Book Review: The Washing Machine — Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing Soils Us - Page 2

Along the way, he looks at how even stable countries like Israel become witting partners of the Washing Machine operators. He notes the high proportion of Russian Jewish members in the Russian mafia, attributing this to the marginalization of the Jews under the Tsars, and the subsequent lack of respect for Soviet law, and disdain for its social structures. This, coupled with "Israel's political insecurity and it's lack of international friends outside the United States...exacerbated its dependence on dubious sources of funds"

Israel's desperation for foreign exchange means Russian Mafiosi have been allowed to integrate themselves into the country's political and financial system. It also means Russian Mafioisi have been given shelter and a great deal of security, which they would not have experiened either in Russia or in Western Europe"

Nick describes techniques used by the launderers, such as "smurfing", where large sums of money are broken up into small amounts that can be deposited into banking systems without arousing suspicion. Unfortunately, there is no benevolent Papa Smurf giving orders to the little smurfs. More often than not, there is a sinister figure like Semion Moglevitch, or the even more dangerous, Victor Bout.

The 'Merchant of Death', Victor Bout, has fed the hunger for arms, oil, diamonds, dollars, and mercenaries of many of the world's governments. Reportedly a friend of Vladimir Putin, and an oligarch of the new Russia, he lives freely in Moscow. A majority of his ventures have been legitimate, such as an enterprise to import frozen chickens from South Africa to Nigeria, or an airline flying UN peacekeepers to Somalia in Operation Restore Hope. He was involved in more unsavory enterprises however, such as reportedly supplying both sides in Afghanistan in the 1990s with surplus Soviet armaments through Slovakia. His double-sided persona is reflected in the Rwandan venture, wherein he allegedly supplied arms to the Hutu extremists, as well as flying French peacekeepers there. His fingers were in many pies in conflict regions, from Liberia to Monrovia.

He was monitored and investigated at length, but post the election of George W Bush, the monitoring of arms sales in Africa was scaled down, among a host of international crime-fighting efforts that saw the same fate. Post-9/11, Nick tells us, he was left alone, on orders from the National Security Council, mainly because "the US government wanted Russia on its side in the War on Terror. To win this co-operation, they apparently felt the need to assure Russia that it wouldn't be pressured about Bout."

Article Author: Aaman Lamba

Aaman Lamba is a Blogcritics editor, as well as the Publisher of Desicritics.org, a Blogcritics network site covering media, politics, culture, sports and more with a global South Asian focus

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