Arms dealing in the days of Bush

I always thought arms dealing was done by middle-aged thugs who operate in the legal shadows and had ties to various oppressive 3rd world regimes throughout the world. Apparently I was wrong and this is a job that has a lot more opportunity for people from my peer group than I thought. Meet the new face of international arms dealing in the Era of Bush, pictured to the left is 22 year-old Efraim Diveroli. Mr. Diveroli is 22 years old and his company has recieved $300 million in arms contracts from theBush admnistration to arms the Afghan police and military (among others).

The NY Times has Diveroli's story, it's long but well worth a thorough read. You have under-age kids using fake ids, domestic violence and orders of protection, and battery charges.

Where does a 22-year old kid get the ammo he is contracted to supply?

...records provided by an official concerned about the company’s performance, a whistle-blower in the Balkans and an arms-trafficking researcher in Europe, as well as interviews with several people who work in state arsenals in Europe, show that AEY shopped from stocks in the old Eastern bloc, including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Romania and Slovakia.

There's also the fact that much of this ammunition doesn't actually work. Leaving our allies high and dry.

The whole story is bizarre, fascinating and frightening - all at the same time. Ladies and gentleman, your United States Department of Defense at work.