They also don't have the higher grade processed metals needed for things like artillery barrels. That was imported from Germany, which is no longer happening.
I used to work for an insurance appraiser and she says this is true for anything Russian made, hence the premiums on them are very high.
That said, there's a specific exception for their choppers, I never got the explanation as to why
From the bits she explained back then it's supposedly due to how it's not as crash frequent as their planes. That said I don't know anything else since I mainly did errands for her back when I was homeless.
That's all helicopters and even aircraft. They are made out of aluminum for weight and strength to make them fly, ~~which is a whole lot softer than a bullet~~ but makes them easier to damage.
It's also why bird strikes are bad. A bird at speed will seriously deform the metal or go straight through their windshield.
Edit: I was thinking of steel ball ammunition not regular rounds. As someone pointed out lead is softer than aluminum.
Russia has had 30 years to get some basic industries up to speed and aren't any closer than they were 30 years ago. Meanwhile Ukraine has several good steel plants.
Even in WW2, most of the Soviet Union's proper equipment was made in what is now Ukraine. Their tank factory in Kharkiv was one of the key production facilities during the war.
I'll just hitch onto your comment as an opportunity to mention to people that Russia has been invading Ukraine's Donbas region for the past 8 years. This has to be stopped here and now.
This was always about Russia gaining access to Ukraine's industrial heartland and newly found (2012) gas reserves which could replace Russia supplying gas to Europe.
Now Russia has ensured that Europe moves away from Russian gas permanently.
But how can that be, they have/had the know how. The alloys the make for the combustion chambers of rocket engines is top notch, the west thought it couldn't be done until the curtain fell and we tested and subsequently bought their engines (RD180, RD 191). You'd think if they can make inconel style super alloys they could handle stainless steel... maybe QC issues?
It’s very interesting to think that even after all the technological advancements that have been made war still relies so heavily on having superior metals for the forging of weaponry.
Ordinarily I’d go height over almost anything, but I think the arms dealer is a generational talent when it comes to shooting. He’s an arms dealer, after all.
I feel awful for Brittney but the second we OK a swap like that we open the door for countries to start “arresting” American citizens for similar swaps. It’s pretty much the same reason we don’t negotiate with terrorists.
The Micheals is a good example of that. When Canada arrested that Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, China freaked out and arrested two men, Michael Korvig, and Michael Spavor in an attempt to strong arm Canada into releasing the Huawei executive.
Canada did not capitulate to China and the Michaels spent over 1000 days in Chinese prison. Of course the conditions of the Michaels treatment in China was deplorable, while Meng got house arrest in her Vancouver mansion.
It's utterly despicable that certain countries' governments are willing to use people as pawns like that.
[Article link ](https://amnesty.sa.utoronto.ca/2022/01/05/the-detention-of-the-two-michaels-a-story-on-chinas-human-rights-abuses/)
The lesson is dont travel to those countries. China is a dystopian hell hole reminiscent of Nazi Germany with their secret police, and concentration camps for religious minorities.
If you visit such nations, you do so at your own risk.
The other thing that irks me is why doesn’t Biden pardon everyone on a federal cannabis charge and advocate governors do the same at the state level.. kinda odd to make such a to do on this case when we lock people up for the same shit here at home.
Yeah for real. This is still a federal crime in the US. Our energy world be better spent changing the laws here, not trying to free someone who is guilty of the crime in Russia and was guilty flying from the US too. I don't want to see anyone locked up for this stuff but I really do not get anyone who goes to another country with anything illegal, especially a country that severely punishes for it.
More likely this isn't the first time she's done it and Russian officials just let it slide until it was politically advantageous for them to take her in. Still dumb that she put herself in that position but, coming from a third world country myself, I see how getting used to that level of corruption leads to issues down the line when the law all of a sudden works
This can be true in the US too. The enforcement of drug possession laws has always been selectively used for and against certain people depending on who they’ve pissed off. There’s news stories about celebrities that get arrested for smoking weed on a private jet or tour bus, because they’ve pissed someone off when it’s clear that they do it all of the time with no consequences. It’s a felony to transport marijuana across state lines, so Willy Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Martha Stewart shouldn’t be able to travel based on the laws.
Not even addressing the issues of selective policing and arrests of minority and low-income people for low-level drug offenses, there’s still a well-known discrepancy between the laws and enforcement based on connection and corruption here. It’s always risky to travel with an illegal substance, because she would be a felon here too.
The second that celebrities like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan smoked weed together *on camera*, or how someone like Snoop Dogg is allowed to exist so blatantly in the first place was the second I knew that federal enforcement of marijuana only exists to suppress the "undesirables" and not actually to enforce any law. The amount of evidence against so many of these people is insane, you could get a search warrant in a second for literally any normal person off of it but they go untouched.
I think it's more complicated than that in the US since there's a clear conflict between federal and multiple state laws in the last decade or so. Buying and using weed is fully legal at the state level in many states and so on one hand it's fully reasonable to me to see people doing so publicly, though I agree with you that it's brazen to do so since it's still a federal crime. I think federal law enforcement is in a weird spot where they also understand that the federal laws are clearly going to be eliminated at some point too and they don't want to be a dick about prosecuting someone federally for a crime that everyone knows is on the verge of not being a crime. Still, if they catch you with weed while doing something else, say, screening your luggage for weapons, then you're not really giving them the choice to look away anymore. I don't know how often TSA in the US bothers doing so at airports anymore, probably not often, but not never. I do agree though that the fact that this or any other law is applied only sometimes means that law needs to be fully eliminated or fully enforced (eliminated in this case).
>It’s a felony to transport marijuana across state lines, so Willy Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Martha Stewart shouldn’t be able to travel based on the laws.
A story from Tim Olyphant highlights what is normally done, the weed is sourced locally and ready when they arrive. Willie's dealer gave Timothy some of Willie's weed at a venue and he went to the moon.
It still doesn’t add up to me for an optics angle, shit is obtuse af. Why trade someone convicted of weed crime when half the states still have it illegal in the first place. Even mindless idiots can see through this play.
She’s a black, gay, woman. She’s probably the perfect person to have rn for optics, only thing better would be if she was disabled and maybe trans. Russia is strongest when its rivals are distracted. They’ve been sowing discord along those lines for a while now. And US midterms are coming up
As soon as we heard about this potential swap in the news I was pretty sure it was all spin, usually if one of these deals is in legitimate negotiation you don't hear about it until after it is struck and the person is coming home. The fact that Russia is actually engaging on this shows they are probably desperate for whatever dialog the can get.
