Rollingstone.com : The Stoner Arms Dealers: How Two American Kids Became Big-Time Weapons Traders

[killerbee99]

Very fascinating read for evey one from Rolling stones Magazine......a must read, long but fascinating I promise you...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-stoner-arms-dealers-20110316?page=1

The e-mail confirmed it: everything

was finally back on schedule after weeks of maddening, inexplicable delay. A 747 cargo plane had just lifted off from an airport in Hungary and was banking over the Black Sea toward Kyrgyzstan, some 3,000 miles to the east. After stopping to refuel there, the flight would carry on to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Aboard the plane were 80 pallets loaded with nearly 5 million rounds of ammunition for AK-47s, the Soviet-era assault rifle favored by the Afghan National Army.Reading the e-mail back in Miami Beach, David Packouz breathed a sigh of relief. The shipment was part of a $300 million contract that Packouz and his partner, Efraim Diveroli, had won from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. It was May 2007, and the war was going badly. After six years of fighting, Al Qaeda remained a menace, the Taliban were resurgent, and NATO

casualties were rising sharply. For the Bush administration, the ammunition was part of a desperate, last-ditch push to turn the war around before the U.S. presidential election the following year. To Packouz and Diveroli, the shipment was part of a major arms deal that promised to make them seriously rich.

Reassured by the e-mail, Packouz got into his brand-new blue Audi A4 and headed home for the evening, windows open, the stereo blasting. At 25, he wasn't exactly used to the pressures of being an international arms dealer. Only months earlier, he had been making his living as a massage therapist; his studies at the Educating Hands School of Massage had not included classes in military contracting or geopolitical brinkmanship. But Packouz hadn't been able to resist the temptation when Diveroli, his 21-year-old friend from high school, had offered to cut him in on his burgeoning arms business. Working with nothing but an Internet connection, a couple of cellphones and a steady supply of weed, the two friends — one with a few college credits, the other a high school dropout — had beaten out Fortune 500 giants like General Dynamics to score the huge arms contract. With a single deal, two stoners from Miami Beach had turned themselves into the least likely merchants of death in history.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Heard about this. Amazing story. These dudes are my heros. Makes me think of that Nic Cage movie too.

[killerbee99]

Heard about this. Amazing story. These dudes are my heros. Makes me think of that Nic Cage movie too.

**** is surreal like reading the script of Nicholas Cage's movie "Lord of War", with the Secretary of Defense running interference for these guys....wow!!!

[FanboyOf91]

Great read.

[killerbee99]

Great read.

Hopefully it leads to more accountability at the Pentagon

[deejaydana]

Well, Rolling Stone is always, always, at pains to paint the Republicans as inept. This story bears out how incompetent our military industrial complex can be though. Still, can't say these two guys have any really admirable qualities about them.

[The Brave Little Toaster Oven]

*******s stole my ideas...and now rollingstone has broadcasted it out there for all the yuppies to read...****

[JMac]

Wow. I really cant say anything more. beyond interesting

[Dan T.]

I wonder what sort of procurement will there be to arm the Libyan rebels? As distasteful as it is, the international arms business is a growth industry.

[killerbee99]

bump.....for evening crowd

[Koala]

That read like a novel, most interesting article Ive read in years..The only person that looks good in this article is Trebika. And he ended up dead in a single-car accident. I guess in Albania they dont even bother trying to make their coverups look believable.

[pointyfootball]

Hopefully it leads to more accountability at the Pentagon

More like it will cause the Pentagon to hamstring the contracting process even further, thereby driving up costs for legitimate contractors, making working life difficult for those in the trenches trying to ensure a fair & efficient awarding of contracts (military & CS). But the Ms. Druyun's of the world will continue to operate outside the rules.