Why Being an Arms Dealer is Awesome1

By Jessica Shear, Feb 14, 2012 in Offbeat, Pop Culture

Let’s play a little game. I’ll post some items from a “To Do” list for achieving an awesome life, and you guess which items on the list were written in my journal when I turned 20 and which are more likely to have been on the To Do list of an arms dealer. Ready? Aim. Fire!

• See exotic places
• Be a mover and a shaker and rub elbows with power-brokers
• Own a private jet
• Have influence over others; make a difference in the world
• Make lots of moolah
• Become famous
• Play with things that go boom
• Become the best at what I do
• Ride my motorcycle to Sturgis
• Sleep with (a young) George Clooney

I’ll give you a hint: although an arms dealer is more likely to have achieved their “awesome life” goals, I’ve made some progress too – making claim to and checking off the first and last items on the list. (What? It could happen!)

Just as I’ve had to live with what I call “The Consequences of Clooney”, so too must arms dealers take the good with the bad. In the world of the arms dealer, the bad includes such things as being responsible for putting deadly weapons in the wrong hands, having to avoid arrest and prosecution, imprisonment, and being cut-down by the competition or unsavory clients. It’s basically an awesome life punctuated by bloodshed, danger, deceit and betrayal. In other words, it’s not the portrait of your typical salesman nor is it work for the faint of heart.

Like college reporters Alex and Lilly discover in the original thriller series, The Vetala, associating with those involved in illegal weapons trafficking can be either an awesome experience, or a deadly game of cat and mouse.

The Vetala – The Syndicate

Awesome Connections

Make no mistake; not all arms dealers are plying their trade illegally. In fact, both government and commercial industry are involved in the development and sale of weapons and ammunition. Indeed, one of the world’s most infamous arms dealers frequently worked with the blessing of the U.S. Government. Heavily involved in “reconstruction efforts” following the Iraq War, arms dealer Dale Stoffel and his company, Wye Oak Technology, were awarded a contract, which grew in size to over $40 million, by the new Iraqi government. While the fruits of his labor enabled Stoffel and wife Barbara to live an awesome lifestyle of opulence, he preferred to carry himself with the swagger of a down and dirty mercenary, frequently photographed toting a machine gun. Stoffel met his maker in 2004 while on his way to Baghdad to collect on the almost $25 million still owed him. This doesn’t happen to your typical salesman, but when you swim with sharks, you’ve got to expect blood.

Awesome Influence

Another American arms dealer, Samuel Cummings, was originally recruited by the CIA as a weapons expert. Here was one expert who parlayed his experience and connections with the U.S. Government into a self-serving opportunity to cash in on capitalism. Ultimately dominating the arms market of the 1950s and 1960s, Cummings played both sides of the fence by conducting business with enemies of the state, like Fidel Castro. Possessing contacts few others had, Cummings was both respected and feared by governments around the globe. His awesome existence, filled with the finer things of life, lasted until the (relatively) ripe old age of 71.

Awesome Buzz

From 2005 to 2008, small Florida-based company AEY Inc. filled arms orders totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Unlike many notorious American defense contractors, AEY wasn’t run by men with government connections and a contact list filled with high-powered names… not at first at least. Nope. AEY was created and owned by two Jewish stoners who took an idea and ran with it, duping both U.S. and foreign governments alike.

Run by 22-year old, Efraim Diveroli and 25-year old pal and licensed Masseur, David Packouz, AEY is said to have won its first government contracts after the boys checked the “disadvantaged minority” box, falsely claiming to be Hasidic. Their basic business plan followed that of Diveroli’s father’s gun shop – offer volume at low prices, and provide sub-standard product.

There’s was a life of bong hits and babes, often interrupting their weed revelries to answer calls from high-powered military contacts, inquiring about arms shipments. The two saw the world, often travelling to arms expos in Abu Dhabi and other far-flung regions. Still, AEY’s buyers had no idea who they were actually dealing with. Landing a $300 million Pentagon contract to provide ammo for Afghanistan (part of George W’s election year effort to revive the war effort), the stoners sent illegal Chinese and Albanian surplus ammo, which even the Afghan forces called crap.

Not long after that, the truth about AEY and its weed-wacked CEOs was discovered. However, laws against arms dealing are few – and those that exist are fairly weak. Although the Army suspended AEY from doing business in 2008, it wasn’t until January 2011 that Diveroli was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud – and it was March 2011 before the company was officially barred from doing business with the military… but only for 14 years, after which point, AEY will once again be eligible to put sub-par weapons in the hands of our fighting men and women. What an awesome life!

Awesome in Flight

Picture this – private jets with gold toy-lettes. Trained by none-other than Ansel Adams, photographer Nick Gleis spent 30 years documenting the interior of private jets owned by the rich and famous. Because Gleis has stayed mum about which planes belong to which Richie Rich, there’s no way to identify the plane he photographed for infamous arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi. However, taking your pick from the tacky to the over-the-top leaves one wishing Martha Stewart had been called in for a consult – or at least a crew from one of the “Flip this House” shows.
What was captured is proof that success doesn’t bring taste and you can’t buy your way into heaven, even if you can fly yourself closer than most. Still, flying in your own private luxury jet (with a kitchen galley full of caviar and AK-47s) is just part of the awesome life of an arms dealer, and it sure beats standing in line waiting for security to confiscate your nail clippers.

Awesome on Film

You know you’ve reached the awesome level of “legendary arms dealer” when Nicolas Cage is tapped to play a character based on your life. Okay, so he’s not George Clooney, but still – it’s marginally more flattering than being portrayed by Seth Rogan (although he’s looking fit these days). In the 2005 movie Lord of War, Cage plays a character loosely based on three of the world’s most notorious arms dealers – Sarkis Soghanalian, Viktor Bout and Leonid Minin. The movie shows not only the making of an arms dealer but begins poignantly by documenting the creation of a bullet in a Soviet arms factory, its shipment to African battle grounds and its final resting place in the brain of a child soldier. At the conclusion of the movie, the creators add a note explaining that while arms dealers are largely responsible for putting weapons in the hands of many, the five largest arms exporters (and therefore most awesome) are the U.S., the United Kingdom, Russia, France and China… the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. How awesome is that?

Awesome Online Action

Sounds kind of sexy, no? Well, get your heads out of the gutter and into the gunplay! The gaming world is so convinced that kids today should aspire to greatness – nay – awesomeness – that the Internet is full of free online gaming options allowing little Brittany and sweet Stevie to aspire to become the best of the best at dealing arms. Most games direct the player to build a world empire through a variety of illegal activities, culminating in selling arms to third world countries engaged in warfare. The objective of the games is usually to be the most awesome by getting as much money as possible via buying weapons in one country and selling them to another for profit. At least one game includes the option of buying illegal passports and changing one’s identity. With the awesome life of an arms dealer, who would want to change?

The Vetala – Resurrection

Watch the next episode of the supernatural thriller series THE VETALA

Watch the short music video, A LOT TO LIVE FOR, from the original series THE VETALA, below.

The Vetala – A Lot To Live For

Raised in both the DC Metro Area and West Africa, Jessica Shear pulls from life experience in her quest to become one of the great essayists of her time. Failing that, she finds solace in riding her motorcycle and in playing with her cats and boyfriend – all requiring patience, a keen eye for obstacles and the ability to speak sweetly and slowly. A freelance writer for 15 years, Jessica’s work can be found online via Demand Media, in marketing collateral of all kinds, in Underwired, CommonGround and Hype in Type magazines…and filling her parents’ junk drawers.