The following introductory paragraph was not included in the copy I received from my source… I include it here now at the request of Dimitri Khalezov who has also informed me that it was part of the original interview conducted by Daniel Estulin.
[Dimitri Khalezov is a former Soviet commissioned officer of the “military unit 46179”, otherwise known as “the Special Control Service” of the 12th Chief Directorate of the Defense Ministry of the Soviet Union. He has agreed to this exclusive interview and it is our pleasure to be able to offer readers of www.danielestulin.com another quality first. Dimitri is a crucial piece of the puzzle in the case of Victor Bout. It is safe to say that had it not been for Dimitri´s dedication to helping Mr. Bout, his incorruptibility and brilliance, Victor, might very well have found himself today behind bars in some high-profile American prison. Dimitri is the first man to see Mr. Bout after his world famous arrest in Bangkok and he is the man who has given more headaches to the United States government than anyone else in the world. Furthermore, Dimitri Khalezov is the first person in the world to have uncovered the true reasons for the United States government’s dogged pursuit of Victor Bout. Mr. Bout´s arrest is directly linked to 9/11, and Mr. Khalezov, because of his unique vantage point as a former member of the Soviet “atomic” and later “nuclear” intelligence says that he knew about the in-built so-called “emergency nuclear demolitions scheme” of the Twin Towers as long back as early 1980´s, while serving in the Soviet Special Control Service.]
victorbout
photo of Victor Bout courtesy of Dimitri Khalezov
(Bout is in the middle)
How did you get involved in the case?
Both Victor Bout and I are Russian. We are both former Soviet military officers. Moreover, we actually come from the same village. I think, these are good enough reason to try and help him with his case, considering that Victor was arrested in Bangkok and I happened to have been living in Bangkok at the time of his arrest. Furthermore, I have extensive experience with the Thai legal system, especially when you consider that the United States government has tried to have me arrested and extradited to America too in connection with 9/11. It happened back in 2003. So, I have enough motivation to try to help Victor.
In March 2008, Victor Bout was Osama bin Laden´s equal as far as notoriety on the world´s stage. How did you manage to see Victor Bout on the very first day of his detention in Bangkok?
Under the Thai Criminal Procedure any person under arrest has his or her undeniable right to be visited by friends while under arrest. Victor Bout, despite being the so-called “Merchant of Death” and the so-called “Lord of War”, was not excluded from the provisions of the Thai Criminal Procedure Code. I simply came to the police station where he was detained and requested to visit my friend. They had to let me see him as much as it might have pained them. In fact, the police went out of their way to help. They seated both of us on a sofa in the corridor and let us chat nicely. Usually they only allow visitors to talk to detained persons through bars of a detention cage, but for Victor and me they made an exception to this rule.
Is there a link between your case, 9-11 and Victor Bout?
Apparently yes. I was wanted by the United States allegedly in connection with 9/11, and with the 2002 Bali bombing (which was a mini-nuke bombing), while Victor Bout is apparently wanted by the Americans in connection with 9/11 and in connection with the 2003 El-Nogal bombing. Incidentally, El-Nogal is known to have been a mini-nuke bombing – at least known to appropriate security officials. As you can see there are a lot of similarities.
Who are the main players: US and Bout’s camp?
It might appear that a certain alleged ‘Bout camp’ exists, it is a totally false impression. The so-called ‘Bout camp’ consists of Victor Bout, his wife, his brother, his mother, his daughter, me (Dimitri Khalezov), a couple of Victor’s personal friends from the Soviet Union, his Thai lawyer – Mr. Lak Nittiwatvicharn, his Russian lawyer, of course, Daniel Estulin, and, perhaps, a few journalists who came to know Victor and his family during their investigation of the case. If you can call this rag-tag army “Bout´s camp”, then yes, there are two main players – “Bout’s camp” and the US camp. Aside from the US government, however, there are quite a few other powerful players who have positioned themselves against Victor.
Who are these powerful players and why have we not heard anything about them?
First of all, the Russian Government (at least certain powerful individuals within the Russian Government), and the Russian secret service.
What? Are you serious? You have just accused the Russian government of working against Victor Bout when the entire world is convinced that had it not been for Putin and Medvedev, Victor Bout, most likely would have been extradited to the United States a long time ago!
You will not be able to hear anything about them, because they are not so stupid as to show off. They would rather show you something entirely opposite – that they are allegedly “helping” Victor Bout. But make no mistake – from the very beginning of this unprecedented set-up, the Russian side was heavily involved with the Americans in the entire operation in framing Victor and in luring him to Bangkok. It was conceived and conducted by both – the Russian and the American secret services working together. In addition to the Russians, other players were involved as well. Primarily, the Israeli secret services – the Mossad and Sayaret Matkal. They have keen interest in this case, too. It was demonstrated by the unprecedented Sayaret Matkal’s involvement in the case of one of the FARC leaders – Raul Reyes and “his” weapon-grade Uranium that was planted by “someone” around his camp in the Ecuadorian jungle. Don’t miss this point – Raul Reyes was murdered on March 1, 2008, while Victor Bout was scheduled to be lured to Bangkok on March 4, 2008, in direct connection with the FARC and Uranium affairs, while all legal paperwork that requested the Thais to arrest him has been submitted to the Thai side by the Americans in the last day of February – that is BEFORE the murder of Raul Reyes.
And, please, note that it was the Israeli Sayaret Matkal (a highly tailored organization that deals exclusively with nuclear weapons of enemies and with nothing else but that) involved in the actual murder of Reyes and in the “discovery” of “his” Uranium. Don’t miss to notice also that Victor Bout arrived in Bangkok not alone, but in a strange company of his alleged “friend” – a certain colonel from the Russian FSB, who was initially arrested with Victor and then strangely released and sent back to Moscow on the first available flight. To understand how improbable it is, try to imagine the following situation. Let´s say that a certain secret service (the French, for example) arranged to lure Osama bin Laden to Paris, promising the Saudi terrorist that he will meet in Paris with his Muslim brothers and in the meeting they will discuss how to demolish the Eiffel Tower with a stolen Soviet mini-nuke. But Osama bin Laden arrives to the meeting in Paris not alone, but accompanied by a certain colonel from the Taliban counter-intelligence service who decided to travel together with Osama just for the occasion – to have a chance to see the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower (before it is nuked).
The French secret service arrests both – Osama bin Laden and the colonel from the Taliban. Except that the French realize that the one they want is Osama bin Laden, and not the colonel from the Taliban’s counter-intelligence who indeed came to Paris to see its attractions and who simply kept his friend Osama bin Laden company on the flight to France´s capital. So, the French police decide to release the colonel and send him back to Kabul on the next available flight, detaining only Osama bin Laden, because ONLY he was the target of their sting-operation. Does this version sound believable to you? Just as “believable” sounds the explanation why the Thai police and the U.S. DEA so quickly released Victor Bout’s casual companion – the FSB colonel – who strangely arrived with the infamous “Merchant of Death” and “Lord of War” on the same plane and in the same taxi and checked into the same hotel, but in reality did not want to help the latter to sell “portable anti-aircraft missiles” to the blood-thirsty narco-dealers from FARC – he only wanted to see Bangkok and to have a chance to try the famous Thai massage.
Of course, this FSB colonel arrived to Bangkok by “mistake”, so this “mistake” was promptly corrected by the honorable and honest Thai police who quickly realized that the friend of the “Merchant of Death” was innocent and sent him back home immediately. Do you believe this nonsense? I don´t. At least four countries were heavily involved in Victor Bout´s frame up: Russia, United States, Israel and Thailand. There is plausible evidence that other nations were involved in this disgusting frame-up, but involved to a lesser extent than the abovementioned four. It appears that the Danes, the Dutch and the Romanians were involved too; at least, it appears so from the legal paperwork available in Victor’s case-file at the Thai Criminal Court.