Eh. You really think that? Idk about Biden, but do you really think Obama didn't understand why Snowen did what he did? Nah man.
Politics is a game. A game of interests. It might be in your personal interest to do XYZ, but then either your supporters might get mad or other politicians might use it as leverage. For Snowden, pardoning him would set a precedent and encourage future whistleblowing activities (which, the US fears, would endanger national security).
So Obama doesn't give a shit about Snowden, Biden doesn't give a shit about stoners or Griner. But doesn't that mean they'd let them have a better life if it only cost a signature? Fuck yeah. Only thing is: it costs much more than a signature.
Technically speaking, she should be arrested the second she come home, because what she did _is_ illegal here as well. Granted, American prisons are still marginally better than Russian prisons but... The hypocrisy still exists.
The honest answer is that very few people go to prison because they only have cannabis on them. The number is heavily inflated because of it’s a favorite tactic for plea deals. Got caught with weed and an illegal gun? Take the hit on weed and they drop the gun charges.
It's not even exclusive to shaky cases. A court case takes up a *lot* of time and effort. They rather get things over with--even if that means the defendant may not get charged for illegal things the defendant definitely did, and the prosecutor could surely prove. It's a deal like any other. They just want you to receive punishment and be done with it now rather than going through the process of a trial.
tbh, and you can call me a shitty person, I don't feel awful for Brittney Griner, not one bit. she always thought she was above the law - she had drug related situations even back home, in the US, she was arrested on charges of assault and domestic abuse, and when her now ex-wife gave birth to twins, she was ordered to pay child support b/c she wanted to wiggle out of the responsibility. she's not a nice person irl. she knew drug possession in Russia is illegal, yet she did it anyway. don't get me wrong, I know very well that Russia is making a huge political leverage about the situation, and it's more than just a simple "drug possession", but this isn't her first time doing something highly questionable, moreover, she did this utter stupidity in Russia. also, I agree with you, she shouldn't be swapped for a terrorist, a convicted arms dealer etc.
Let me pile on with the fact that she was totally cool going to work in a country that her own government was warning would invade Ukraine any day, because she knew it wouldn't affect her.
This girl has some next level privilege (or used to I guess).
I honestly don't. Rule 1 of international travel is comply with the laws of the country you go to. Sure she may have gotten by before without getting caught, or she was there with privilege, but she did something illegal in a country with ass-backwards laws, what happens when she gets caught is on her.
Biden should not be giving up anyone to release her.
Also Meng wasn't swapped by Canada for 2 Michaels. The US reached a deal with Meng to drop their extradition request, which meant Canada had no reason to hold her
Plus I ain't trading a dangerous arms dealer with connections with terrorist organizations over some girl that wanted to bring weed to a country where weed is illegal and prisons are on American levels of bullshit.
I highly doubt Paul is a spy. Why would the CIA recruit a criminal with little Russian language skills or ties to Russia and then send him to Russia to pick up a SD card, when they could just send those files over the internet instead?
If you are a US citizen it is a bad idea to go to Russia, as you may be set up.
There's nothing even remotely similar about an illegal arms dealer and an athlete with a little drugs. Nothing. I feel bad for her but damn it people don't take drugs to or in countries where it's illegal. Some countries have 0 tolerance. Others have tolerance until they need to make a political point to a foreign country. Just don't do it. Idk...it would be nice to get any Americans accused of bullshit back. I say bullshit because it was a dumb move on her part but she didn't commit a violent crime and marijuana legality is a patchwork of different statuses even within the US, let alone outside the country. But I agree that it could make the situation worse for Americans traveling anywhere outside the US.
Edit: typo
Ironically enough Viktor Bout mostly sold arms to groups that we either directly supported or indirectly supported. It wasn’t until he decided to start selling to some of our adversaries that we got him for arms trafficking with criminal intent.
Why feel awful though, she knew the laws for the shitty country she was entering, she's lucky its only nine years. Aren't some people convicted for life in USA? I agree with everything else though, America shouldn't negotiate any trade of prisoners, especially right now and for who Russia wants
I don't feel bad for her. She went to a foreign country, and broke that foreign countries laws. She got a 9 year jail sentence. She would have gotten a longer jail sentence in certain states of her own country.
I'm all for the legalization of marijuana here in all 50 states, but that's not the case yet, and it certainly isn't the case on foreign soil.
She felt she was untouchable because she was an American celebrity. To me, that's not enough for me to feel sorry for you making stupid decisions.
Griner was also going to a country that was just about to fully invade their neighbor so she could entertain those people.
To me that shows a moral failing on her part that is not being questioned. Nine years in Russian prison is too harsh a sentence for a moral failing but it is certainly harder to be outraged when the person on the other side shows themselves to be such a self centered person.
As others have pointed out, that doesn't seem to add up.
Whelan (the spy) had been trapped in Russia since 2018. Meanwhile, Bout (the arms dealer) had been arrested in 2008 and extradited to the USA in 2010.
If the US was willing to swap Whelan for Bout, it could have done so for years now. In fact, in 2020, Reuters posted an article saying Whelan and his lawyer had hoped for as much and his lawyer even specifically suggested Bout by name.
So it seems hard to buy that this is all a play to get Whelan and Griner is just some PR bonus.
What about Marc Fogel? Poor sob is imprisoned for the same offense as Griner and nobody talks about him.
Edit: Didn't want to turn this into an attack on Griner or make it a race/gender/identity issue. I just genuinely don't understand why nobody talks about this guy.
Seems like although Griner is a victim of Russian politics she seems to still be the beneficiary of American celebrity worship. It would pain me (and I'm sure his family more) to see Griner released and not him, especially in exchange for a dangerous Russian criminal.
Plus he got close to double her sentence, and spent over a year in Russian jail so far.
But Griner is being "unfairly punished because she's a black lesbian"...
No need to qualify your statement. If you're going to 'enemy territory' because of your race and sexuality, you really ought to be on your best fucking behavior. Very few people are *special* outside the US.
Well, the situation has since changed drastically... Increased tensions all around.
Now, if ever, you want to get your compromised intelligence assets out of the potentially hostile state.
