Sarkis Garabet Soghanalian ( hy, Սարգիս Սողանալեան; February 6, 1929 – October 5, 2011), nicknamed the Merchant of Death, was a Syrian- Lebanese-Armenian international private arms dealer who gained fame for being the "
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
's largest arms merchant"
[Sarkis Soghanalian: The Cold War's Largest Arms Merchant]
" '' Frontline/World'' (produced in March 2001). Retrieved April 10, 2007 and the lead seller of firearms and weaponry to the former government of
Iraq under
Saddam Hussein during the 1980s.
Soghanalian was contracted by the
Central Intelligence Agency to sell arms to help Iraq during the
Iran–Iraq War. With the encouragement of the
Reagan Administration and the backing of American intelligence agencies, he oversaw the transaction of several significant arms deals. Aside from Iraq, he also sold weapons to groups in
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
,
Lebanon, and Latin America.
On the eve of the
Persian Gulf War, Soghanalian spoke publicly about his activities during the Iran-Iraq War. This led to a federal indictment by the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
. He was found guilty and sentenced to jail.
[Interview with Sarkis Soghanalian in 2003]
Interview with Sarkis Soghanalian
Public Education Center. Retrieved April 10, 2007 He was given an early release when he helped the
Clinton administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
to attempt break up a
counterfeiting
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
ring in Lebanon. In 2001, he was arrested once more by the US government on
bank fraud
Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...
charges but was released a year later after he revelations of further weapons transactions deals between the CIA and
Peru.
Early life
Soghanalian was born to an
Armenian family in what was then
French mandate Syrian Iskanderun (now part of Turkey). In late 1939, his family moved to Lebanon. Due to the poor economic conditions his family lived in at the time, he decided to drop out of high school and joined the
French Army and served in a
tank division. It was from his experience in the military that brought him into the world of weaponry and, in his words, he "adapted to it from childhood and kept going".
Soghanalian later took up a job as a ski instructor in Lebanon, where he met and married his American wife.
Initial arms deals
Lebanon
Soghanalian was introduced to the world of arms trade in the beginning of the 1970s. He sold his first consignment of firearms in 1973 (mainly consisting of American weaponry). However, he was soon able to procure weaponry from a number of
Eastern bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries including
Bulgaria,
Hungary and
Poland.
The arms consisted largely of
small arms
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
and infantry weapons. After the Lebanese Civil War, he branched out his arms operations to other countries, supplying the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
Phalange militia in Lebanon, various factions in
Ecuador,
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
and
Nicaragua, and
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
's
Zaire, to
Argentina during the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
, and to
Saddam Hussein. He was even able procure an American
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
transport plane to Libya's
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
.
Iraq
According to an interview he gave years later, the United States was fully aware of Soghanalian's operations when he began obtaining weapons for Iraq: "The Americans knew what I was doing, every minute, every hour. If I drank a glass of water, they were aware of it and what kind of water it was."
He had struck up and maintained a largely cordial relationship with the United States ever since the
Lebanon crisis of 1958
The 1958 Lebanon crisis (also known as the Lebanese Civil War of 1958) was a political crisis in Lebanon caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included a United States military intervention. The intervention lasted for aro ...
. American intelligence officials had described him as a cooperative and reliable source in Lebanon, making him an ideal candidate to conduct the arms deal with Iraq. With the beginning of the
Iran–Iraq War in 1980, he began to sell weapons to Iraq with the blessing of the United States. Since there was an arms embargo placed against Iraq, the weapons were funneled through various countries. His most significant deal came when he procured French 155mm
self-propelled
Self-propelled may refer to
* Human-powered transport, humans moving themselves (and their cargo) via their own muscle energy
* Machines that power their own movement:
** Automobile (from ''auto-'' + ''mobile'', "self-moving")
** Locomotive (from ...
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
s (valued at an estimated $1.4 billion).
[Cerf, Christopher and Micah L Sifry. ''The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions''. New York: Touchstone, 2003, p. 32. .]
Iraqi leaders had initially approached the
Reagan administration to purchase American 175mm artillery, but had been turned down. They were, however, encouraged by American officials to procure the weapons through private arms dealers.
The Iraqis in 1981 appealed to Soghanalian, then based in
Miami, Florida, who in turn approached several European governments. He found French leader
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
inclined to conducting the transaction so long as the deal was kept secret, since
Iran was holding French hostages at the time, and France did not wish to antagonize it. The U.S. encouraged Mitterrand to approve the sale, nicknamed the "Vulcan," as it passed through a complex set of transactions.
Soghanalian defended the sales when they were later revealed on the eve of the
Gulf War, in January 1991. He stated that, "We didn't give him those weapons to fight U.S. forces. The weapons were given to him to fight the common enemy
ran
Ran, RaN and ran may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa
* "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea
* '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game)
* ...
at that time. Which he did. There was no need to have direct confrontation with him and endanger American troops."
His other transactions to Iraq also included artillery from
South Africa, which he routed through Austria as a "middle man," to bypass
United Nations sanctions.