The entire world has the impression that the Russian government and Russian Embassy in Thailand have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help Mr. Bout? In fact, the United States government has bitterly complained publicly about the apparent behind-the-scenes pressure Putin and Company are allegedly applying on the Thais to release Mr. Bout.
Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest mistakes to think that the Russian Government is allegedly involved in Victor Bout’s extradition case in the Thai court on the side of Victor. Indeed, the “official line” in many hysterical publications in the Western and even in the Russian press imply that the Russian officialdom is allegedly “trying hard to help Victor” as Victor could, allegedly, implicate “certain Russian politicians” in some alleged “wrongdoings”.
This impression is somehow supported by the fact that Russian Embassy officials regularly attended Thai court during Victor’s extradition case hearings, and also as a result of a number of statements coming from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But this leaves one with a false impression. Russian Embassy officials visiting Victor Bout and attending court hearings are nothing but a regular consular assistance to a Russian citizen; be it to a citizen named Victor Bout or an unknown Sergei Ivanov.
That said, I can assure you that even though the Russian Consul attended every court hearing, the Thai judges were not “pressured” by the Russian delegation. It is normal for consuls to attend hearings of foreign defendants and the judges are used to it. So by no means the fact that the Russian Consul has diligently performed his duties could be considered as a kind of an “extrajudicial assistance” to the Defendant Victor Bout in the courtroom.
When it comes to the apparent statements of unflagging support made by the Russian Foreign Ministry they should not mislead you either into believing that the Russian officials are allegedly “helping Victor Bout”. They were not and are not helping him at all, but are rather doing their best to harm his position in the Thai court. It sounds strange to a lay Westerner, but you have to understand some peculiarities when it comes to the Russians. First of all, besides Putin, Medvedev and Co., there are other political powers in Russia – so-called “patriots” led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, for example, or “communists”, just to mention a few. Some of the “old Russians” sincerely believe that the United States government must not be allowed to arrest a Russian citizen abroad, especially in a third country. Because if allowed to do so with impunity, it will set a dangerous precedent. Today they dare to frame and arrest an alleged “Merchant of Death” who knows no government secrets. But tomorrow, they might arrest a real colonel from the Russian Strategic Missile Forces who decided to spend his holidays in Thailand. The United States government can accuse this colonel of “planning to annihilate the United States as an entity with a massive thermo-nuclear strike” and to demand his extradition to America. What´s more, such a hypothetical accusation would in fact be correct – because such a colonel could indeed plan to annihilate the US due to his service duties.
Please understand, a great majority of Russian citizens as well as Russian Armed Forces, are extremely unhappy that the United States can arrogantly claim their alleged jurisdiction over territories that are not part of the United States and they are especially annoyed when such bullying directly affects Russian citizens. Medvedev, Putin and Company are aware of this and they have to take it into account when making their public statements.
Hence the public pledges of support from the Russian Foreign Ministry which sound like they really care about Victor Bout and his case in Thailand. But nobody should be fooled by these tearful pledges of support. They are nothing but a publicity stunt. In reality, they are no more harmful to the Americans and their cause than barking of stray dogs around the Criminal Court in Bangkok. All these actions of the Russian Foreign Ministry are merely intended to appease Russian population by creating an impression that the Russian Government allegedly “works for Russia” and still “constitutes a challenge to the US hegemony in the world”. However, neither of these is true in reality. Moreover, if the Russian Government did nothing at all to help Victor Bout fight his extradition case in the Thai courts, he would have had a much better chance at winning his case.
Does the United States want Victor Bout for being an arms merchant as he is portrayed by the UN and US journalist Douglas Farah or is there more to his case?
In reality, Victor Bout is not wanted for being an alleged “arms merchant” as he is portrayed and as he is perceived by the people who put more stock into a newspaper article than they do into facts. If Victor was really wanted for what you suggested, then the Americans would not wait until March 2008 to arrest him – they would have initiated criminal proceedings against Victor Bout back in the ‘90s, or, at the latest, at the very beginning of the new millennium. The problem is, Victor is NOT wanted for being the “arms merchant”, at least in the sense he is portrayed in the infamous movie or described in the irresponsible UN report by a former United Nations weapons inspector, Johan Peleman. Victor is wanted for something totally different, but, perhaps, we will discuss that further in more detail.
How strong of a case does the United States government have?
From the judicial point of view, US government’s case is very weak and Victor could easily have won it. Can you imagine that the accusers (US government) failed to bring to the Thai court even a single “portable anti-aircraft missile” that Victor was alleged to have been illegally selling to “the highest bidder”? But the main problem was that the Russian Government and the Russian secret service did their best to harm Victor’s position in the Thai court, to force him to defend himself in the wrong way from the judicial point of view, to make false promises that would dull his vigilance, and, moreover, to deprive Victor of funds, so that he would have simply no money to conduct his defense in the Thai court in an effective manner. If the Russian Government were indeed concerned about Victor’s defense as believed by most people, then it would have at the very least subsidize his legal expenses. It would be normal to expect for the Russian Government to at least provide the best legal experts from the Russian side free of charge and contribute a couple of millions US dollars to cover the legal expenses on the Thai side. At least, it is logical to expect it. What is the two million US dollars for the government of a country with over 150 millions populations that sells gas and oil and brandishes nuclear weapons capable of destroying the Earth a hundred times over? Such petty cash is a small price to pay for Mother Russia to defend its famous citizen in such a notorious case, isn’t it?
But in reality not only the Russian Government did not pay anything either openly or covertly (in disguise through a “private donation”) to Victor Bout and his family; the Russian secret service did their best to force Victor’s brother and Victor’s wife into absolutely unnecessary expenses that drove them into total bankruptcy. Instead of helping them financially, the Russian Government indeed sucked out their last savings. If you also add that it was the Russian officials who advised Victor to conduct his defense in the Thai court in the most wrongful manner and if you add that one of Victor’s lawyer – a proven shill for the American DEA – was also recommended by the Russian officials, you will understand the travesty and injustice and treason involved. Let me say it again, the Russian Government, from the very beginning was secretly, but very efficiently working with the Americans to get Victor Bout to the United States to stand trial, and at the same time, to create an impression that Russia is still “great” and could still “defend its citizens”.
Let´s go over the basic facts of the case. First of all, the Russian secret service managed to convince Victor and his wife Alla, not to conduct the defense in the Thai court by proving the fact that there were no actual portable anti-aircraft missiles available to be sold to the FARC. Solely based on this evidence alone, the case should have been dismissed. The Russian officials proposed, instead, to conduct the defense by proving to the Thai court that the case was allegedly “political”, because the FARC is a political organization, the Communist party. This was a suicidal method of defense if looking at the case through the eyes of a professional lawyer. By proving that the case was “political” Victor automatically proved that he agreed with the existence of the actual “case”, that is missiles and such. This case could have been easily won by proving that there were “no case at all” and as such a non-existent “case” can not be “political” because there was nothing to be “political”.
