Rogue Planet

"That was my lemon I had to make lemonade out of..."

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, “Examination of AEY Contracts with the U.S. Government” on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.

The hearing addressed failures by AEY, Inc., to provide weapons and ammunition under contracts with the United States Government, and the deficiencies within the government that allowed AEY to be awarded these and other contracts.

Story and related documents here.

 

Russia may resume arms sales to Afghanistan

09/06/2008 19:10

MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow is considering resuming deliveries of Russian arms to Afghanistan, Russia's first deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

"We are working out parameters for resuming bilateral cooperation in this field with our Afghan colleagues, and we expect Afghanistan's defense minister to visit Moscow," Andrei Denisov said.

Faced with an increase in the activities of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists, the Afghan authorities recently asked Russia to resume aid programs suspended in 2005. According to the diplomat, Russia has already rendered military technical aid to Afghanistan worth $220 million.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said in Moscow in May that the issue of resuming arms supplies to equip the Afghan army would be discussed during a visit by the defense minister.

Afghanistan began receiving Russian arms in the 1970s prior to the Soviet invasion of the Central Asian country. Although the supplies stopped with the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1988, Soviet aircraft, tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as the world-renowned Kalashnikov automatic rifle, have remained the basis of the Afghan army.

[RIA Novosti]

US attorney general 'optimistic' of Russian arms dealer extradition

Wed Jun 11, 2:45 AM ET

US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Wednesday he was "very optimistic" that alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout will be extradited from Thailand to face terrorism charges.

Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death" for his alleged role in fuelling some of the world's bloodiest conflicts with weapons, faces extradition hearings on July 28 after being captured by US and Thai agents in Bangkok on March 6.

"The case for extradition is very strong," Mukasey told reporters in Bangkok. "I'm very optimistic that the proper course will be followed and Viktor Bout will be extradited."

Mukasey praised Thai officials for their cooperation and said next month's hearings fell on his birthday.

"I can think of no better gift than the extradition proceeding to go forward on that day," he said.

Bout -- who faces life in prison if convicted by a US court -- has been held at a maximum-security prison outside Bangkok since his arrest, and has denied the charges against him.

Mukasey said the time taken since March to reach extradition hearings was only due to usual legal process.

"We are not at all disheartened that there has been a small delay," he said.

Thailand's foreign minister Noppadon Pattama said he had discussed Bout's case with the attorney general.

"I told him the case is in court and Thailand will follow its own juristic procedure. I assured him everything will be quick and equitable. There will be no delay," Noppadon said.

The US Department of Justice last month unsealed an indictment against Bout charging him with four counts of terrorism for seeking to sell millions of dollars of weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels.

He has also been charged with conspiracy to kill US officers or employees and conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile.

Bout allegedly agreed to supply to the Marxist rebel group -- considered by Washington as a foreign terrorist organisation -- with surface-to-air missiles capable of bringing down helicopters and planes.

The former Soviet air force officer is also believed to have supplied arms to Taliban militia, Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network, rebels in South America and former Liberian leader Charles Taylor.

[yahoo.com]

Spain Delivers Syrian Arms Dealer to U.S.

By Tom Hays
Associated Press
Saturday, June 14, 2008; A07

NEW YORK, June 13 -- A wealthy international arms dealer was extradited Friday to the United States to face charges that he supplied millions of dollars in weapons to Colombian rebels to attack American forces there.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents accompanied Monzer al-Kassar on a private flight from Madrid that arrived in New York on Friday. He was to be arraigned in federal court in Manhattan.

Kassar, who was born in Syria and is a longtime resident of Spain, was arrested in Madrid last June as part of a U.S. sting operation. An indictment accuses him of conspiring to support terrorists, conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers, conspiring to acquire and use antiaircraft missiles, and money laundering.

Kassar "intended to provide millions of dollars worth of legal weapons to a foreign terrorist organization to be used to kill Americans," U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said in a statement.

Kassar was arrested and brought to the United States, Garcia said, "as a result of extraordinary cooperation with our international law enforcement partners."

Spain's National Court approved the extradition in October, and the Spanish government gave its final approval last week.

Improvements to the Defense Trade Export Control System

John C. Rood, Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security 

Remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies 
Washington, DC 
February 26, 2008

Good afternoon and thank you Arnold [Arnold Kanter-The Scowcroft Group] for that kind introduction. It is my pleasure to be here, and I would like to thank CSIS, the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for helping to organize this opportunity for me to speak with you today.

I am excited to discuss with you the significant changes that this Administration has undertaken which we believe will maintain the United States’ ability to control sensitive military technology and at the same time, permit U.S. companies to export their products in a more timely and predictable manner and collaborate more effectively with foreign companies.

If I may first tell you a bit about my background. My government service began as an analyst in the U.S. intelligence community, and has included work as a staff person to Senator John Kyl, service on the National Security Council, and as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. Last fall, I was named Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. My current portfolio is quite wide-ranging, and includes the responsibility for administering the Department of State’s defense export licensing program, and providing foreign policy input to the dual-use export licensing program administered by the Department of Commerce.

Today, I want to discuss three areas related to defense trade reform that have been a primary focus for me since last May: changes related to the way the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls does business, the recent Presidential Directive on defense trade reform, and the treaties on defense trade cooperation that President Bush signed with the United Kingdom and Australia. I would like to first give you some context about the effort to create these treaties and several related Administration initiatives in export controls.