The Russians believe Whelan is a spy. They say he was caught with a flash drive. He said someone gave him the drive with pictures of churches. Our government says he is not a spy. If he was a spy, legally he should be locked up. I guess it boils down to which government do you think is more truthful?
The Russian arms dealer sold arms to people we think are bad guys. We sell a lot of arms overseas ourselves. I assume we use our own dealers as well. I am sure we would say we only sell arms to the good guys. If not, how are our arms dealers different from theirs? Which government, if either, only sells arms to the good guys?
It seems to me; one view of the original trade offer depends on how you answer the above questions. Given the last few years, I am not ashamed to say that I am a bit unsure.
After reading up on him, I'm not convinced that Viktor Bout was quite the evil guy we've made him out to be.
It should be noted that we contracted several shipments into Iraq through Bout in the early 00s.
Seems mostly he's guilty of pissing off the wrong people in Washington.
Excellent thoughtful post
Lost here