137: Predator
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You ever think about the proliferation of weapons? Well, shoot, let's get into it. I want you to think about this guy, Sam Cummings. Here, I found an old vintage documentary made by CNN.
This is Sam Cummings, and this 57-year-old is the biggest private military weapons dealer in the world.
The business as a business is fascinating.
Cummings has sold tens of millions of guns to armies and sportsmen.
Okay, so how did he become the biggest private military weapons dealer in the world? Well, the U.S. Department of Defense taught him. That's how. When he was 18, in 1945, he was recruited into the U.S. Army, which, at the time, they were just wrapping up World War II. There was a big ramp-up to provide all these weapons for armies around the world to use in wars. And then suddenly the war was over. So where's all the weapons going to go?
As a young arms buff, Cummings got his start at the CIA. His assignment was to buy surplus weapons in Europe. At the age of 23, he left the spy agency and started his own business.
Buying surplus weapons in the CIA gave him a crazy idea. How about buy a whole bunch of cheap weapons now that the war is over, and then slowly sell them over time? He had all the contacts. He needed to go buy them, and so he did. And he was selling them to the public, like to hunters or sportsmen, and was becoming known for having a big supply of weapons. But he wanted bigger deals, and so he started talking to governments around the world. He brought a bunch of AR-10 rifles down to Nicaragua and demonstrated that to them there. Well, the Nicaraguan military was like, ah, that's cool, send us some of those. and then the Dominican Republic wanted some, and then Cuba wanted some. And yet, he sold battle rifles to all these places, including Fidel Castro, which I think was illegal because it was an embargo not to sell any weapons to Castro, yet it still happened. Fidel Castro bought rifles from him, and he did not seem to get in any trouble for that. I don't think he cared who he sold to. If you had money, he'd sell you weapons.
Every morning, Cummings uses a telex to keep in touch with his military customers and branch offices. A telex comes in from Sudan, offering surplus military equipment.
I would go about 25% more than that in dollars if my list is the same as your list.
Cummings' military weapons are shipped and stored at Inner Arms House in Manchester, England. At any given moment, there are a quarter of a million guns here. And on little notice, Cummings says he would have no trouble equipping a fair-sized army.
Depends how large the army would be, but let's say an army of an average smaller African or Latin American state is 25,000 to 50,000 men. No problem.
Can you believe this kind of thing was going on in the 50s and 60s? Sam Cummings has sold or bought arms from almost every country in the world. Interarms has supplied Africa, and his company's weapons have shown up in Egypt. His guns were used at the Bay of Pigs by Fidel Castro and in Nicaragua under Somoza. But Cummings' best customers are countries in Asia.
This guy became a billionaire, selling hundreds of thousands of weapons to anyone who would pay. And a lot of time, he would buy these weapons from Russia, which was in the middle of a cold war with the U.S.
I would say the Russians build the best military weapons across the board, and they also build them in tremendous quantity, which is the key factor in modern war.
I don't know. I feel like this guy's only ally in life is money. He doesn't mind selling weapons to places that are actively at war with his home country, you know? So clearly he doesn't have an allegiance to the U.S. And from watching this documentary, he seems to believe that all sides are evil and there's just no way to take the moral high ground on any of these trade deals. He does seem to have some kind of allegiance to his family, though. He invited this CNN reporter on an eight-hour car ride where they were going on a family trip somewhere. And I think it's pretty weird to have a reporter in the car with the whole family for eight hours.
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