Victor Bout, the inspiration for the arms-dealing character played by Nicolas Cage in Lord of War, was arrested this week in Bangkok. Will the charges hold, or, like in the movie, will he walk out a free man because the arms-shipping service he provides is vital to the continued profits of powerful arms dealers? (As the movie notes, the five countries that make the most money from arms manufacturing happen to be the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.)
The US wants Bout extradited to face charges in the United States for conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization – namely, FARC, the leftist insurgents in Columbia’s ongoing armed conflict. FARC is identified in the US criminal code as a foreign terrorist group, and aiding such a group is a crime. However, the question of how the US has jurisdiction to prosecute someone arrested in Thailand for trying to ship arms to Columbia should be an issue raised by his defense.
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