Instead, Victor and his wife agreed with the proposal of the Russian officials and limited the defense in the Thai court by claiming that the case of dealing with the FARC was “political” without challenging the actual “case” whatsoever. The most important point of the entire case – that there was not even a single alleged “portable anti-aircraft missile” captured – was not voiced in the court-room. And no questions have been asked by Victor’s lawyer from the witnesses of the prosecution as to WHY the arresters failed to go after the alleged “missiles” in order to seize them and to deprive the so-called “Merchant of Death” of his deadly arsenal. Therefore, from the way Victor´s lawyer conducted the actual defense, it appeared to the judges that Victor was indeed selling the missiles, but the matter to consider was only if the FARC was a terrorist organization (as claimed by the Americans) or a political one (as claimed by Victor). As you may expect, the court eventually disagreed with such an interpretation and ruled that the case was NOT political, while Victor and his then lawyer (who was a shill for the Americans) did absolutely nothing to prove to the court that there were no case, no missiles, and no FARC – instead of proving that so-called “FARC” was represented by the US citizens while the “missiles” was merely a product of their sick imagination and existed only in their bogus paperwork, Victor and his then lawyer managed to prove by default that the actual accusations of the Americans had some grounds.
Secondly, the Russian secret service promised Victor and his wife that if Victor conducted his defense in the Thai court in the abovementioned manner (by proving that the case was “political” without challenging the actual claims and the total absence of any evidence of the Americans) then the Russian Government would guarantee that Victor would win the case. As you may expect this promise and this “guarantee” was just a cheap ploy invented by the Russian secret service in order to blunt his vigilance and to ensure that Victor would lose his case in the Thai court despite total absence of the alleged missiles and despite an absolute presence of abundant evidence that the entire “case” was merely a frame-up by the American DEA.
Furthermore, Victor’s wife, at my insistence made a very efficient complaint against her husband’s illegal detention (because the actual detention of Victor was indeed illegal due to technicalities and during the entire extradition hearings in the Thai court Victor must have been freed, and not behind bars). Submission of such a complaint by Victor’s wife caught all Victor’s enemies – the Thais, the Russians and the Americans – virtually with their pants down. The problem was that the detention of Victor was indeed technically illegal and he must have been released immediately – the technicalities of the illegality of the detention were obvious, if not to say self-evident, and were presented in the written complaint by Alla Bout in such a clear manner that they could not have been challenged even by the best lawyers in the world. The only way left to the judges was to consider the case and to rule to release Victor Bout from unlawful custody and to continue the extradition hearings with him released from prison. Apparently, it was not an option for the Russians, Americans and Thais who worked too hard to get Victor arrested, thrown behind bars, and deprived of any income. But what could they do in this situation? Unfortunately, they found a way out: the “trusted guys” from the Russian secret service approached Victor’s wife and convinced her to voluntarily withdraw her complaint against her husband´s illegal detention (claiming that it puts the Thai court in a difficult position and the court does not like this at all – which was indeed true) in exchange for the deal: once the complaint is withdrawn, the “grateful” Thai court would immediately rule to release Victor on bail – as a kind of a “settlement” that allows everyone “to save face”.
Victor and his wife again put their faith in the Russian government and agreed to withdraw the complaint. Except that the “grateful” Thai court never released Victor on bail as promised. This is just another example of how the Russian officials actually “helped” Victor Bout. The list of their “help” is very long, but I don’t want to make it too long and too boring. I would mention that on the recommendation of the Russian secret service, Victor’s brother has paid U.S. $120,000 for Victor’s bail, but the money was stolen, the bail has never been granted and the money was never returned. Again, on the recommendation of the Russian secret service, Victor’s brother paid $250,000 dollars allegedly for an “out of court settlement” whereas Victor would be released before conclusion of the case. According to the promise of the Russian officials, if the 250 thousand USD were paid, Victor Bout will be freed by May 1, 2008. The money was paid as demanded, but nothing happened in the Thai court – the case just continued and nobody bothered to return the money or take responsibility for the false promise.
As a result of this despicable behavior on the part of the Russian officials, “Victor Bout’s camp” as you call it, ran out of money to such an extent that when it became necessary to translate several important court documents from Thai to English in order to understand what the Thai witnesses said in court, Victor could not afford to pay the 2,000 USD for the translation and till today, some of the important papers from the case-file remain only in Thai language. I hope this is more than enough to establish how the Russian Government is actually “helping” Victor Bout to lose his extradition case in the Thai court.
Then, why is the Russian government working against Victor Bout?
Because of the Russian, to be more exact the Soviet-made missile that hit the Pentagon on 9/11.
What? I think you better explain that and, please go slowly.
The Americans, understandably, demand from the Russians to find a fall guy or a patsy (or a group of fall guys) who is/are responsible for the missile that was found in the middle of the Pentagon. Considering that the missile was actually nuclear-tipped (with a half-megaton thermo-nuclear warhead that is more than 25 times the size of the Hiroshima bomb) you can imagine that the Americans are quite insistent with their demands to the Russians to find, at last, the culprit and to surrender him to the US Justice.
It is indeed serious. But when it comes to the Russians, they can not admit the truth – that the “Granit” missile with its thermo-nuclear warhead was stolen from the sunken “Kursk” submarine, because Putin back in 2000 solemnly declared to the world that there were no nuclear weapons on board of the sunken submarine.
What is a “Granit”?
The P-700 “Granit” missile (also known by its NATO classification as “Shipwreck” or “SS-N-19” – where “N” apparently stands for “Navy”) is the most advanced Soviet-era Navy missile. It is intended to be fired from submarines in submerged position and is primarily intended to destroy the US aircraft-carrier battle-groups. This is a highly sophisticated and highly “intelligent” missile. The “Granit” missiles could be used to strike battle-groups and other ship orders while fired in swarms of 12 missiles in one salvo, but could be as well used in single shots – fired against single naval targets, as well as against stationary ground targets (as was demonstrated in the case of the Pentagon strike on 9/11). Each “Granit” missile weighs about 7 tons, has length of about 10 meters, could fly up to 625 km at the supersonic speed at 2.5 Mach. Each missile is typically equipped with a standard “Navy-type” 500 kiloton thermo-nuclear warhead; conventional warheads for this missile even though exist in theory, are never used in reality – so that all without any exception “Granit” missiles in service are nuclear-tipped.
This missile deems to be totally indestructible, because NATO lacks any means to shot down this missile even if they detect it in advance. In fact, it was demonstrated in the case of the Pentagon attack on 9/11 – NORAD managed to detect the upcoming “Granit” missile at least 6 minutes before it struck the Pentagon. NORAD’s operational officers managed to ring the atomic alert, scramble the so-called “Doomsday plane” in response, but were not able to prevent the actual strike – the missile managed to successfully approach Washington DC and hit the wall of the Pentagon despite being detected by NORAD 6 minutes in advance. Make you own conclusions – as to the danger of this weapon. I would also like to note, that according to the Soviet and Russian strategic plans, the submarines armed with the “Granite” missiles could be used as a “back-up” option for the retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States (while the primary role in such a strike belongs to strategic intercontinental- and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, of course).
For the reason of possible usage in the retaliatory strike the “Granit” missiles are also designed to produce airbursts above the US cities – so they are equipped with special non-contact detonators for such reason, in addition to the usual contact detonators. I should mention also that the “Granit” missile has a very advanced inertial guidance system that also has a list of pre-loaded most important NATO targets. While flying above the ocean the “Granit” missile will scan and reconnoiter the operational theater and try to distinguish ship orders and especially aircraft-carrier battle-groups and to select the most important targets in the ship orders and to strike them in automated manner. If flying above the territory the missile will reconnoiter it too and will try to detect the most important stationary targets by comparing their coordinates with those pre-loaded in its warhead. Once encounter such targets the missile’s on-board computer will immediately select the most important target by the order of priority and the missile will strike it. So, once the missile was fired towards Washington D.C. it compared the two most important targets – the White House and the Pentagon and “preferred” to strike the latter one as being in its “opinion” the more important target. Perhaps I should mention that this is the most heavily armored missile in the world – it is made from very thick steel and in fact it could be compared with a flying tank or with a giant bullet. Due to its tremendous speed, weight and strength of its body this missile managed to penetrate six capital walls of the Pentagon building when it struck it on 9/11.
