Yeah and no. That's the CNN speculation, right there, but the fact they said Putin said *only* this guy for Griner - coupled with his background - indicates he could still be influential in the arms trade.
If it was just a show of "I can care for my own" it could've been someone really nobody status
"Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."
"Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."
Only Republicans are slamming this trade.
Also, Trump DIRECTLY negotiated with terrorists. Did you not forget that Trump released 5000 Taliban soldiers and negotiated the surrender of Afghanistan with them instead of the Afghani government we helped establish? Get the fuck out of here with this negotiating with terrorists bullshit.
no one mentioned Trump. This is a Joe Biden issue.
Also, it's scary how people change their tune to the current trends; months ago, people said she was at fault for bringing weed and, of course, visiting Russia at all.
It's not just Republicans slamming this. The amount of controversy over the other person exchanged is all over social media right now. A basketball player actually convicted over something legitimate per another country's laws for an arms dealer known as "merchant of death" and was so bad he was imprisoned for over a decade
And not just the fact he's an arms dealer, but considering the circumstances in Ukraine right now. Why would they specifically ask for an infamous arms dealer with that title (merchant of death) when Russia is reportedly suffering so many losses in Ukraine in resources?
Last edited by YUPPIE; 2022-12-08 at 10:09 PM.
"Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."
He's useless at this point. He used to sell old soviet weapons stored in Eastern Europe to clients in Asia, Africa and South America. The levels of corruption that allowed these practices are long gone in Eastern Europe, the stocks are now controlled by a NATO aligned militarily, his network is gone, and everybody knows him.
I get why the US negotiated for the return of its citizen but at the same time its kinda shitty that the lesson being given is that you can break whatever law you want in a foreign country and the US gov will bail you out. Dont break the law in another country
it's interesting how with all the Griner talk on TV, the newscasters on American TV are openly calling Putin a "war criminal" and "dictator" now. Not even "president." Ironically, despite the fact Griner was convicted for breaking another country's laws, they keep going on how about it was "mad" and "unjust" as if she did nothing wrong.
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he does have a point; she was bailed out for something she was responsible for with the claim of "no American gets left behind"
...except immediately after saying that, they mention numerous other political American prisoners still trapped in Russia, including a Marine. Why not free them as well?
"Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."
This is not the first time this has happened. Nor is it particularly unusual in such cases, even. As I pointed out in another thread, in most cases if you commit a crime in another country, especially if the crime is just "contraband" like it is here, the punishment is just going to be deportation and a travel ban. It is rare for any country to actual imprison a foreign citizen, which usually only happens if the government wants to use them as political leverage or if they did something particularly heinous.
"Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."
It's not.
It doesn't....because it further ignites the already insane anti-Russian sentiments.
What the fuck are you on? Stop living in your own version of reality.At this point there's no quarter; before people were like "there are good/victimized Russians;" now it's just "fuck them all" basically.
While they allow Putin to stay in power and have troops in Ukraine there are no good Russians. So yep fuckem! They have nobody to blame but themselves for allowing it to go on for so long and being willing to sacrifice nearly a full generation of men to salve Putin's ego.
Some Pentagon officials are concerned that convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was released on Thursday in a prisoner swap for American basketball star Brittney Griner, could return to illegally trafficking weapons, potentially fueling conflicts across the world.
While officials in the Pentagon applauded Griner’s release, some are worried about the impact of Bout’s return, particularly in Africa. Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, and aiding a terrorist organization.
“I think there is a concern that [he] would return to doing the same kind of work that he’s done in the past,” said one senior Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
With Bout back in Russia, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stressed that “our national security interest is not going to change.”
“We’re going to make sure that we can defend this country against any and all threats,” Kirby said on CNN on Thursday. “And so, with Mr. Bout being back on the street, we’re going to stay focused on making sure we can defend this country.”
Sen. Bob Menendez, the Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said there’s no equivalence between Griner and Bout.
“We cannot ignore that releasing Bout back into the world is a deeply disturbing decision,” he said in a statement Thursday. “We must stop inviting dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans overseas as bargaining chips, and we must try do better at encouraging American citizens against traveling to places like Russia where they are primary targets for this type of unlawful detention.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/1...-bout-00073034
"Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."