The 43-year-old former Soviet Air Force officer was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 in a sting operation led by US agents posing as arms buyers for a leftist rebel group.

Bout has denied the charges, calling them "entirely a fabrication of the US".

His wife plans to travel to the US to support her husband in his ongoing travails.

She denied that her husband was a billionaire, as the US government and media sources claim.

"Today, Victor Bout is totally broke," Alla Bout said. "The American justice system, if it is just, and the American people, if they are moral, will have to ask themselves this question - if Victor's riches are lies, then what other lies could be hidden in the great mudslide that has been poured on my husband and family."

Alla said the US government had transformed her husband into a terrorist because they had failed to catch the real terrorist, Osama bin Laden.

-- The Nation 2010-11-23

[TAWP]

The film stars Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian gun runner apparently modeled on Viktor Bout, with other characters resembling former Liberian President Charles Taylor and his son Chuck. Charles Taylor—currently on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague for war crimes allegedly perpetrated during the 1990’s civil war in Sierra Leone—is thought to be a beneficiary of Mr Bout's alleged arms cargo business.

It is lies like this that is the problem. Bout has not been linked to Charles Taylor. That is another arms trader (that was one of the other FOUR arms trader that the Lord of War character is based/mixed from).

But the press keeps printing it...

[animatic]

“Action should definitely be taken against those who created the movie 'Lord of War.'”

"Alla Bout later told reporters that she hoped to convince

the Thai government to bring her husband back to Thailand and release him."

Bout seems to have married the Russian version of Anna Nichole Smith...

An amazingly minimalist relation with legal realities.

[craigt3365]

The film stars Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian gun runner apparently modeled on Viktor Bout, with other characters resembling former Liberian President Charles Taylor and his son Chuck. Charles Taylor—currently on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague for war crimes allegedly perpetrated during the 1990’s civil war in Sierra Leone—is thought to be a beneficiary of Mr Bout's alleged arms cargo business.

It is lies like this that is the problem. Bout has not been linked to Charles Taylor. That is another arms trader (that was one of the other FOUR arms trader that the Lord of War character is based/mixed from).

But the press keeps printing it...

How can you say it is a lie? Do you have personal proof? His relationship with Taylog is documented in pretty much every report on Bout that I have read. Show me a link to a report that refutes this. Other than his personal website!

This is just one of many, many, many reports about his involvement with Charles Taylor:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,721532-2,00.html

Two US journalists, Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, learned that the Russian merchant of death and his fleet played a particularly shameful role in Liberia, where Bout reportedly supplied the brutal warlord Charles Taylor with large numbers of weapons after Taylor had assumed power. Armed with these weapons, Taylor's child soldiers, often high on drugs, became notorious for mowing down everything in their path.

According to Farah and Braun, Bout bought a house in the Liberian capital Monrovia near Taylor's official residence, where he was a frequent visitor and where Taylor's servants respectfully called him "Mister Vik." The dictator, who would send rebel units on raids into neighboring, resource-rich Sierra Leone, allegedly paid Bout with looted blood diamonds. Bout apparently brought his own gemstone experts to the meetings with Taylor to check the stones.

As for money, it's his lies. He made plenty and is now playing a game of lies. Can't blame him. If he admitted he had billions, it would sure help the US in their case against him.

His business, as detailed in “Merchant of Death”, a book by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, two American investigative reporters, proved vastly profitable—an associate claimed this year that Mr Bout was worth $6 billion. It was also intensely complicated. He set up fast-changing firms with many fronts and names, providing air-logistics and weaponry to any client who could pay.

Here's a great article on Bout:

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12795502

[craigt3365]

“Action should definitely be taken against those who created the movie 'Lord of War.'”

"Alla Bout later told reporters that she hoped to convince

the Thai government to bring her husband back to Thailand and release him."

Bout seems to have married the Russian version of Anna Nichole Smith...

An amazingly minimalist relation with legal realities.

She's delusional if she thinks Thailand wants Bout back! :cheesy:

[Buchholz]

“Action should definitely be taken against those who created the movie 'Lord of War.'”

"Alla Bout later told reporters that she hoped to convince

the Thai government to bring her husband back to Thailand and release him."

Bout seems to have married the Russian version of Anna Nichole Smith...

An amazingly minimalist relation with legal realities.

She's delusional if she thinks Thailand wants Bout back! :cheesy:

Sue Thailand

Sue Hollywood

Bring Him Back

Anna Nichole Smith singing Engelbert Humperdinck's Please Release Him Let Him Go

[TAWP]

[mark45y]

“Action should definitely be taken against those who created the movie 'Lord of War.'”

"Alla Bout later told reporters that she hoped to convince

the Thai government to bring her husband back to Thailand and release him."

Bout seems to have married the Russian version of Anna Nichole Smith...

An amazingly minimalist relation with legal realities.

Maybe she has seen the photos of Bout's lawyer. Not only does she have a lot of experience with narco terrorists but she is cute too. She has a pretty good record even suing NY state judges she won a quarter of a million.