POLL: Should the US trade Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner?

For those that think that tough competent nations act like they are run by Hollywood screenwriters and never trade with “terrorists” and, if they do, only engage in proportional exchanges, see

Israeli prisoner exchanges refer to exchanges of prisoners during the Arab–Israeli conflict. Israel has exchanged POWs with its Arab neighbors, and has released about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners to secure freedom for 19 Israelis and to retrieve the bodies of eight others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_prisoner_exchanges

 

Run a poll 'are we in a recession?'

 

Not sure how it is in the Russian's interest to promote her competition. She wasnt there to play an international event. She plays hoops in a Russian league that no one outside of certain Russian cities pays any attention to.

I would not swap an arms dealer seeking to kill Americans for her, or sadly the teacher... Although the teacher has health issues and has been sentenced to 13 years in a hard labor camp which is just ridiculous and that might make us more likely to take an L for his freedom.

 

Disagree.
I voted no because while this trade may bring one or two home, it may open the door to other Americans coming home in body bags.

Mine was a vote about citizenship too.

I hope we get her and all of them home safe, but not at the expense of potential bloodshed down the road

 

I don't buy the whole "packing bags quickly" thing. I smoke.. a lot. If she smokes for medical reasons, she smokes a lot too probably. Even if you don't, I know EXACTLY where my stash is at all times. There's no way I accidentally pack it. Maybe I might forget to pack it if I planned on packing it for some reason.

You should have been more careful and understood international laws. She's lucky, some countries give the death penalty for this type of stuff.

 

I really don’t give a rats ass what Israel does with prisoner exchanges. If I was an Israel citizen then it would be different.

 

Don't say that. Every time I go to the Bahama's I wonder if they have any warrants out for me from my hijinks when I was a teen in the 70s. Did some crazy things on a trip back then.

We rented Honda 50cc motor bikes and instead of riding on the highways took to the woods for some fun. I wrecked mine and pushed it back to the rental shop to get my deposit and drivers license back. Got my deposit back and hauled ass back to the ship. When the shop keeper went out to get the bike I could hear him yelling at me all the way back to the ship.

 

I think I've heard something like that. I'm curious what the economics of that are. Is womens' basketball that much more popular in Russia or was her being paid that much the result of something other than much higher revenues over there? I remember Roy Jones used to go fight over there too (and think he has citizenship), but that was when he was way past his prime so that made more sense to me.

 

Believe it or not, there are teams that just want to win things, and dont care about market efficiency or they are subsidized by other leagues or teams.

 

I don't know the details of the league but leagues in all sports have special Visa issues and rules for foreign players to supplement rosters. In this case, her height and skill would no doubt make her a draw and also give her team a competitive advantage. Team owners want to sign foreign players and there had to be an existing system permitting the practice, because the government somehow saw it in their interest. Just logic. She's not there without government permission and she is one of the top players in the world.

From Wiki:


Overseas
Griner plays overseas in the WNBA off-season.[49] In the 2013–14 off-season, she played in China for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the WCBA where she signed a four-month contract for $600,000, which was 12 times the amount she made in her rookie season with the Mercury.[50] In the 2014–15 and 2015–16 off-seasons, Griner played in Russia for UMMC Ekaterinburg with teammate Diana Taurasi, winning back-to-back championships.[51][52]

In August 2016, Griner re-signed with UMMC Ekaterinburg for the 2016–17 off-season.[53] In 2017, she re-signed once again with UMMC Ekaterinburg for the 2017–18 off-season,[54] and in 2018, she returned to UMMC Ekaterinburg for a fifth stint in the 2018–19 off-season.

In terms of the "equities" of the trade, it is the way of the world. Western values countries that value their individual citizens as more than state instruments have always made disproportionate trades, as I showed with the Israelis. We also invest a lot more in recovering and trying to restore our lost or injured military. The Russians have hardly cared to even recover bodies of their fallen in Ukraine.

Again, the way of the world. The alternative is to value the lives of our citizens and soldiers like they do. I don't want that, but it does make us more vulnerable to "trades" like this, just like Israeli solicitude for it's soldiers and citizens compels it to make disproportionate "trades."

I'm glad we are as we are. She was basically used by the Russians because she was a prominent American, an Olympian that was a symbol of the US as a double gold medal winner for the US National Team beyond being a roster filler. Look at how her arrest was announced:

The Russian Federal Customs Service announced in a statement that an inspection of hand luggage carried by a United States citizen who arrived on a flight from New York City on an unspecified date in February confirmed the presence of narcotic drugs.

Russian authorities revealed a drug-sniffing dog detected "the possible presence of narcotic substances" and X-ray screening of her luggage found electronic vape cartridges with hashish oil.

The statement did not identify the jailed woman but said she was "a member of the US National Basketball Association, a two-time Olympic basketball champion in the US team".


And again, her "value" to the Russians as a basketball player, which they have now forfeited, is that a dynasty was created/extended using American players, including Brittany


Griner has played in Russia during the WNBA off-season for several years, where she earns a salary of more than a $1 million (£755,000/€955,000), nearly five times what she can earn in the US.

Griner has represented UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014 with team-mates Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart.

UMMC Ekaterinburg are Russia’s dominant team, having won the national championship for 13 consecutive years since 2009.


US double Olympic basketball gold medallist arrested on drugs charges in Moscow

 

Whatever. Picked Israel because no one would accuse them of being soft or naive in national security issues. Was illustrating how this works if you follow it. Enough said

 

I’ll admit you picked a country I greatly admire.

I want Griner home asap but not in exchange for an arms dealer who sells to people or country’s who he knows is going to use them to kill US citizens.

 

Obviously neither did this Administration. They delayed before jumping in. Plainly a lot going on behind the scenes. But at some point officials concluded the Russians would hold her and maybe worse until they got who they wanted. The alternative was to leave her to whatever they would do.

I'm sure if you ask the Russians, they will tell you they are getting the worse of it in the overall rivalry. I think they are getting what they deserve, and that they deserve far worse.

But just the way of the world

 

If we really have a problem with arms dealers selling weapons that kill US citizens, we should shut down every gun manufacturer and gun store in the USA.

 

No, but I'll trade him for Edward Snowden, bound and hooded. That hero deserves his trial.

 

The deal should include every American being held by the Russians including Whelan and Vogel. Keep in mind that although it's less than half of his 25-year sentence Bout has already been incarcerated in the US for 12 years.

 

So we agree, Snowden, too?

 

You know the difference.