Ok, please continue.
You have to understand that now Putin can not afford to take his noble presidential words back and to admit that he was outright lying to the world community and that all nuclear missiles from the “Kursk” were indeed stolen. Some other solution is badly needed to meet the US demands for the “culprit” behind the Pentagon attack. And this “solution” was eventually found. The problem is that all “Granit” missiles, despite being made in the Soviet days, could only belong to Russia and to no other former Soviet republic.
Can you prove this?
Absolutely. The ‘Granit” is the Navy missile; it is not used by anyone except the Navy. In the Soviet Union there were four Navy fleets – the Arctic Fleet, the Pacific Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, and the Black See Fleet. Out of the four Russia inherited in its entirety the three fleets – the Arctic, the Baltic, and the Pacific ones. Only the Black See Fleet has been divided between Russia and Ukraine. However, the “Granit” missiles were in service only on the Pacific Fleet and on the Arctic Fleet; so such missiles could not have ended up in the hands of Ukrainians, even theoretically. All the “Granits” must have been inherited by Russia alone. However, to shift blame away from Russia for the Pentagon strike, the Russian officials had no chance than to blame that some “Granit” missiles were allegedly a part of the Black See Fleet and for sometime they were allegedly in the temporary possession of the Ukrainians during the turmoil caused by the Soviet Union collapse and by the consecutive dividing of its property (nuclear weapons and the Black See Fleet inclusive). For this reason the Russian secret service concocted a bogus back-dated paper-work which “revealed” that one of the heavy cruisers of the Black See Fleet was allegedly scheduled to be re-armed with the “Granit” missiles and for that reason in the last years of the Soviet rule several “Granit” missiles were allegedly transferred to the Black See Fleet and were kept there and eventually they allegedly ended up with the Ukrainians after the break up of the Soviet Union. And, from these Ukrainians these “Granit” missiles were allegedly “stolen” and thus ended up with the terrorists (who eventually fired one of such missiles into the Pentagon on 9/11). This version is ridiculous because even if you imagine that several “Granit” missiles were indeed kept in Ukraine, intended for the re-armament of that heavy-cruiser, as claimed, these missiles would never be kept in storage with their nuclear warheads attached. In accordance with the rules, in the Soviet Union, missiles were kept in one place, while the nuclear warheads were kept in another location, moreover, under control of a different department of the military. Only lay people who know nothing about the Soviet Armed Forces and their rules could believe such a version that it was allegedly possible for the “reckless Ukrainians” to lose the missiles and the nuclear warheads at the same time. The missiles with the attached nuclear warheads could only be stolen from one place – from a submarine in service. However, it seems that some responsible security officials believe (or “pretend to believe”) this ridiculous version with the “Ukrainian trail” which seems to successfully exonerate the Russians.
In this case the Russians are not guilty at all. Some “bad guys” who stole the missiles from Ukraine (and not from Russia) are allegedly guilty. Now they need the actual “bad guys”. Who, do you think, fits the bill? You guessed it, the infamous “Merchant of Death” and the “Lord of War”, thanks to the fact that his personality has been demonized long ago and everyone would easily believe that it was indeed Victor Bout who sells not only weapons, but NUCLEAR and even THERMONUCLEAR weapons to the highest bidder. That is exactly why the Russians and the Americans got into this seemingly strange agreement – to frame Victor Bout. It is not so strange in reality, if you try to analyze the actual circumstances – because both parties badly need to close the Pentagon case and they simply can not find any one better than Victor Bout for the role of the scapegoat who could sell such a missile to the terrorists. There is simply no one else in the world who could fit this role.
Let´s move to Bout´s alleged partner in the FARC deal, Andrew Smulian, who was arrested along with Victor. What happened to him?
The so-called “co-conspirator Smulian” was Bout´s former friend and a former business-partner. But in this particular case, Smulian was a “co-conspirator” of the DEA agent-provocateurs who framed Victor, rather than a Victor Bout “co-conspirator”. Unlikely you can be a “co-conspirator” to the one who is innocent. This is a clarification of terminology usage, if you don’t mind me being pedantic with such a correction. Andrew Smulian was the one who visited Victor in Moscow several times and presented him with business offers – particularly, he promised to find good customers for the last plane in Victor´s possession, still parked in UAE and which Victor dreams to get rid of in exchange for badly needed cash. As an aside, keep in mind that Victor was totally broke even before his arrest in Bangkok and to sell his last aircraft was a big deal for him.
Eventually Smulian lured Victor to Bangkok – to finally negotiate with the prospective buyers. During the negotiations, according to the US government documents presented in his case, Smulian introduced Victor to several people who allegedly looked Latin American and who allegedly spoke Spanish. These people were alleged to be from a Colombian revolutionary organization named FARC – which is basically a Marxist guerilla movement fighting the capitalist government of Colombia for decades. The deal to sell the plane was held in the hotel business-center. A few minutes after the meeting began, the Thai police and the American DEA agents from the US local Embassy barged in and arrested everyone – Victor Bout, his “friend” from Moscow (who was found to be an FSB colonel), and Andrew Smulian. Out of the three only Victor was naturally arrested and detained. Victor’s FSB colonel friend was immediately released, put on the first available flight and appeared in Moscow the next morning.
Andrew Smulian allegedly escaped (i.e. escaped from the custody of the Thai police) and disappeared. Keep in mind, he allegedly escaped from a locked down hotel guarded by over 150 Thai commandos. Then, without anyone noticing his disappearance, he alleged flagged a taxi to the airport, with his hands handcuffed behind his back. Once at the airport, he allegedly bought a ticket with no money and no passport to the United States, the only country in the world that if arrested, he would be looking at 30 years to life in prison. This is the American version of the events. Mr. Andrew Smulian suddenly “appeared” in America and was arrested in New York for being an alleged “co-conspirator” of Victor Bout. There is confirmed information that Andrew Smulian has been turned to be a prosecution witness who would testify against his former friend. Smulian is not in jail in America – he is in a “protective custody”.
What is your opinion of Bout’s two lawyers: Lak and Chamroen?
Lak has been my lawyer for many years and naturally, I know him very well. I am the one who recommended him to Victor for his case in the first place. Lak was introduced to Victor on March 7, 2008 when Victor was first brought to the police station, i.e. before he was first brought to the court. When he was brought to the court Lak was there and the first defense statements – both spoken and written – were made by Lak. Lak was also the one who managed to get back Victor’s passport and all his personal belongings – mobile phones and Victor´s personal computer, even though the Americans demanded these items to be transferred to the United States. Lak managed to make a good deal with the local police to get all of these invaluable items back almost immediately to the United States government’s chagrin and disbelief. Later Lak was also working hard on Victor’s further defense in the criminal case and also on the extradition case, as well as on Victor’s own complaint for illegal detention. However, thanks to clandestine efforts of the Russian secret service, Lak was dismissed from the case and replaced with a new lawyer – Chamroen.
Chamroen was a shill for the American DEA and was introduced to Victor through a long chain of people who worked for the DEA as unofficial agents. But make no mistake – Chamroen, being a 100% proven shill for the Americans, was introduced by none other than the Russian secret service officials who were well aware of what they were doing: the Russians who introduced Chamroen to Victor KNEW FOR SURE that he was the American shill and, DESPITE this KNOWLEDGE, they still introduced him to Victor and highly recommended to use his services. Chamroen was the one who resisted and blocked all positive attempts to defend Victor and who conducted Victor’s defense in the extradition case in the most wrongful manner. He managed to make Victor to technically lose a 100% winnable case. In addition, Chamroen did his best to prevent what you called above “Bout’s camp” from submitting to the Thai court documents that might clarify the ridiculousness of the US charges and to serve as a real defense for Victor.