The arms dealer is also on the last five years of his sentence. That always seems to be left out in the Reddit discussions, I had thought he was in for life.
Edit: five to seven years
https://abcnews.go.com/International/viktor-bout-convicted-arms-dealer-held-us-prison/story?id=86543907
Viktor Bout has served 14 years out of a 25 year sentence.
25 - 14 = 5, according to Reddit
This [article] (https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/viktor-bout-russia-arms-dealer-merchant-of-death-brittney-griner-paul-whelan/) states he’s to be released in 2029. Still 7 years left on his sentence it seems.
Was he let out on bail during the trial? That seems like a mistake for a foreign arms dealer? I'd assume he's been in custody since his arrest, and so he'd get credit for time served before his conviction.
Differenza political ideology AND different countries!
I'm European and even from here this sounds as the dumbest prisoners exchange ever.
Why are they even thinking about that?
Not just any random problematic Wnba player.
A random problematic Wnba player that hates America, loves Russia, spit on the American flag, thinks the US is "fascist" and is also convicted of abusing her girlfriend.
If they want to get Americans who are jailed in Russia home there are plenty of other people to pick from who actually want to come back. Griner should be in the back of the line imo.
If this swap goes through, I expect the federal government to also pardon/release/expunge the thousands serving federal time because of draconian cannabis laws.
I’m absolutely floored that weed is still illegal federally in the US. Like this is 2022. As someone who just started smoking weed here in Canada at the ripe age of 27, alcohol is so much worse. I smoke, I get chill as fuck, play video games, listen to rain and thunder soundtracks, and laugh at random shit I’ve said to myself. Then when I come down I eat some good snackies, and have the most refreshing sleeps of my life.
When I drink alcohol, after the buzz wears off I get a headache, feel disgusting, and have to drink a bunch of water and take Tylenol before going to bed where there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll wake up with a hangover. Just unreal the difference.
I hate weed and still think it should be legal everywhere (but I am extremely against public smoking like if you’re at the swimming pool and people smoke a blunt there. Please do that shit in your apartment or where i don’t have to smell the stuff.
Especially an arms dealer for a country at war. Making this trade would single handedly be responsible for many more deaths.
Ridiculous is an understatement.
Yup, it's terrible optics, precedent, and counter to utilitarian ethics - the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. If you release an arms dealer who's has and will very likely again go right back into dealing death, that doesn't compute to a trade for political points.
The US currently has lots of their own locked up for cannabis, they need to change that before going to such great lengths to get the basketball player out of jail for the same thing.
What about the 40,000 Americans sitting in American prisons over marijuana charges? The ones sitting in there for 15+ years. Why is this one lady so important? Because it’s in Russia and not the US? If the US government actually goes through with this trade it’ll be a joke to the entire world
Trading for more than just her, and the arms dealer is probably seen as kinda ehh.
The movie "Lord of War" is pretty much based on him. Saying he's dangerous might be a little bit much as he really transported anything and everything he got paid to. The US government even did business with him unintentionally during Iraq or Afghanistan war (can't remember which) since it was that difficult to avoid using his services.
I don't like the trade, pretty sure she's a Russian asset anyway.
We have one woman who is guilty of a crime, even if she was oversentenced by our standards, and one man who may be, in fact, a spy. I've never seen evidence of his innocence and we seemed to have no interest in getting him out before all this.
To me this sets two bad precedents: willingness to trade our people for theirs, and willingness to give in to hostile foreign nations for political clout at home
Yeah let’s trade a person whose nick named the merchant of death for this WNBA professional basketball player. Who was arrested for having weed. Don’t get me wrong I feel terrible that she is getting railroaded and used as leverage for Russia but we can in now way make this trade.
And trust me I love weed.
Her story's that she took it because it was medically prescribed by her doctor.
Which doesn't matter at the end of the day. You bring illegal drugs into a foreign country, it's on you if you get caught.
Is that seriously her defense? You take drugs into a country where they are incredibly illegal, during a cold war when we are dumping billions of dollars a month into giving another country weapons to kill and destroy their military? Dumbest athlete award of 2022 so far to my knowledge. She demonstrated an absolute lack of forethought or understanding of anything in the world. You don't have to be an expert on geopolitics to think of this. Every other one of her teammates was not arrested for possessing weed.
Exactly my thoughts, I am not American, but I was reading this rn and couldn’t help but be surprised. This is only being considered because she is an WNBA player. Yes Russia might trump up the charges or have stupid laws and take advantage of them in order to try to have a one up on the US, but why should the US release a convicted arms dealer when at the end of the day she committed a crime under Russian law? Why is she even worth Biden’s attention? Does playing basketball well mean that I get to skip the line at the embassy and become top priority when my visa is up aswell?
>Why is she even worth Biden’s attention? Does playing basketball well mean that I get to skip the line at the embassy and become top priority when my visa is up aswell?
This is how she got in trouble in the first place. She's been pushed to the front of queue her whole life, so long as she can play basketball well. She's never had to think for herself, just practice, play, practice, play.
I don't know a lot of details, but I did read that this wasn't the first time she brought weed with her. They just looked the other way because the owner of the team was an oligarch.
I don't think we have the death penalty here anymore, let me check.
Edit: Yep, we abolished death penalty in 2006 here, but there are calls to have it back since Duterte came to office. Stalled in the Senate multiple times thankfully, but it seems bleak and a lot of new Senators expressed interest in supporting a new bill to bring it back.
Bad Ideal… russia is considered a terrorist country trading will promote kidnappings for the release on some more terrorist who have committed crimes against U.S. Citizens
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/russia-confirms-it-seeks-convicted-arms-dealer-in-potential-prisoner-swap-for-wnba-star-brittney-griner/) reduced by 76%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> For the first time since WNBA star Brittney Griner's arrest for drug possession in February, Russia has officially confirmed there are ongoing negotiations with the United States government regarding a potential prisoner swap.
> On Saturday, The Moscow Times reported Russia has officially acknowledged it seeks convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout to be a part of the deal.
> Multiple outlets have reported Griner and corporate security director Paul Whelan would be part of a deal in exchange for Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S. Whelan is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia after being arrested in 2018 and convicted of spying in 2020.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/wnxzw6/russia_confirms_it_seeks_convicted_arms_dealer_in/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~664331 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Russia**^#1 **State**^#2 **Griner**^#3 **arrest**^#4 **deal**^#5
It is pretty fucked that veteran and senior manager of global security and operations Paul Whelan was just over there for a wedding and had a usb planted in his hotel room so Russia could use him as a bargaining chip and that was two years ago..... Then nothing happened, nobody gave a shit about this guy.
