If you run a little shipping business moving herbal stimulants from Columbia to the US and make a huge pile of money and you get caught - US Law provides for the confiscation without compensation of all assets obtained as the result of your coke distribution operation. The idea is one may not profit from illegally gotten gains.

Of course, the current MS spiel is "Yes sir, we did break the law in the past. No sir, we are not presently breaking the law, nor do we intend to break the law in the future. If we are left to continue operations we will have no need to break the law as we have sufficient resources to crush all comers legally now."

OK, the last line is unspoken for the most part but that's the gist.

Of course, the resources MS uses to maintain their "competitive edge" were mostly obtained illegally. Thus, I don't see how the US can reasonably refrain from confiscation of all MS assets.

Sure, its a corporate death sentence. But how many corporate citizens did MS murder illegally?

Bust em up and deprive them of their assets. Its the only legal course of action.