As you might sincerely expect, Chamroen was not cheap either – he cost Victor well over 100 thousand US dollars which is an absolutely fabulous amount of money by Thai standards. During the time when lawyer’s work was important – i.e. during the time the court of first instance was hearing witnesses and accepting documents – the case was under control of Chamroen. I was able to re-introduce Lak back to the case by a strange trick: he was no longer a lawyer of Victor, but a lawyer of Victor’s wife Alla, who submitted to the court an additional complaint against the illegal detention of her husband that was joined with the main extradition case.
In this capacity, Lak managed to get back to the case at the last moment; however, it was too late by then – the case was effectively lost by Chamroen, who intentionally failed to call right witnesses for the defense and who sabotaged cross-questioning of the witnesses of the prosecution. Despite being only Alla’s lawyer and not Victor’s, Lak, nonetheless, managed to somehow turn this case into something more favorable in the very last moment: instead of making Alla only a witness in the illegal detention’s case, he managed to make her the most important witness in the extradition case, despite all efforts of Chamroen to the contrary.
Alla’s testimony was probably the most powerful evidence ever added to the extradition case, thanks to Lak. Furthermore, Lak managed to object to the latest set of new “evidence” that the Americans attempted to submit to the judge at the last moment, when the hearing of the case was almost over. The Americans actually submitted the last set of new “evidence” under the silent approval of Chamroen, but Lak managed to stand up and loudly voice his objections (despite actually being a lawyer in a different case – i.e. technically having no right to do so) and thus the most dangerous addition to the case by the Americans was not accepted by the Thai court. So, you can make you own conclusions what is Lak and what is Chamroen. And eventually when Victor lost the case and was about to be extradited to America, Chamroen simply disappeared and it was Lak who managed to prevent Victor from being immediately extradited to the United States.
Just to clarify, did the jet actually arrive to Bangkok or did it turn back shortly after taking off from the United States?
The actual jet with the armed US court marshals arrived, but, thanks to Lak, went back empty.
What you are saying is absolutely shocking. Not as much for the treason of both the Russian government and Victor´s lawyer, but for the collective stupidity of people involved in the case. Why on Earth didn´t you say something and how is it possible that Victor and his wife didn’t realize what was being done to them? I am sorry, but this sounds utterly implausible.
For me it also sounds implausible and I could only wonder how could it happen that way. But, taking into consideration purely psychological aspects of the problem and also the fact that Victor and his wife are not seasoned criminals, but merely innocent people, it could be explained. The problem is that Victor does not know that he is the one who allegedly “sold” the missile that hit the Pentagon to the “terrorists”. It seems that only now, when he lost the case in the Court of Appeal (as I told him would long time ago), he began to slowly realize what really happened with him and who stood behind the entire affair with this frame-up. But before, he was confident that he was winning the case because his vigilance was effectively lulled by the false promises and by the irresponsible assurances of the Russian officials, which Victor, nonetheless, took seriously. Just imagine yourself in his shoes. You are behind bars and you are being constantly assured by officials from your country that everything is “OK” and everything is “under control”, moreover, you wife also constantly conveys you similar messages from the Russian officials in Moscow who promise the same things (don’t forget that while in Moscow Alla Bout was always invited by high-ranking government- and secret service officials and the mere fact that such “big guys” condescended to talk to her and, moreover, to assure her that everything was allegedly “under control” created the desired effect). Just imagine yourself in such a situation: would you doubt when the secret service officials and the government officials promise you all help possible and they promise it on behalf of the president of the state and all of it is being accompanied by corresponding public statements of the Foreign Ministry. Wouldn’t such a performance blunt your vigilance too?
Victor and his wife had simply no reason to suspect the Russian officials in any wrongdoing in those days. You must be a cynic to be able to suspect the Russian officials in this situation, but Victor is simply too nice and too innocent for this. Furthermore, the Russians appointed to harm Victor’s position in the Thai court were professionals from the secret service and they know their job very well. They know how to make their lies sound plausible and convincing. It is difficult to deal with this type of the professionals when you yourself are simply an innocent person who has no criminal background, no previous convictions, not even encounters with the legal system prior to this, and no experience with the inner workings of the secret service. When you are an innocent person you simply can´t realize how dirty the actual world of the secret service is. Add here that neither Victor, nor his wife are lawyers and therefore the ridiculous method of defense that the Russian officials enforced on them might look quite “reasonable” for them and they failed to notice the dirty game behind it.
You know more about this case than anyone else. USG knows how dangerous you are. So does the Russian government. Have these governments tried to buy your silence or threaten you?
Yes, they have. The Americans on several occasions tried to either threaten me with the prospect of being arrested and charged with something or with some offers of cash. At first, they promised me an undisclosed amount of money if I would help them to get Victor to America by secretly harming his case in the court – in the same manner Chamroen did. When I refused, they said that they could still pay me for doing nothing, as long as I withdrew from this case, stopped visiting Victor in prison, stopped attending the court hearings and giving Victor and his wife advise. I refused that as well.
But when it comes to the Russian Government, they did not dare to offer me any money or to try to threaten me, because it would be just too dangerous for their own story. Don’t forget that while the Americans were open enemies of Victor, the Russians were openly “Victor’s friends”, so while the Americans could afford to offer money or to try to threaten someone who helps Victor and it would look natural, the Russians could not afford doing so, because otherwise they would betray themselves.
The Russians have never showed their dissatisfaction with my activities openly, they rather tried to harm my reputation by spreading vicious rumors about my alleged “cooperating with the Americans” and “Dimitri can not be trusted” and so on. In fact, these efforts yielded some result in the initial stage of the case – at one point I noticed that Victor’s wife suddenly stopped trusting me, and also as I have said that the Russians managed to get Lak dismissed and replaced with a new lawyer based on the same thing.
How valuable is Victor Bout to the United States?
If you mean that Victor Bout is allegedly “valuable” to America as an alleged “Merchant of Death” and a “Lord of War” you are dead wrong. Many people, who believe Western propaganda, think that Victor Bout is allegedly wanted in America for his involvement with illegal weapons trade as alleged by the Hollywood film, the book, and by hysterical Western publications. It is not true at all. You have to understand that Victor has never sold any weapons, whether legally or illegally, in Africa, in Asia or anywhere else. In his entire life he has never sold even a single Makarov pistol or a single AK-47, not to mention large quantities of Soviet-made or any other weapons. Yes, on several instances airlines controlled by Victor Bout and by his brother Sergei Bout indeed transported weapons, munitions, and even armed troops, but the problem is that these were NOT THEIR weapons, these were weapons of THEIR CUSTOMERS. Moreover, all of such customers were LEGAL CUSTOMERS. Wherever Victor’s or Serguei’s airlines transported weapons or armed troops it was ALWAYS governmental troops and the weapons always belong to the governments! Not once, did Victor Bout´s or his brother Serguei´s aircraft transported weapons of any illegal customers!
But people seem not to realize this obvious fact. Victor Bout can´t be turned into “an illegal weapons trader” by the hysterical Western media. Only the court verdict could do this. But not once during all these years has Victor Bout receive a summons to any court of law whereby someone sued him for being an illegal weapons dealer. There was not even a single attempt by any government, or by any public prosecutor, or by UN, or by any other organization, or by even a private individual to sue Victor Bout for his being an alleged “Merchant of Death”.