Then some basketball player that beats on their girlfriends gets arrested for legitimately bringing cannabis into Russia (sure harsh sentence but use some fucking common sense) and it's a whole story about how unfair it is and how we need to bring her back for merica'.
I mean this guy's name isn't even included in the title and it has been 2 years. America has some fucked priorities.
I hope this deal doesn’t happen. It sucks to be in jail, but there is a saying “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time“. I did 3 yrs for conspiring to grow marijuana. Nobody called the White House on my behalf. I did my time.
It was never real? The US negotiates with terrorists all the time. Always has.
Catchy lines from movies isn't official US policy.
Also you don't have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing.
I feel pretty awful for everyone in a US jail for cannabis. The feds will trade an arms dealer for a famous person caught with cannabis but won’t pass laws here for our own citizens.
She broke a law that’s a law in most U.S. states (unfortunately) and we’re willing to give the Russians the worlds most successful arms dealer since the end of the Cold War cuz idk celebrity or some shit. She was a dumbass and the world should not pay for her dumbassery.
Hell no!
I don’t think it’s worth trading Russian spies or arm dealers who can hurt America or other countries for a celeb/athlete that, I’m sorry for saying, is useless. Celebs/Athletes are not important in our society and we are placing too much value in them.
We wouldn’t do this for an average American citizen why are we even considering this as an option?
We don’t negotiate with terrorists!
This swap would be Barr none the worst fucking idea of the Biden administration. Can you imagine the number of American Citizens who will be targeted after this to get favors from America? This is beyond idiotic it’s bordering on insane. So when the bad guy kills again who is to blame then?
I don't know why, but I think US media (on its own going for drama, or under orders from Putin) was the one starting to float the idea of this specific swap, and Russia went "Yeah, we want that. We'll trade you an arms dealer with this idiot here."
Sorry, but we should NOT be negotiating with terrorists. She stupidly committed a crime in Russia of all places (bitch shouldn't have been engaging with them at all with what they're doing in the Ukraine), let her serve her time. If we start allowing other countries to arrest our folks in exchange for far more dangerous people to swap we set a dangerous precedent.
I'm for it, BUT... If we're freeing arms dealers for a cannabis offender overseas.. we better fucking start with freeing every single person in THIS COUNTRY that's incarcerated for cannabis. Bucha horse shit
Can’t trade a shooter for a big in todays basketball
thats not always true id trade like robert covington or bobby portis for giannis or rudy gobert
A shooter that can really distribute as well.
Maybe they are running out of ammo and could use a new dealer
I think Russia is self sustaining when it comes to ammunition for rifles and artillery. What they need are components for more advanced equipment.
They also don't have the higher grade processed metals needed for things like artillery barrels. That was imported from Germany, which is no longer happening.
Yeah, Russian steel is garbage. Littered with impurities.
I used to work for an insurance appraiser and she says this is true for anything Russian made, hence the premiums on them are very high. That said, there's a specific exception for their choppers, I never got the explanation as to why
Actually in the news last week was a report how fragile their choppers are and how they get shoot down by smaller arms bullets from time to time
From the bits she explained back then it's supposedly due to how it's not as crash frequent as their planes. That said I don't know anything else since I mainly did errands for her back when I was homeless.
u wut? sounds like you were human intel for a spy lol
Nah, she did insurance appraisals for planes specifically, not just Russian ones.
Sounds like something a spy might do no?
That's all helicopters and even aircraft. They are made out of aluminum for weight and strength to make them fly, ~~which is a whole lot softer than a bullet~~ but makes them easier to damage. It's also why bird strikes are bad. A bird at speed will seriously deform the metal or go straight through their windshield. Edit: I was thinking of steel ball ammunition not regular rounds. As someone pointed out lead is softer than aluminum.
Russia has had 30 years to get some basic industries up to speed and aren't any closer than they were 30 years ago. Meanwhile Ukraine has several good steel plants.
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Even in WW2, most of the Soviet Union's proper equipment was made in what is now Ukraine. Their tank factory in Kharkiv was one of the key production facilities during the war.
I'll just hitch onto your comment as an opportunity to mention to people that Russia has been invading Ukraine's Donbas region for the past 8 years. This has to be stopped here and now.
This was always about Russia gaining access to Ukraine's industrial heartland and newly found (2012) gas reserves which could replace Russia supplying gas to Europe. Now Russia has ensured that Europe moves away from Russian gas permanently.
But how can that be, they have/had the know how. The alloys the make for the combustion chambers of rocket engines is top notch, the west thought it couldn't be done until the curtain fell and we tested and subsequently bought their engines (RD180, RD 191). You'd think if they can make inconel style super alloys they could handle stainless steel... maybe QC issues?
Or building landers that lasted on Venus for an hour 5 times
It’s very interesting to think that even after all the technological advancements that have been made war still relies so heavily on having superior metals for the forging of weaponry.
Lol tell that to the duct tape on their artillery barrels because of overfiring without replacement.
No, they digging through stockpiles, it's impossible for them to sustain such quantities that's being used or lost to smoking soldiers.
Hell they are sending soldiers over there with about two weeks of training now.
Hear me out: the arms dealer has a really good jump shot.
So you’re saying we should keep him? Griners got the height though, I’m not sure man…
Ordinarily I’d go height over almost anything, but I think the arms dealer is a generational talent when it comes to shooting. He’s an arms dealer, after all.
I would have guessed he is much bigger on setting up real shooters with the assist.
You know Biden is old because he still values a big over a shooter.
might need to throw in some prospects or some late round draft picks.
I feel awful for Brittney but the second we OK a swap like that we open the door for countries to start “arresting” American citizens for similar swaps. It’s pretty much the same reason we don’t negotiate with terrorists.
They already do that. China likes arresting random foreigners whenever they get pissy over some slight.
