Should U.S. Swap ‘Merchant of Death’ for Brittney Griner?

[Franklin Pierce]

(NewsNation) — In an effort to free U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, the United States government has reportedly offered to swap her for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Bout is best known as “the Merchant of Death,” and he’s currently locked up in Illinois.

Negotiations are in the early stages, according to a non-government source in a position to know, Forbes reported. Russian customs officials accused Griner of carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. The U.S. State Department says she has been “wrongfully detained.”

U.S. authorities say Victor has been trafficking arms since the 1990s to dictators and terrorist groups all over the world.

In 2008, he was arrested in Thailand for trying to sell hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, and thousands of assault rifles, that were destined to shoot down U.S. pilots.

Should U.S. swap 'Merchant of Death' for Brittney Griner?

 

[Orangeburst]

(NewsNation) — In an effort to free U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, the United States government has reportedly offered to swap her for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Bout is best known as “the Merchant of Death,” and he’s currently locked up in Illinois.

Negotiations are in the early stages, according to a non-government source in a position to know, Forbes reported. Russian customs officials accused Griner of carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. The U.S. State Department says she has been “wrongfully detained.”

U.S. authorities say Victor has been trafficking arms since the 1990s to dictators and terrorist groups all over the world.

In 2008, he was arrested in Thailand for trying to sell hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, and thousands of assault rifles, that were destined to shoot down U.S. pilots.

Should U.S. swap 'Merchant of Death' for Brittney Griner?

Uhh..no..Putin can keep him

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Trade an athlete for a terrorist? Certainly. I'm surprised there is any controversy at all.

 

[Franklin Pierce]

Russia Hints at Linking Griner’s Case to Fate of ‘Merchant of Death’

July 1, 2022


WASHINGTON — She is an American professional basketball star, accused of carrying hashish oil in her luggage.

He is a notorious Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to sell weapons to people who said they planned to kill Americans.

And the Kremlin appears interested in linking their fates, in a potential deal with the Biden administration that would free both.

The vast disparity between the cases of Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout highlights the extreme difficulty President Biden would face if he sought a prisoner exchange to free Ms. Griner, the detained W.N.B.A. player, from detention in Moscow. The Biden administration, reluctant to create an incentive for the arrest or abduction of Americans abroad, would be hard-pressed to justify the release of a villainous figure like Mr. Bout.

At the same time, Mr. Biden is under pressure to free Ms. Griner, who was arrested at a Moscow-area airport in February and whom the State Department classified in May as “wrongfully detained.” That reflects concern that the Kremlin considers her leverage in the tense confrontation between the United States and Russia over Ukraine. Last week, dozens of groups representing people of color, women and L.G.B.T.Q. Americans sent a letter urging Mr. Biden to “make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.”

Russia Hints at Linking Griner’s Case to Fate of ‘Merchant of Death’

 

[82_VOL_83]

no

 

[Zues1]

Nope,

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Decisions decisions...

 

[Franklin Pierce]

'I'm terrified I might be here forever': Brittney Griner Pens Handwritten Letter To Biden

WNBA player Brittney Griner is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow on July 1, 2022.

(CNN) WNBA star Brittney Griner, in a handwritten letter to President Joe Biden, said she fears she will be detained in Russia indefinitely and pleaded with the President not to forget about her and other American detainees.

"(As) I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I'm terrified I might be here forever," she wrote, according to a statement released by the communications company representing the Griner family.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/30/politics/brittney-griner-wife-chenelle-interview-spt-intl/index.html
Brittney Griner pens handwritten letter to Biden - CNNPolitics

 

[Vol423]

Tell me this doesn't absolutely wreak of the Biden Administration's nonexistent negotiation skills.

 

[sonofUT62]

If Brittany were white/ straight and not a (minor-ish) celebrity would this be a question?

 

[deezvols]

Our racist society would never…..

 

[sonofUT62]

I was especially touched by her admission that although she’s been eligible to vote for 13 years, she just got around to it last year. And surprise surprise….. she voted for the one person stupid enough to swap her for a mass murderer. I guess all that domestic violence and smuggling hash leaves little time for civic duty.

 

[Orangeslice13]

Nope

 

[NorthDallas40]

Nope

 

[LittleVol]

Uhh..no..Putin can keep him

Have a heart.
She's not causing death in the world.

 

[Grand Vol]

With the Biden Admin negotiating, I'd be shocked if they didn't get their arms dealer, Alaska and a couple of cases of Red Bull as an offer.

 

[tvolsfan]

No

 

[SamRebel35]

I really feel bad for her. She is being used by an insane dictator as a political pawn. Biden needs to be really careful with what he says. We absolutely can't release a terrorist who is bent on getting Americans killed, but we can't let her rot in prison on some bull**it charges either. If Biden tries some "tough guy" speech, I would be surprised if Russia didn't call him on it. Then what? Sticky situation. I don't have much faith that it will be worked out to a happy conclusion.

 

[davethevol]

I’d trade him for all of our Americans sitting in prison over there. Then the next time he’s outside Russia I’d let him get accidentally killed. Since we have the ability to track every single person in the world now, he won’t be as big of a threat as he used to be.

 

[615vols]

No.

 

[rekinhavoc]

When I was on Mediterranean cruise the Navy warned us before each port of laws or socially unacceptable behavior. Before Antalya , Turkey they showed us the movie Midnight Express. Basically letting us know you screw up here and you're done.

I find it hard to believe she did not know the consequences.

I would not free Victor Bout.

 

[davethevol]

When I was on Mediterranean cruise the Navy warned us before each port of laws or socially unacceptable behavior. Before Antalya , Turkey they showed us the movie Midnight Express. Basically letting us know you screw up here and you're done.

I find it hard to believe she did not know the consequences.

I would not free Victor Bout.

What I wonder is if she really had anything illegal, or was she setup because she’s somewhat high profile.

 

[Wireless1]

If Brittany were white/ straight and not a (minor-ish) celebrity would this be a question?

Probably not because she wouldn't have been smuggling illegal contraband into Russia.

 

[hog88]

Slip him some slow acting poison, swap him for ALL Americans being held in Russia and call it a day.

 

[Wireless1]

No, because trading a "hash" smuggler with only personal use quantity for a career, long heavy weapons arms smuggler would put every American with even a hint of notoriety at risk of being jailed when visiting Russia.