Why not, you ask? The answer is very simple: because no solid evidence exists that could be admissible in a court of law. The image of Victor Bout being an alleged “Merchant of Death” is based exclusively on the Hollywood movie, on Douglas Farah’s book, and on the bogus “UN report” concocted by a certain unscrupulous inspector, Johan Peleman. A number of Mr. Peleman´s former associates are willing to come forward and testify in the court of law that in every UN report, Victor Bout´s name was added to the final version of the report and that his name was absent in every preliminary UN report on arms trafficking. You simply can’t sue Victor Bout for being an illegal weapon trader based on the evidence compiled by the shameless Johan Peleman or bring to court the movie “Lord of War” as a substitute for the evidence. That is exactly why the Americans do not want Victor Bout for any illegal weapons trade as appears to many people around the world. If they really wanted him for that they would have done it long time ago. The evidence is simply not there.
The Americans wanted Victor for something else. And for this “something” his apparent Hollywood-inspired image of the “Merchant of Death” was not enough due to this being legally inadmissible in the American court of law. Certain REAL and PROVABLE charges must have been created in order to get him arrested for real. And the American officials found nothing better than to employ the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) for that reason. Since the DEA area of operations are drugs and drug dealers, their modus operandi is corresponding – to plant drugs on a victim and thus, to get the victim arrested. The very same approach was used in Victor Bout’s case: the DEA agent-provocateurs created a certain provocation that looked perhaps “normal” for a typical drug-policeman, but ridiculous to anyone else. The DEA sent their agent to meet Victor Bout. This agent, turned out to be Bout´s former friend, Andrew Smulian, who offered him a deal. But, instead of planting drugs on Victor Bout, the DEA planted bogus documents and falsified “intercepts” of alleged e-mail exchanges and alleged telephone conversations claiming that Victor Bout allegedly: 1) had in his possession portable anti-aircraft missiles; 2) was willing to sell them to FARC rebels in Columbia; 3) in doing so he was planning of- and willing to participate in murdering (sic) the US citizens/US officials working in Columbia.
Despite the fact that compared to the typical planting of real heroin on their clients the DEA failed to plant any actual anti-aircraft missiles on Victor, this ridiculous case was judged by the DEA superiors to be “solid” enough to be brought to court. And only after THIS provocation of the DEA, the US officials dared, at last, to arrest Victor Bout and to pass this matter to the court of law. Before that, they have simply nothing in their hands that would be admissible in the court-room. Therefore we can not even talk about alleged former “criminal activities” of Victor Bout in Africa or elsewhere in connection with his current case in the court. The current case is purely about his alleged attempt to sell the alleged “portable anti-aircraft missiles” to FARC in Columbia and nothing else besides that.
This is the official “open” part of the story. However, there is also an official but “secret” part of the same story. Victor Bout is not really wanted in America for these absurd and non-existent portable anti-aircraft missiles. This ridiculous frame-up could never be successfully won by the US government in the US court. Victor, in reality, is wanted for something far more serious that can not be made public and can not be discussed in the courtroom in any open proceedings. I mean you can compare it with the case of the infamous nuclear bomber Timothy McVeigh who was openly indicted of using the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD, but in a form of the Ryder truck loaded with cheap fertilizer) against US citizens, but whose case was strangely conducted behind closed doors. The same thing is with Victor Bout’s case.
Of course, the US officials and especially those US officials responsible for legal matters are apparently reasonable enough to realize that they would never be able to win the ridiculous case against Victor based on the proceeds of the abovementioned DEA provocation primarily because no actual anti-aircraft missile have ever been found and not even an attempt to find such missiles has been made by the DEA.
Why do you think that is?
Because they knew that the entire story was invented and no missiles would be found anywhere. That is why they did not even attempt to go after the missiles. The real cause of the extradition attempt against Victor Bout is not these non-existent portable anti-aircraft missiles. The real cause is that the US Government in collaboration with the Russian Government secretly blamed an individual named “Victor Bout” for selling to the terrorists a Soviet-made “Granit” missile that struck the Pentagon on 9/11. And THIS is the real truth behind Victor’s case. And THIS secret part of the case the American legal experts plan to win in the US court behind closed doors. Because it appears that the Russian FSB has secretly concocted some “plausible” evidence that implicates Victor Bout in that alleged deal and the US officials appear to be gullible enough to believe the Russian colleagues and to believe that such “evidence” would lead to the successful conclusion of the still pending 9/11 Pentagon case. In addition, Victor is being secretly accused of selling portable nuclear weapons – known as “mini-nukes” or “suite-case nukes” to various terrorist organizations, ranging from the Columbian FARC to Osama bin Laden´s Al-Qaeda. Apparently, several recent real and alleged mini-nuclear bombings are secretly being blamed on Victor Bout. The most important of them is the infamous “El Nogal” nuclear bombing in Bogotá that was presented to the uninitiated as a “car-bombing”, in which, according to the US security officials, the same type of a mini-nuke was used as in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing.
Dimitri, you are a former nuclear intelligence officer of the 12 Chief Directorate of the Russian armed forces. Public Prosecutor’s August 26, 2009 appeal stated that BOUT conspired to provide GUIDED BALLISTIC MISSILES to the FARC. Are they suggesting that BOUT is involved in nuclear terrorism?
Yes. This is just a slip of the tongue. The Freudian syndrome. In the official paperwork of Victor Bout’s case in the Thai court, as well as in the official (a/k/a “public”) part of the US extradition request they do not talk about any “guided ballistic missile”. They talk about “portable anti-aircraft missiles” (that are small enough to be launched from one’s shoulder). However, behind closed doors, the US officials tried to convince their Thai colleagues that while the anti-aircraft missiles provocation against Victor Bout was indeed very crude and ridiculous, the real cause of the extradition for which Victor is wanted are far more serious, but, unfortunately, can not be disclosed to the general public or discussed in the court-room in open proceedings.
So, the US officials in order to convince the Thais to accept the extradition case despite total lack of evidence and despite numerous violations of Thai law, had no choice but to reveal the “awful truth” to at least some of the Thai officials. Therefore high-ranking Thai police and security officials, as well as a select few amongst Thai public prosecutors, know very well that Victor is wanted not for selling the small portable anti-aircraft missiles, but for selling the cruise missile with an unexploded 500 kiloton thermo-nuclear warhead that hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and narrowly missed incinerating the entire Washington D.C. thanks to its broken detonator.
But since Thailand is a non-missile and non-nuclear state, the Thais don’t see much difference between a cruise missile and a ballistic missile, so the public prosecutor mistakenly believed that the Pentagon was hit by a ballistic missile with a thermo-nuclear warhead, while in reality it was hit by a cruise missile with a thermo-nuclear warhead. But it is forgivable for the Thais to make such a mistake, because it is not really a big difference in this sense. However, there is a big difference when you compare a portable shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile that weighs just a few kilograms with a tens-of-meters-long ballistic missile that weighs many tons. While it is forgivable for a Thai public prosecutor (who is a military officer, by the way) to confuse the first two, considering that he is Thai, it is not forgivable for him (considering that he is a military officer) to mistake the second two with each other.