[Interview by Steve Kroft]
United States Arms Sales to Iraq
(produced by Don Hewitt and Lowell Bergman). ''60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
''; aired January 20, 1991. Retrieved April 15, 2007. Soghanalian helped sell to the Iraqi army military uniforms worth $280,000,000 from Romania.
In an interview with ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'', Soghanalian stated that top-level American officials were aware from the beginning of his deals in Iraq. These included former U.S. President
Richard Nixon, former Vice-President
Spiro Agnew, Nixon chief of staff Colonel Jack Brennan and attorney general
John N. Mitchell
John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon and chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been a municipal ...
. Encouraged by other senior officials, Nixon had written a letter on his behalf to expedite the sale of uniforms to Iraq. Soghanalian remarked that "They were not only in the uniform business. They would sell their mothers if they could, just to make the money."
He predicted that the ensuing war between Coalition troops and Iraq would turn into a lengthy and costly conflict, much like the Iran–Iraq War.
Arrest and conviction
Soghanalian's testimony exposed the role of American government officials in the illicit arms trade. Members of
Congress noted that his revelations had been found to be "extremely disturbing to every American. They are disturbing to Mr. Soghanalian. He gives a first-hand description of official and unofficial American involvement in the enormous buildup of arms to Saddam Hussein."
His testimony led the Justice Department under
George H. W. Bush administration
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
to file federal charges against him in 1991. He was convicted on six counts for possession of armaments and intent to sell to
Iraq. The weapons included 103 helicopter
gunship
A gunship is a military aircraft armed with heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support.
In modern usage the term "gunship" refers to fixed-wing aircraft having laterally-mo ...
s from the
Hughes Helicopters
Hughes Helicopters was a major manufacturer of military and civil helicopters from the 1950s to the 1980s.
The company began in 1947, as a unit of Hughes Aircraft, then was part of the Hughes Tool Company after 1955. It became the Hughes Helic ...
corporation and two
rocket-propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...
launchers from a 1983 deal.
A year later, he was fined $20,000 and sentenced to six years in prison. In 1993 his sentence was reduced to two years. Although the exact reasons remain unknown, his attorney stated that Soghanalian had cooperated with U.S. law enforcement officials in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to break up a $100 billion counterfeiting operation in the
Bekaa valley in Lebanon. In 1995, after he was released, he moved to France and opened offices there and in
Amman, Jordan.
Peru
In 1999 Soghanalian arranged for an air drop of 10,000
AK-47 assault rifles, originally from
East Germany and Jordan, intended for use by the
Peruvian government but most of it fell into the possession of the
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
n
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
guerrilla organization
FARC, which were opposed to the US-backed government of Colombia. Soghanalian had been able to purchase the rifles for $55 apiece in addition to a $20 transportation, and "shipping and handling" fee. Several months later, it was revealed that the CIA had backed the deal to arm Peruvian intelligence head
Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (born 20 May 1945) is a former long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, National Intelligence Service (SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori. In the year 2000, the infamous "Vladi-videos" came ...
.
Philanthropy
Though known for his role in the global arms trade, Soghanalian also used his resources to dispatch 26 planes to deliver humanitarian relief to the Soviet Union in the wake of the
devastating earthquake that hit
Spitak
Spitak ( hy, Սպիտակ), is a town and urban municipal community in the northern Lori Province of Armenia. It is north of the capital, Yerevan, and west of the provincial center, Vanadzor. Spitak was entirely destroyed during the devastatin ...
,
Soviet Armenia in 1988.
[Sarkis G. Soghanalian, arms dealer dubbed ‘merchant of death,’ dies at 82]
" '' Washington Post''. October 10, 2011. Retrieved December 21, 2013. For his efforts, President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
described him as an individual who "strengthened the ties that unite mankind," while
Mother Teresa wrote him a letter, stating that God would reward him and his family's efforts a "hundredfold."
In popular culture
Soghanalian was one of the inspirations for the character of Yuri Orlov in the 2005 film ''
Lord of War
''Lord of War'' is a 2005 American crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol, and co-produced by and starring Nicolas Cage.
The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, to positive reviews and grosse ...
''. Orlov was a composite of real life, Middle-eastern arms dealers, including Soghanalian and
Victor Bout.
[Zerrouky, Hassane.]
Getting a closer look at gun-running - a film review
" '' L'Humanité'', January 30, 2006. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
Death
Soghanalian died on October 5, 2011 at the Hialeah Hospital in
Hialeah, Florida.
See also
*
Viktor Bout
References
External links
Merchants of Death1999 documentary that travels into the lives of the two biggest private arms dealers in the world—Sarkis Soghanalian and
Samuel Cummings
Samuel Cummings, (February 7, 1927 – April 29, 1998) was an American small arms dealer. He founded the International Armament Corporation (also known as Interarms or Interarmco) in 1953, a company which came to dominate the free world market i ...
"CIA FOIA Report detailing possible arms drop from Miami, Florida"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soghanalian, Sarkis
1929 births
2011 deaths
Lebanese people of Armenian descent
Armenian businesspeople
Lebanese businesspeople
20th-century criminals
Armenian criminals
Lebanese criminals
People convicted of arms trafficking
Syrian emigrants to the United States
Syrian people of Armenian descent