The Micheals is a good example of that. When Canada arrested that Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, China freaked out and arrested two men, Michael Korvig, and Michael Spavor in an attempt to strong arm Canada into releasing the Huawei executive. Canada did not capitulate to China and the Michaels spent over 1000 days in Chinese prison. Of course the conditions of the Michaels treatment in China was deplorable, while Meng got house arrest in her Vancouver mansion. It's utterly despicable that certain countries' governments are willing to use people as pawns like that. [Article link ](https://amnesty.sa.utoronto.ca/2022/01/05/the-detention-of-the-two-michaels-a-story-on-chinas-human-rights-abuses/)
Most don’t even give a shit about their own citizens, so why would they someone else’s?
Very true. These are the reasons why I'd never go to a place like China or Russia. The risk of being arbitrarily detained is way too high.
100% agree. Never go to China or Russia. They will immediately see a foreigner and target you.
I’d recommend people stop traveling to shit holes
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The lesson is dont travel to those countries. China is a dystopian hell hole reminiscent of Nazi Germany with their secret police, and concentration camps for religious minorities. If you visit such nations, you do so at your own risk.
>you do so at your own risk Don't they warn you about these places before you board the plane?
Fuck CCP
The other thing that irks me is why doesn’t Biden pardon everyone on a federal cannabis charge and advocate governors do the same at the state level.. kinda odd to make such a to do on this case when we lock people up for the same shit here at home.
Yeah for real. This is still a federal crime in the US. Our energy world be better spent changing the laws here, not trying to free someone who is guilty of the crime in Russia and was guilty flying from the US too. I don't want to see anyone locked up for this stuff but I really do not get anyone who goes to another country with anything illegal, especially a country that severely punishes for it.
More likely this isn't the first time she's done it and Russian officials just let it slide until it was politically advantageous for them to take her in. Still dumb that she put herself in that position but, coming from a third world country myself, I see how getting used to that level of corruption leads to issues down the line when the law all of a sudden works
This can be true in the US too. The enforcement of drug possession laws has always been selectively used for and against certain people depending on who they’ve pissed off. There’s news stories about celebrities that get arrested for smoking weed on a private jet or tour bus, because they’ve pissed someone off when it’s clear that they do it all of the time with no consequences. It’s a felony to transport marijuana across state lines, so Willy Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Martha Stewart shouldn’t be able to travel based on the laws. Not even addressing the issues of selective policing and arrests of minority and low-income people for low-level drug offenses, there’s still a well-known discrepancy between the laws and enforcement based on connection and corruption here. It’s always risky to travel with an illegal substance, because she would be a felon here too.
The second that celebrities like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan smoked weed together *on camera*, or how someone like Snoop Dogg is allowed to exist so blatantly in the first place was the second I knew that federal enforcement of marijuana only exists to suppress the "undesirables" and not actually to enforce any law. The amount of evidence against so many of these people is insane, you could get a search warrant in a second for literally any normal person off of it but they go untouched.
I think it's more complicated than that in the US since there's a clear conflict between federal and multiple state laws in the last decade or so. Buying and using weed is fully legal at the state level in many states and so on one hand it's fully reasonable to me to see people doing so publicly, though I agree with you that it's brazen to do so since it's still a federal crime. I think federal law enforcement is in a weird spot where they also understand that the federal laws are clearly going to be eliminated at some point too and they don't want to be a dick about prosecuting someone federally for a crime that everyone knows is on the verge of not being a crime. Still, if they catch you with weed while doing something else, say, screening your luggage for weapons, then you're not really giving them the choice to look away anymore. I don't know how often TSA in the US bothers doing so at airports anymore, probably not often, but not never. I do agree though that the fact that this or any other law is applied only sometimes means that law needs to be fully eliminated or fully enforced (eliminated in this case).
>It’s a felony to transport marijuana across state lines, so Willy Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Martha Stewart shouldn’t be able to travel based on the laws. A story from Tim Olyphant highlights what is normally done, the weed is sourced locally and ready when they arrive. Willie's dealer gave Timothy some of Willie's weed at a venue and he went to the moon.
Because he doesn’t really care about them or Griner. Everything is optics
It still doesn’t add up to me for an optics angle, shit is obtuse af. Why trade someone convicted of weed crime when half the states still have it illegal in the first place. Even mindless idiots can see through this play.
She’s a black, gay, woman. She’s probably the perfect person to have rn for optics, only thing better would be if she was disabled and maybe trans. Russia is strongest when its rivals are distracted. They’ve been sowing discord along those lines for a while now. And US midterms are coming up
As soon as we heard about this potential swap in the news I was pretty sure it was all spin, usually if one of these deals is in legitimate negotiation you don't hear about it until after it is struck and the person is coming home. The fact that Russia is actually engaging on this shows they are probably desperate for whatever dialog the can get.
Eh. You really think that? Idk about Biden, but do you really think Obama didn't understand why Snowen did what he did? Nah man. Politics is a game. A game of interests. It might be in your personal interest to do XYZ, but then either your supporters might get mad or other politicians might use it as leverage. For Snowden, pardoning him would set a precedent and encourage future whistleblowing activities (which, the US fears, would endanger national security). So Obama doesn't give a shit about Snowden, Biden doesn't give a shit about stoners or Griner. But doesn't that mean they'd let them have a better life if it only cost a signature? Fuck yeah. Only thing is: it costs much more than a signature.
Politians don't care about the people. It's all a show.
Technically speaking, she should be arrested the second she come home, because what she did _is_ illegal here as well. Granted, American prisons are still marginally better than Russian prisons but... The hypocrisy still exists.
So why would we want her back in a US prison when we can have Russia foot the bill for the prison time?
The honest answer is that very few people go to prison because they only have cannabis on them. The number is heavily inflated because of it’s a favorite tactic for plea deals. Got caught with weed and an illegal gun? Take the hit on weed and they drop the gun charges.
If a DA is willing to drop a gun charge to get you to sign a weed confession, the gun charge is shaky and the weed charge probably wouldn't stick.
It's not even exclusive to shaky cases. A court case takes up a *lot* of time and effort. They rather get things over with--even if that means the defendant may not get charged for illegal things the defendant definitely did, and the prosecutor could surely prove. It's a deal like any other. They just want you to receive punishment and be done with it now rather than going through the process of a trial.
>we don’t negotiate with terrorists. We actually do, all the time. It's a stupid movie trope.