In the Security Council of Thailand there was a discussion that Bout is being blamed for the entire Pentagon attack on 9/11 – for both the missile and its thermo-nuclear warhead. Apparently, the public prosecutor picked up this idea from them and as a slip of the tongue, when he composed his appeal, he accidentally mentioned the “guided ballistic missile” instead of the “politically correct” “portable anti-aircraft missile(s)”. To answer the second part of your question – yes, Victor Bout is apparently wanted for nothing less then NUCLEAR TERRORISM. He is being secretly blamed for at least: 1) selling the Soviet-made “Granit” missile with the half-megaton thermo-nuclear warhead to the terrorists who later launched it against the Pentagon on 9/11; 2) selling at least 3 or more Soviet-made mini-nukes known as “RA-115” and “RA-116” to terrorists prior to 9/11 (at least so it appears from the “El-Mundo” newspaper’s article as of 16 of September, 2001, and also from John D. Negroponte’s [the former director of the US National Intelligence] official communiqué released right after Victor Bout’s arrest in Bangkok in March, 2008 – available here: http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/tnt_03-08.pdf ); and 3) selling of weapon-grade enriched Uranium to terrorists – as appears from the actual course of actions against the FARC and particularly against Raul Reyes’ group in the Ecuadorian jungle only 5 days before Victor was actually lured to Bangkok to be arrested there.
For our readers’ benefit, can you explain the difference between ballistic missile with the thermo-nuclear warhead and cruise missile with the thermo-nuclear warhead.
A ballistic missile is launched vertically and it travels with speeds comparable to the first cosmic velocity well above the Earth atmosphere on a ballistic trajectory – meaning its engines bring the ballistic missile into what we call “space” and then its warhead falls towards its target from space in the same manner as would a meteorite. You can roughly compare a trajectory of a ballistic missile with a trajectory of a football when a goalkeeper strikes it from his area into the other half of the football pitch. A cruise missile is much slower when compared to the ballistic missile – its speed is just sub-sonic or slightly super-sonic and a missile travels to its target (and delivers its warhead to it) in the atmosphere – in the same manner as would do a typical jet-fighter. In the case of particularly the “Granit” missile which is very expensive and very advanced, its speed is about 2.5 Mach while traveling in the cruise altitude and it is decreased to only 1.5 Mach when the missile descends and sets itself to the final path of attack – that is parallel to the ground (exactly as it was demonstrated in the actual 9/11 Pentagon strike). But when it comes to the actual thermo-nuclear warhead there is no difference. You will not feel any difference when a half-megaton thermo-nuclear warhead suddenly produces a blinding white flash and in the next few milliseconds incinerates you with its intensive thermal radiation. It does not matter if such a half-megaton warhead was delivered by a ballistic missile falling from space, or by a horizontally flying cruise missile. The effects of the actual thermo-nuclear explosion and the destruction caused by it will be undistinguishable.
Victor Bout’s name is often mentioned along with the alleged sale of X-55 missiles to Iran and China. Can you tell us more?
This is a kind of “controlled leak of information” that was afforded on purpose in order to create some “grounds” and so to convince some officials who are not entitled to know the full truth, but who could be fed some half-truth. The story with the X-55 illegal sale was just a cover-up story that was concocted to distract attention from the real culprit – the awful “Granit” missile. To talk about the “Granit” missile that hit the Pentagon is TABOO. It is off limits. Only very few high-ranking US security officials (as well as high-ranking security officials of Russia and of some highly-trusted US allies) are entitled to know that it was the “Granit” missile. For the rest, it is taboo to know this word. But many people know that it was the missile (and many also know that it was a certain Russian- or Soviet-made missile) that hit the Pentagon. But the problem is that those who know or suspect the awful truth are much more than those who are entitled to know it in full detail. Therefore to feed the “half-truth” for those not entitled to know the full truth, the story with the alleged X-55 has been concocted.
Secondly, even from the technical point of view the story with the X-55 can not be true – that missile is not technically capable of penetrating 6 (six!) capital walls of the Pentagon as was demonstrated in the 9/11 attack. Only one missile in the world – the “Granit” – could achieve such a penetrating feat. That is to say that the Americans and the Russians together are trying hard to cover up the real truth behind the Pentagon attack, while trying in the same time to apprehend and to bring to justice someone [allegedly] responsible for the actual attack. Hence the persecution against Victor Bout. Hence the ridiculous stories about the alleged illegal deal with the X-55 missiles (that are also nuclear-capable, by the way – don’t miss this point: the fact that X-55 missiles are nothing less than “nuclear-capable” is always being diligently mentioned along with the claims that Victor Bout and his companions allegedly sold these missiles from Ukraine to Iran).
I understand that the first question the DEA asked Bout during their interrogation of him is the name of the cruise missile he had sold to Iran. Why would they ask him that?
Yes, it is true. The first question asked of Victor after his arrest was not about the ridiculous deal with the non-existent shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles that were allegedly intended for the Columbian FARC. The first question was about the alleged cruise missile Victor allegedly sold to Iran. This was because those mid-ranking DEA operatives were low enough not to be entitled to know the full awful truth – about the “Granit” cruise missile, but were fed by their superiors the half-truth – about the alleged “X-55” cruise missile that was discussed in the previous question.
A great deal of effort has been made by mainstream US and European press to link Bout with FARC and uranium. What do they have to do with Bout?
The US security officials have a double task actually. One: they have to close the case with the missile that hit the Pentagon on 9/11. Two – they also have to close several cases where mini-nukes were really or allegedly used in disguise of the so-called “suicide” and “non-suicide” “car-bombings”. The most important – the case of nuclear bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 on an anniversary of Hiroshima bombing, the 1996 Khobar Tower nuclear bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma nuclear bombing, the 2002 Bali nuclear bombing, the 1993 first nuclear bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, several recent nuclear bombings in Iraq, Pakistan, Algeria and Saudi Arabia that were reported to the gullible plebs as “car-bombings”, and also the El-Nogal nuclear bombing in Bogotá in 2003, as well as the previous nuclear bombing in Bogotá in November 1999, both blamed on the FARC. As not too many specialists in nuclear weapons are available for consultation, it is possible to present to the lay people a notion that it is allegedly possible to produce a self-made low-caliber nuclear bomb made out of Uranium (while in reality all mini-nukes are made exclusively out of Plutonium and have nothing to do with any Uranium).
Well, is it possible to produce a homemade low-caliber nuclear bomb?
Thanks to the general ignorance of the people (many security officials and high-ranking politicians inclusive) in regard to the nuclear weapons, the abovementioned mistaken belief is widespread: indeed many security officials and politicians sincerely believe that it is possible to obtain 50 kg (single critical mass) of highly-enriched Uranium-235 on the black market and to make a mini-nuke out of it. In reality it is impossible to make any “mini-nuke” out of Uranium even in an industrial process, not to mention in the cottage industry, but many gullible folks believe to the contrary. Therefore a few unscrupulous individuals who really stood behind those nuclear “car- and truck-bombings” shamelessly exploit such gullibility. In the particular case with the FARC group led by Raul Reyes they planted on them almost 50 kg of weapon-grade Uranium-235 that was hidden around Reyes’ camp in the Ecuadorian jungle, then they murdered Reyes and additionally created some bogus computer files planted into Reyes’ computer where it was claimed that Reyes and his group were allegedly responsible for the 2003 nuclear bombing in Bogotá and were also seeking more weapon-grade Uranium. The gullible security officials who understand little about the real nuclear weapons technology would not miss the point as was suggested – when they encounter the 50 kg of REAL weapon-grade Uranium around Reyes’ camp while knowing for sure that both – 1999- and 2003- bombings in Bogotá were indeed mini-nukes bombings. However, this theater should not mislead serious people: both bombings in Bogotá, as well as 1995 Oklahoma bombing and the rest of well-known and little-known nuclear “car-bombings” was made with mini-nukes made out of PLUTONIUM and NOT URANIUM, and so the 50 kg of Uranium-235 planted to Reyes’ camp should not dupe any serious person into believing otherwise.
