Dude stop playing the race card it is beneath you. I been a fan of Griner since her Baylor days. She got out because she is famous while others still are stuck in foreign prisons. I believe the sentence was ridiculous and we all know it was aimed at the U.S. But you are going to celebrate her release and not even a peep over what we gave up. This was not an even swap by any means. It is complete bullshit to simply be happy she is home and stick your head in the sand about how it was done. I dont care if it was Griner or Ivanka or Taylor Swift..... Putin took advantage and stood his ground while we caved yet other famiies of wrongfully detained people get mentioned for sympathy and then forgotten.
Some washed up smuggler (who smuggled Russian weapons which are hard to come by nowadays) 15 years past his prime. Who gives a shit?
Trump and his ilk are clearly bringing racism into this. They've been dehumanizing Griner and calling her anti-American rather than sticking with the legal facts. That said, Biden had over a year in office to bring Whelan home before the war started and Griner was detained. I don't know why Whelan would have been off the table for Bout in 2021 if he was on the table under the Trump administration. Yet I have yet to see any evidence Biden even tried to make that swap during 2021. I'm not sure I would have traded Bout for Whelan, but I certainly wouldn't have traded Bout for Greiner if I wasn't willing to make the former in 2021. It's logically inconsistent and points to caving to celebrities/identity politics.
When I say the girl is innocent, I don't mean she wasn't carrying the CBD, just that no one, not even Russia believes the sentence fits the crime. I don't believe she was coerced into "making up" the carrying, I do believe she was likely advised to take a plea which outcome was pre-arranged w/o her knowledge. Bout's a scumbag, and Russia cries entrapment as much as we cry BS on Griner's sentencing so take that as you will. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/29/victor-bout-gru-sechin/ Whelan's charges may be pulled out of thin air but the accusations are not nothing either (which of course could be made up). The only difference being Griner owned up to the charges, but she did not sit accused of spying either.
or the war gave more leverage to the exchanges as diplomatic channels have become strained because of it. Griner moved from guilty to 9 yrs, to hard labor.....that would not have happened 2 yrs ago.
Possibly because a high-value Russian asset was arrested in Germany in 2019 for assassinating a Georgian national was a former Chechen rebel commander between 2000 and 2004, when Chechnya was fighting a war of independence against Russia. Russia wanted Germany to release assassin Vadim Krasikov in order to free Whelan. That changed the calculus. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/09/politics/russia-paul-whelan-vadim-krasikov-germany/index.html This was pointed out earlier by another poster: In any event, the Trump administration was apparently ‘not prepared’ for or ‘not interested in’ wrongful detentions according to Paul Whelan’s brother: https://thehill.com/homenews/377027...-in-wrongful-detentions-paul-whelans-brother/
Whelan was being detained for 12 years. If Whelan is a spy he was paid to go to Russia and is doing our government's work. It's people like him who could have been responsible for the intelligence about invading Ukraine. In my opinion, he should have priority over any civilian who goes to Russia despite being told it wasn't safe to do so. This was issued by the State Department on January 23rd: https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-update-to-travel-advisory-for-russia-january-23-2022/ "Do not travel to Russia due to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine, the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, COVID-19 andrelated entry restrictions, terrorism, limited flights into and out of Russia, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law. U.S. citizens should depart Russia immediately." She was detained on February 17th, after the Level 4 Travel Advisory was put into effect.
Hey look at it this way, at least we are not flying C-130s loaded with cash to Iran and then lying about it, like Hussein Obama did.
He was "washed up" because he got arrested in 2008 not because he decided to clean up his life and stop dealing arms...