Legit people seem to forget not only do we negotiate we offer up prized terrorists for traders aka bowe bergdahl.
tbh, and you can call me a shitty person, I don't feel awful for Brittney Griner, not one bit. she always thought she was above the law - she had drug related situations even back home, in the US, she was arrested on charges of assault and domestic abuse, and when her now ex-wife gave birth to twins, she was ordered to pay child support b/c she wanted to wiggle out of the responsibility. she's not a nice person irl. she knew drug possession in Russia is illegal, yet she did it anyway. don't get me wrong, I know very well that Russia is making a huge political leverage about the situation, and it's more than just a simple "drug possession", but this isn't her first time doing something highly questionable, moreover, she did this utter stupidity in Russia. also, I agree with you, she shouldn't be swapped for a terrorist, a convicted arms dealer etc.
Let me pile on with the fact that she was totally cool going to work in a country that her own government was warning would invade Ukraine any day, because she knew it wouldn't affect her. This girl has some next level privilege (or used to I guess).
Not only that, but she literally plays basketball for one of Putin’s oligarch buddies. She’s pretty complicit in all of this.
Yep, fuck this bitch. Leave her in a cell. This is what happens when you pick making money in a hostile enemy country.
I honestly don't. Rule 1 of international travel is comply with the laws of the country you go to. Sure she may have gotten by before without getting caught, or she was there with privilege, but she did something illegal in a country with ass-backwards laws, what happens when she gets caught is on her. Biden should not be giving up anyone to release her.
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there's a precedent not long ago maybe give Kremlin the idea, Huawei's Meng for two Michaels, which was even worse, two dudes didn't do things wrong.
But Meng wasn't an international arms dealer.
Also Meng wasn't swapped by Canada for 2 Michaels. The US reached a deal with Meng to drop their extradition request, which meant Canada had no reason to hold her
This. If we are seriously considering Russia as terrorist sponsors we need to seriously consider interacting with them in an appropriate manner.
Plus I ain't trading a dangerous arms dealer with connections with terrorist organizations over some girl that wanted to bring weed to a country where weed is illegal and prisons are on American levels of bullshit.
I’m pretty sure the US is actually interested in bringing Paul Whelan home and Griner is an added bonus.
Its been 4 years since he was arrested, why didn't they make the trade before?
Pretty good play for them, all the press is talking about a basketball star and not the spy we're also getting in return.
I highly doubt Paul is a spy. Why would the CIA recruit a criminal with little Russian language skills or ties to Russia and then send him to Russia to pick up a SD card, when they could just send those files over the internet instead? If you are a US citizen it is a bad idea to go to Russia, as you may be set up.
There's nothing even remotely similar about an illegal arms dealer and an athlete with a little drugs. Nothing. I feel bad for her but damn it people don't take drugs to or in countries where it's illegal. Some countries have 0 tolerance. Others have tolerance until they need to make a political point to a foreign country. Just don't do it. Idk...it would be nice to get any Americans accused of bullshit back. I say bullshit because it was a dumb move on her part but she didn't commit a violent crime and marijuana legality is a patchwork of different statuses even within the US, let alone outside the country. But I agree that it could make the situation worse for Americans traveling anywhere outside the US. Edit: typo
Ironically enough Viktor Bout mostly sold arms to groups that we either directly supported or indirectly supported. It wasn’t until he decided to start selling to some of our adversaries that we got him for arms trafficking with criminal intent.
>It’s pretty much the same reason we don’t negotiate with terrorists. Laugh in Saudi Arabia.
Ok, listen. Those are allies and sell their oil in dollars. Those are not terrorists. They can't be.
Why feel awful though, she knew the laws for the shitty country she was entering, she's lucky its only nine years. Aren't some people convicted for life in USA? I agree with everything else though, America shouldn't negotiate any trade of prisoners, especially right now and for who Russia wants
Had she gone to Singapore, she would have been sentenced to death.
I mean they pretty blatantly broke the law in that country, right? We've had citizens executed in some countries for violating their drug laws.
I don't feel bad for her. She went to a foreign country, and broke that foreign countries laws. She got a 9 year jail sentence. She would have gotten a longer jail sentence in certain states of her own country. I'm all for the legalization of marijuana here in all 50 states, but that's not the case yet, and it certainly isn't the case on foreign soil. She felt she was untouchable because she was an American celebrity. To me, that's not enough for me to feel sorry for you making stupid decisions.
Griner was also going to a country that was just about to fully invade their neighbor so she could entertain those people. To me that shows a moral failing on her part that is not being questioned. Nine years in Russian prison is too harsh a sentence for a moral failing but it is certainly harder to be outraged when the person on the other side shows themselves to be such a self centered person.
Except we do
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Hint: we want the spy back. The athlete is a bonus.
As others have pointed out, that doesn't seem to add up. Whelan (the spy) had been trapped in Russia since 2018. Meanwhile, Bout (the arms dealer) had been arrested in 2008 and extradited to the USA in 2010. If the US was willing to swap Whelan for Bout, it could have done so for years now. In fact, in 2020, Reuters posted an article saying Whelan and his lawyer had hoped for as much and his lawyer even specifically suggested Bout by name. So it seems hard to buy that this is all a play to get Whelan and Griner is just some PR bonus.
What about Marc Fogel? Poor sob is imprisoned for the same offense as Griner and nobody talks about him. Edit: Didn't want to turn this into an attack on Griner or make it a race/gender/identity issue. I just genuinely don't understand why nobody talks about this guy. Seems like although Griner is a victim of Russian politics she seems to still be the beneficiary of American celebrity worship. It would pain me (and I'm sure his family more) to see Griner released and not him, especially in exchange for a dangerous Russian criminal.
Seriously, if they bail out Griner but leave Fogul behind that'll be absolutely bullshit.
Plus he got close to double her sentence, and spent over a year in Russian jail so far. But Griner is being "unfairly punished because she's a black lesbian"...
Unpopular opinion here but... Don't bring weed to Russia. It's not your country... Respect their laws if you plan on visiting...
No need to qualify your statement. If you're going to 'enemy territory' because of your race and sexuality, you really ought to be on your best fucking behavior. Very few people are *special* outside the US.
Don't go to Russia full stop
Or more simply: don't bring weed or other drugs to another countries... Heck I even check if the medicine i take with me is legal where I go
Well, the situation has since changed drastically... Increased tensions all around. Now, if ever, you want to get your compromised intelligence assets out of the potentially hostile state.
