... world rejoices.
The NYT is reporting that Viktor Bout, who may be the most notorious arms merchant in the world, was arrested an hour ago in Thailand. For those who don't know about Bout, he is... well, not a nice guy. He was the basis for the movie "Lord of War" and the subject of the investigative book "Merchant of Death," which tracked how he built his empire on the destruction of Africa and running weapons to terrorist groups.
This is a good thing. More after the jump.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
BANGKOK — One of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, suspected of supplying weapons to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and of pouring huge arms shipments into Africa’s civil wars with his own private air fleet, was arrested by Thai authorities in a hotel here on Thursday. His capture was prompted by a tipoff from the United States in connection with the procurement of weapons for the Colombian FARC rebels.
You can't get the whole story from the article, but Bout has a hand in pretty much every conflict around the globe. Many of the wars in Africa that started in the 90's can be linked back to him. When the Cold War ended, he managed to accrue a team of pilots around him, and was one of the few people who had the resources to really step up and fly weapons and other contraband around the globe.
The book Merchant of Death does the best job tracking Bout's crimes, including how the Bush administration used him to deliver weapons into Iraq in 2004 and 2005. It's worth reading up on him, if for no other reason than that he's the prototype for most international arms merchants that are out there today.
Things here at DKos are heated these days, and sometime we forget that everyone here, in their hearts, are Good People who want to make the world a better place.
Victor Bout was a Bad Person. So chalk up a win for the Good Guys.