'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout Sentenced to 25 Years; Trial Ignored His Ties to U.S. & Dick Cheney

[Octafish]

9. The sting used phony FARC rebels. So, why isn't THIS guy in jail for meeting the real FARC?

Bout was lured by US DEA agents acting as FARC rebels wanting to buy arms in Thailand.

Then-head NYSE Richard Grasso hugs now-dead FARC rebel leader Raul Reyes in Columbia, ca. 1999.

The Real Deal: The Ultimate New Business Cold Call

Catherine Austin Fitts
Monday, 18 February 2002, 10:13 am

EXCERPT...

In late June 1999, numerous news services, including Associated Press, reported that Richard Grasso, Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange flew to Colombia to meet with a spokesperson for Raul Reyes of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), the supposed "narco terrorists" with whom we are now at war.

The purpose of the trip was "to bring a message of cooperation from U.S. financial services" and to discuss foreign investment and the future role of U.S. businesses in Colombia.

Some reading in between the lines said to me that Grasso's mission related to the continued circulation of cocaine capital through the US financial system. FARC, the Colombian rebels, were circulating their profits back into local development without the assistance of the American banking and investment system. Worse yet for the outlook for the US stock market's strength from $500 billion - $1 trillion in annual money laundering - FARC was calling for the decriminalization of cocaine.

To understand the threat of decriminalization of the drug trade, just go back to your Sam and Dave estimate and recalculate the numbers given what decriminalization does to drive BIG PERCENT back to SLIM PERCENT and what that means to Wall Street and Washington's cash flows. No narco dollars, no reinvestment into the stock markets, no campaign contributions.

CONTINUED...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0202/S00069.htm

Money. Power. Money. Power. Money. Power. Money. Power....