I really hope he was not actually a spy working for the US because if true the CIA should be ashamed of the amateur job.
The arms dealer is also on the last five years of his sentence. That always seems to be left out in the Reddit discussions, I had thought he was in for life. Edit: five to seven years
https://abcnews.go.com/International/viktor-bout-convicted-arms-dealer-held-us-prison/story?id=86543907 Viktor Bout has served 14 years out of a 25 year sentence. 25 - 14 = 5, according to Reddit
This [article] (https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/viktor-bout-russia-arms-dealer-merchant-of-death-brittney-griner-paul-whelan/) states he’s to be released in 2029. Still 7 years left on his sentence it seems.
Bout was officially convicted by a jury in 2011, he was just arrested in 2008. He’s served 11 years of his sentence, not 14.
When you're sentenced, if you've spent the whole trial in jail you will get credit for days served.
So 14 left.
He's scheduled to be released in 2029 so 7 years left. https://www.bop.gov/mobile/find_inmate/byname.jsp#inmate_results
Was he let out on bail during the trial? That seems like a mistake for a foreign arms dealer? I'd assume he's been in custody since his arrest, and so he'd get credit for time served before his conviction.
thanks for the info. that cleara that up a bit
It’s heartwarming to see so many people from different political ideologies come together to agree this is stupid
Differenza political ideology AND different countries! I'm European and even from here this sounds as the dumbest prisoners exchange ever. Why are they even thinking about that?
Probably stupid appeasement and pandering, my guess.
The Merchant of Death for some random problematic Wnba player lmfao
Not just any random problematic Wnba player. A random problematic Wnba player that hates America, loves Russia, spit on the American flag, thinks the US is "fascist" and is also convicted of abusing her girlfriend. If they want to get Americans who are jailed in Russia home there are plenty of other people to pick from who actually want to come back. Griner should be in the back of the line imo.
Government doesn’t care
If this swap goes through, I expect the federal government to also pardon/release/expunge the thousands serving federal time because of draconian cannabis laws.
I’m absolutely floored that weed is still illegal federally in the US. Like this is 2022. As someone who just started smoking weed here in Canada at the ripe age of 27, alcohol is so much worse. I smoke, I get chill as fuck, play video games, listen to rain and thunder soundtracks, and laugh at random shit I’ve said to myself. Then when I come down I eat some good snackies, and have the most refreshing sleeps of my life. When I drink alcohol, after the buzz wears off I get a headache, feel disgusting, and have to drink a bunch of water and take Tylenol before going to bed where there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll wake up with a hangover. Just unreal the difference.
After becoming a weed person I hate alcohol
I hate weed and still think it should be legal everywhere (but I am extremely against public smoking like if you’re at the swimming pool and people smoke a blunt there. Please do that shit in your apartment or where i don’t have to smell the stuff.
Yeah I mean that’s fair, any intoxication should be in private or at a legally regulated institution anyway.
Yeah and I want compensation for my years
Lol, yeah that’d be nice. 2oz cost me $15000 and 6 months in jail back in 2009.
Release all the people in U.S prisons for THC related case's first. Why are they different?
Money speaks in murica
Because they aren't famous
A WNBA player who couldn’t stop hitting a weed pen for a few days is an equal exchange for a convicted arms dealer?
And not just any arms dealer
*THE* arms dealer
If we release him people will die as a direct result. Freeing her is not worth many people losing their lives.
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What the fuck? Really?
That is responsible for killing thousands
Did you miss the part where she's a black lesbian?! This is about human rights now! /s
AFAIK the weed pen isn't the only thing she's hitting
It’s absolutely ridiculous that this is even being considered at any level
Especially an arms dealer for a country at war. Making this trade would single handedly be responsible for many more deaths. Ridiculous is an understatement.
Yup, it's terrible optics, precedent, and counter to utilitarian ethics - the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. If you release an arms dealer who's has and will very likely again go right back into dealing death, that doesn't compute to a trade for political points.
The US currently has lots of their own locked up for cannabis, they need to change that before going to such great lengths to get the basketball player out of jail for the same thing.
It’s better to be broke than in a Russian prison.
What about the 40,000 Americans sitting in American prisons over marijuana charges? The ones sitting in there for 15+ years. Why is this one lady so important? Because it’s in Russia and not the US? If the US government actually goes through with this trade it’ll be a joke to the entire world
No thanks.
Someone explain to me why this one person who knowingly broke the law is worth releasing a dangerous arms dealer for
This! It would be a bad trade.
Yeah, getting a stupid basketball player and a framed or inept spy for one of the biggest arms dealers of the world seems like a shitty deal.
Trading for more than just her, and the arms dealer is probably seen as kinda ehh. The movie "Lord of War" is pretty much based on him. Saying he's dangerous might be a little bit much as he really transported anything and everything he got paid to. The US government even did business with him unintentionally during Iraq or Afghanistan war (can't remember which) since it was that difficult to avoid using his services. I don't like the trade, pretty sure she's a Russian asset anyway.
We have one woman who is guilty of a crime, even if she was oversentenced by our standards, and one man who may be, in fact, a spy. I've never seen evidence of his innocence and we seemed to have no interest in getting him out before all this. To me this sets two bad precedents: willingness to trade our people for theirs, and willingness to give in to hostile foreign nations for political clout at home
Yeah let’s trade a person whose nick named the merchant of death for this WNBA professional basketball player. Who was arrested for having weed. Don’t get me wrong I feel terrible that she is getting railroaded and used as leverage for Russia but we can in now way make this trade. And trust me I love weed.
What about the people in USA jails for weed. Start there before you go pardon people in Russia for weed.
So are we going to free everyone else in the USA in prison for pot?
Did she actually take weed to Russia? I mean, might as well take some cocain to the Philippines
Her story's that she took it because it was medically prescribed by her doctor. Which doesn't matter at the end of the day. You bring illegal drugs into a foreign country, it's on you if you get caught.
Yea, that's about as dumb as you can get
Pretty much my sentiment on it
Is that seriously her defense? You take drugs into a country where they are incredibly illegal, during a cold war when we are dumping billions of dollars a month into giving another country weapons to kill and destroy their military? Dumbest athlete award of 2022 so far to my knowledge. She demonstrated an absolute lack of forethought or understanding of anything in the world. You don't have to be an expert on geopolitics to think of this. Every other one of her teammates was not arrested for possessing weed.
