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

BG took known risks and got got caught in a country known for trumped up charges. She shouldn’t have taken those risks. Her people(handlers) should have known better.
That in no way excuses Russia. The whole BG saga is politically motivated and ridiculous.
I personally would not have let the trade go through .The merchant of death was/ is too dangerous back in the world. Inhave no problem with BG getting released just think the cost will prove to be far too high in the coming decades.

 

Makes you wonder if the prevailing wisdom inside the Biden administration is that Putin won't be in control of Russia for much longer (months, not years). Perhaps they're banking on a more reasonable regime filling his spot, but that seems extraordinarily risky in of itself. Still think Biden did all he could.

 

No, but he seems to be a liberal with some. (See, I can be nice to some of ya'll)

The ratings on my posts will give it away FYI

 

Russian media having a heyday ...

Russian Media Laughs At US Government's Woke Trade For Griner Instead Of Whelan | ZeroHedge

 

Yes. We should only do things that Russian media fully approves of. That should be our primary criteria.

Meanwhile:

Right-wing media echo Russian state TV in attacks on Brittney Griner
The conservative media echo chamber and Russian TV both said Griner was released only because she is a Black lesbian
https://www.mediamatters.org/matt-w...echo-russian-state-tv-attacks-brittney-griner

 

It was not a dishonorable discharge, it was a bad conduct discharge...one step "better." There was a court martial and he was convicted of attempted theft, false statements and dereliction of duty in 2008.

 

The former president apparently agrees.
Donald Trump slams Brittney Griner deal after ignoring Paul Whelan for two years

 

The Republican Congressmen should not focus so much on Griner as the Merchant of Death angle. They wouldn't look so stupid (and or racist, or alphabet-soup-phobic) if they simply said that Griner is a worthwhile person to try to rescue from Russian prison on general principles. However, the Merchant of Death is someone that should not be released from prison until you are certain that he is no longer a threat to society, or you have exhausted all legal efforts to keep from setting him free. Biden's inability to understand that opens him up to criticism that he's the Merchant of Stupidity, or the Merchant of Massacre, if you prefer alliteration. The first rule about winning a war, even a small one like putting the Merchant of Death behind bars: do not turn around and set your enemy up for their next attack on you or your allies. Mr. Biden, civilization will thank you not to be so stupid next time.

 

2nd worst trade in sports...after the Russell Wilson trade.

 

Well, she was a black lesbian athlete and inspiration to dozens.

 

It’s hard to imagine that Bout has the contacts or the will to get back into the arms business. Griner is not a criminal for all practical purposes. She had been playing professional basketball in Russia for about eight years before her arrest. It is hard to believe that she was not using marijuana while she was in Russia during those years. Her arrest, conviction and sentence certainly look to me like they were politically motivated. As for Paul Whelan, The administration tried to put together a swap for him. However, there was no deal unless Germany was willing to participate by giving up a Russian murderer, who is in jail in Germany. Additionally, when you do the research on Paul Whelan, he is a criminal. He committed several crimes that appear to be felonies which led to his court marshall while in the Marines. He also possibly committed the crime that he was accused of by the Russians. He committed several crimes that appear to be felonies which led to his court marshal while in the Marines.

 

I can think of other much more one sided trades but definitely the Herschel Walker trade by Dallas which netted 5 players and six picks two being used to draft Emmitt and Darren Woodson

 

Who did Biden trade him for?

 

The Red Sox trading Babe Ruth for $125,000 was a bad one.

 

It's surreal seeing Republicans decry this "merchant of death" when they bend over backwards to defend the "merchants of death" who arm the crazy people that commit mass murder of American children in our schools. Anyways, I'm glad Joe Biden was able to get Griner back home from that awful country. Hopefully, she's smart enough to never go back.

 

If she does go back, she can rest easy knowing that we will trade the Merchant of Misery or the Hacker from Hell for her.

 

Of course that's untrue, which is nothing new from the Trumpster.

Would you feel differently if the trade had been for Wahlen? There's a real tension between leaving an innocent American (or one who committed a misdemeanor) in a Russian prison on a lengthy sentence and releasing an evil man from ours. In deciding the best course of action, it shouldn't matter whether it's Whalen or Griner.

 

Why is it extremely unlikely that he would go back to the only work he has been good at? Work that he is so good at, in fact, that it has garnered him the attention of the leader of his country. Work that supports one of the few non-oil/gas things that Russia can export for profits. The dude is only 55 years old, and presumably, the work is not physically exhausting (I'm sure he doesn't personally unload the trucks of weapons). I'm sure most of his contacts are still alive after 12 years, and with the publicity of this prisoner swap, he will be more trusted than ever as an arms dealer, so he can easily make new contacts. As far as "taking him out", are you sure the U.S. even does that anymore? We obviously did not do it the first time around.

You seem to be as optimistic as Obama was while laying down a red line in the sand for Assad. Some people might use the word gullible, however. Not me, of course. But I will be surprised if it takes Bout more than a month to make his first arms deal.

Update: Some organization called "the Pentagon" believes that Viktor Bout will probably re-start his business. It makes sense--why else would Putin arrange to have him released if this guy wasn't any use to him?

Pentagon fears Viktor Bout, the so-called 'Merchant of Death' the US swapped for Brittney Griner, could restart his old arms business

These people at this "Pentagon" seem to know what they are talking about.

 

I don't think we should trade ANYONE for the Merchant of Death. You should consider yourself very lucky when you lock up a Merchant of Death, unless making a trade gives a clear indication that this person you trade for will save more innocent lives than the Merchant of Death will take with future weapons sales. That leaves Mother Theresa (who is no longer with us) and Albert Schweitzer, who is currently unavailable.