When it comes to Victor Bout if you carefully review available public sources you will find out that: 1) Victor Bout’s alleged connection with the FARC was mentioned in the same list of “evidence” allegedly “found” in Reyes’ computer right next to Reyes’s attempt to buy 50 kg (single critical mass enough to make one atomic bomb of Hiroshima yield) of weapon-grade Uranium-235 and alleged Reyes’ responsibility for the El-Nogal “car-bombing” (that is known to be nuclear to any and every security official); and 2) Alleged “international channels” by which the alleged “portable anti-aircraft missiles” of Victor Bout were allegedly transported – namely: Russia-Armenia-Romania-Denmark-Netherlands’ Antilles-Columbia strangely coincides to the country with the alleged rout of transportation of the weapon-grade Uranium that was obtained by Reyes and indeed found around his camp after Reyes was murdered by the Americans on March 1, 2008 – just 5 days prior to Victor Bout’s arrest in Bangkok. Anyone is welcome to make his own conclusions.
Add here that the US officials actually exploit two levels of the “truth” in regard to the WTC demolition during 9/11 events. Just imagine that there are quite a lot of mid-ranking security officials and politicians who are advanced enough to know that kerosene can not “melt steel” into fluffy microscopic dust and that “ground zero” in pre-9/11 English language had no other meaning than “a place of a nuclear explosion”. Therefore these types of people would not swallow the plebeian version of the “planes brought down the towers 9/11 truth”. Some “higher” and more plausible version of the “truth” needed to be invented to satisfy them. So according to the intermediate level of the 9/11 “truth” (that is intended to satisfy the mid-ranking security officials and mid-ranking politicians both in America and abroad), the Twin Towers of the WTC, as well as the building #7 of the WTC, were demolished by 3 mini-nukes that allegedly belonged to Osama bin Laden’s operatives. You can find a confirmation of what I mean in the article “Mi Hermano bin Laden”, published in the Spanish daily, El-Mundo, on September 16, 2001. However, once you claim that the WTC was demolished by the three Soviet mini-nukes allegedly bought by Osama from Ukraine, then, being a responsible security official, you should also find Russian or Ukrainian nationals who first stole these mini-nukes for the Soviet nuclear arsenals and who actually sold such awful weapons to the terrorists. Isn’t’ it? Hence another attempt of the Americans – to implicate Victor Bout into trading in mini-nukes and in weapon-grade nuclear materials, in addition to the missiles with half-megaton thermo-nuclear warheads that usually fly around and strike pentagons. It appears that Victor Bout was made a scapegoat just for everything that is nuclear. Add here is where the Americans began their unprecedented persecution against Victor Bout only after 9/11 and in an apparent connection with 9/11. Read the “nuclear” communiqué of John D. Negroponte (available here: http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/tnt_03-08.pdf ) that was released immediately after Victor’s arrest in Bangkok in March 2008 and that was directly connected to his arrest and moreover, entirely devoted to his arrest. And compare that communiqué by John D. Negroponte with the abovementioned “El Mundo” article about the 3 mini-nukes bought by Osama from Ukraine and allegedly used for destroying the three WTC buildings on 9/11 and surely you will not miss the main point. There are two more additional moments that could clarify the alleged “nuclear” connections of Victor Bout, FARC, and actual so-called “car-bombings” and “truck-bombings” (spots of which are being strangely called by the strangest nuclear name “ground zero”). First of them occurred soon after Victor Bout’s arrest.
About two weeks after his arrest there was a video published on YouTube showing Russia Today footage titled “Merchant of Death denied bail in Bangkok”. As you know, anyone registered as a YouTube user could post a comment under a video. Guess what was the very first comment published by some alleged “Victor Bout’s friend” under that video? This is what the comment said: “180 Compact Russian Nukes are missing, soon US will get a nuclear apocalypse up its ass”. How do you like the comment? Or you prefer to believe in coincidences? In the world of intelligence there is a saying: There are well made and badly made operations. Coincidences do not exist. Especially when soon after this comment appeared, a real nuclear explosion occurred in Dubai on March 26, 2008 – in the city where Victor Bout was kicked from and where he lost all his former airline business. You can see details of this nuclear explosion on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRws9eHvVgw or you can read (between the lines) here: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/514699-explosion-in-al-quoz-in-dubai?ln=en – please notice words such as “mushroom cloud” and “civil defense” in that article. By the way – when I noticed that YouTube provocation and compared it against the mini-nuke’s explosion in Dubai a few days later I immediately complained about this to the security official at the local Russian Embassy in Bangkok. And what do you think happened? The next day the provocative comment/promise about “180 stolen mini-nukes” and the “nuclear apocalypse” was removed from YouTube.
Luckily, I made a screenshot of the YouTube web page with that comment still there, so I still have it. Oh, I almost forgot it. Since I was involved with Victor Bout’s legal defense here in Bangkok right from the next day following his arrest – i.e. from March 7, 2008, I understandably attracted a lot of attention from the US side. The local DEA officer – Mr. Derek Odney, responsible for Victor’s apprehension in Bangkok on March 6, 2008, invited me to drink coffee and to “discuss something” around mid-April. Since I was curious to know what they would ask me about Victor and also perhaps I could have a chance to ask them something that would clarify the mystery of the case I agreed “to drink coffee”.
Derek showed up with someone who appeared to be from another department, perhaps from the US military intelligence or may be from the CIA. The conversation began in a roundabout way and with no mention of Victor Bout. They asked me to help the DEA to catch certain drug dealers in Bangkok. On the surface it may seem logical, considering what the DEA does, but certainly not normal, considering the actual circumstances – I was helping Victor Bout and his case had nothing to do with drugs. Anyway, this discussion about the drugs and drug-dealers slowly moved on to something different: Derek´s companion asked me if I knew anything about a black market nuclear materials, particularly enriched Uranium and how much, in my opinion, such weapon-grade Uranium could cost on such a black market. Out of politeness I expressed my humble opinion on the subject, adding that it is only my humble opinion, but I don’t know the exact figures, because I am not involved in illegal trade in nuclear materials.
In turn, I asked them if they were asking me this question because of highly-enriched Uranium that was found around Reyes’ camp in the Ecuadorian jungle? They told me that yes, they wanted to know the answer to that question for exactly that reason, because the US Government took that matter very seriously. The most laughable was that no alleged “portable anti-aircraft missiles” were mentioned during that conversation, but only the FARC Uranium alone (and neither any “portable anti-aircraft missiles” in connection with Victor Bout were mentioned in Reyes’ computer, but only the weapon-grade Uranium purchase deal and the FARC responsibility for the nuclear “car-“bombings…) This was my first conversation with Mr. Derek Odney.
Let´s fast forward to today, Dimitri. Where is Victor at and what´s left for him as far as his defense options.
Victor Bout is still in Bangkok, to be more exact in Nonthaburi province (on the outskirts of Bangkok) inside the high-security Bangkwang prison, known to many people as “Bangkok Hilton” thanks to the famous movie of the same name. He was transferred there from the Bangkok Remand Prison on August 20, the day his court verdict which ordered the extradition was read.
To answer the second part of your question is not so easy. Several defense options are available but I would prefer not to disclose them publicly, because the Americans will read this interview with great interest and they might take certain countermeasures. But surely something is pending when it comes to the legal means to defend Victor Bout. His lawyer, Lak, is still there and he is working hard on his defense. Despite Victor´s extradition case appearing to be “final” after the Appeals’ Court verdict, it is not so “final” in reality. Many things can still be done, God willing.
