He was a Soviet officer, most likely a lieutenant, who simply saw the opportunities presented by three factors that came with the collapse of the USSR and the state sponsorship that entailed : abandoned aircraft on the runways from Moscow to Kiev, no longer able to fly because of the lack of money for fuel or maintenance ; huge stores of surplus weapons that were guarded by guards suddenly receiving little or no salary ; and the booming demand for those weapons from traditional Soviet clients and newly emerging armed groups from Africa to the Philippines.

Douglas Farah

Douglas Farah is an American journalist, author and national security consultant. Farah served as United Press International bureau chief in El Salvador from 1985 to 1987, and a freelance journalist for The Washington Post, Newsweek, and other publications until being hired as a staff correspondent for The Washington Post in 1992. While working for the Post, Farah served as bureau chief of Central American and the Caribbean until 1997, international investigative reporter between 1998 and 2000, and of West Africa between 2000 and 2003. He left the Post in 2004, and has since authored two books and served as a contributor to peer reviewed publications such as the Journal of International Affairs and analysis pieces for Foreign Policy and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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