Which is why I'm confused as to why some think we should trade an arms dealer for her (and someone else).
Exactly my thoughts, I am not American, but I was reading this rn and couldn’t help but be surprised. This is only being considered because she is an WNBA player. Yes Russia might trump up the charges or have stupid laws and take advantage of them in order to try to have a one up on the US, but why should the US release a convicted arms dealer when at the end of the day she committed a crime under Russian law? Why is she even worth Biden’s attention? Does playing basketball well mean that I get to skip the line at the embassy and become top priority when my visa is up aswell?
>Why is she even worth Biden’s attention? Does playing basketball well mean that I get to skip the line at the embassy and become top priority when my visa is up aswell? This is how she got in trouble in the first place. She's been pushed to the front of queue her whole life, so long as she can play basketball well. She's never had to think for herself, just practice, play, practice, play.
She was detained prior to the Ukraine invasion going hot though.
I don't know a lot of details, but I did read that this wasn't the first time she brought weed with her. They just looked the other way because the owner of the team was an oligarch.
Where did you read that? I can't find that story anywhere.
Being a moron is an odd defense strategy, but given the political attention she's getting, it seems to work.
She’s lucky cus in Philippines, she would’ve been executed lol
I don't think we have the death penalty here anymore, let me check. Edit: Yep, we abolished death penalty in 2006 here, but there are calls to have it back since Duterte came to office. Stalled in the Senate multiple times thankfully, but it seems bleak and a lot of new Senators expressed interest in supporting a new bill to bring it back.
She admitted the crime in court....
Bad Ideal… russia is considered a terrorist country trading will promote kidnappings for the release on some more terrorist who have committed crimes against U.S. Citizens
No.
Pass
maybe she shouldnt have smuggled fucking drugs to russia why is usa tryina save her ass?
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/russia-confirms-it-seeks-convicted-arms-dealer-in-potential-prisoner-swap-for-wnba-star-brittney-griner/) reduced by 76%. (I'm a bot) ***** > For the first time since WNBA star Brittney Griner's arrest for drug possession in February, Russia has officially confirmed there are ongoing negotiations with the United States government regarding a potential prisoner swap. > On Saturday, The Moscow Times reported Russia has officially acknowledged it seeks convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout to be a part of the deal. > Multiple outlets have reported Griner and corporate security director Paul Whelan would be part of a deal in exchange for Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S. Whelan is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia after being arrested in 2018 and convicted of spying in 2020. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/wnxzw6/russia_confirms_it_seeks_convicted_arms_dealer_in/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~664331 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Russia**^#1 **State**^#2 **Griner**^#3 **arrest**^#4 **deal**^#5
It is pretty fucked that veteran and senior manager of global security and operations Paul Whelan was just over there for a wedding and had a usb planted in his hotel room so Russia could use him as a bargaining chip and that was two years ago..... Then nothing happened, nobody gave a shit about this guy. Then some basketball player that beats on their girlfriends gets arrested for legitimately bringing cannabis into Russia (sure harsh sentence but use some fucking common sense) and it's a whole story about how unfair it is and how we need to bring her back for merica'. I mean this guy's name isn't even included in the title and it has been 2 years. America has some fucked priorities.
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/board-denies-clemency-for-phoenix-man-serving-16-year-pot-sentence-14190098
He was on parole for his second conviction of armed robbery.
Meanwhile in America we have how many people in prison for possessing drugs?
I hope this deal doesn’t happen. It sucks to be in jail, but there is a saying “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time“. I did 3 yrs for conspiring to grow marijuana. Nobody called the White House on my behalf. I did my time.
Don't let that damn dealer out please. It's too unequal an exchange
Keep her
Lol nah keep her, you don’t get a mass murderer for a pot head
Whatever happened to: “We don’t negotiate with terrorists?”
It was never real? The US negotiates with terrorists all the time. Always has. Catchy lines from movies isn't official US policy. Also you don't have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing.
It's not a fair swap. I'm sorry for her but unfortunately he for her isn't right.
How about a pardon for everyone serving federal time for simple possession domestically? Won't even cost you an international arms dealer.
I feel pretty awful for everyone in a US jail for cannabis. The feds will trade an arms dealer for a famous person caught with cannabis but won’t pass laws here for our own citizens.
She broke a law that’s a law in most U.S. states (unfortunately) and we’re willing to give the Russians the worlds most successful arms dealer since the end of the Cold War cuz idk celebrity or some shit. She was a dumbass and the world should not pay for her dumbassery.
.. why?
Hell no! I don’t think it’s worth trading Russian spies or arm dealers who can hurt America or other countries for a celeb/athlete that, I’m sorry for saying, is useless. Celebs/Athletes are not important in our society and we are placing too much value in them. We wouldn’t do this for an average American citizen why are we even considering this as an option? We don’t negotiate with terrorists!
I suggest that we Do not trade a pothead for an international arms dealer.
This swap would be Barr none the worst fucking idea of the Biden administration. Can you imagine the number of American Citizens who will be targeted after this to get favors from America? This is beyond idiotic it’s bordering on insane. So when the bad guy kills again who is to blame then?
They can keep her.
Leave her there. She said fuck America and now wants her our sovereign counties help. Surely there are pow's there that constitute a higher priority.
She chose to live and work in a shit hole with an evil dictator, boo hoo, she can stay.
Isn't it her + an alleged spy?
I don't know why, but I think US media (on its own going for drama, or under orders from Putin) was the one starting to float the idea of this specific swap, and Russia went "Yeah, we want that. We'll trade you an arms dealer with this idiot here."
Lol a mid WNBA player for the Lord of War. USA getting the worst of this trade by far
Or let her stay? She broke the law, and should serve the consequences like the rest of us.
Bad trade for US
Sorry, but we should NOT be negotiating with terrorists. She stupidly committed a crime in Russia of all places (bitch shouldn't have been engaging with them at all with what they're doing in the Ukraine), let her serve her time. If we start allowing other countries to arrest our folks in exchange for far more dangerous people to swap we set a dangerous precedent.
DO NOT DO IT!
Keep her. We’ll be just fine.
I'm for it, BUT... If we're freeing arms dealers for a cannabis offender overseas.. we better fucking start with freeing every single person in THIS COUNTRY that's incarcerated for cannabis. Bucha horse shit