Putin plays Biden like a piano, swaps terrorist for weed smoker. lol

Nine_Ender said:
Get a grip and try to develop some sense of morals on this.
More...


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.
 
El OchoCinco said:
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.
More...
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.
 
El OchoCinco said:
So I still dont understand why people want to claim Russia made up the charge or it was not real...it was the sentencing for the crime she committed that was cruel but Griner.
More...

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.
 
kmgilroy89 said:
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.
More...
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.
 
kmgilroy89 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.
More...
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:

Tony Stark said:
View attachment 301249

CNN —

Russia refused to release Paul Whelan alongside Brittney Griner unless a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy organization currently in German custody was also released as part of any prisoner swap, US officials told CNN, even as the US offered up the names of several other Russian prisoners in US custody that they would be willing to trade.


The US was unable to deliver on the request for the ex-colonel, Vadim Krasikov, because he is serving out a life sentence for murder in Germany.


CNN first reported exclusively in August that the Russians had requested that Krasikov be released along with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US, in exchange for Whelan and Griner.


US officials made quiet inquiries to the Germans about whether they might be willing to include Krasikov in the trade, a senior German government source told CNN earlier this year. But ultimately, the US was not able to secure Krasikov’s release. The German government was not willing to seriously consider including Krasikov –who assassinated a Georgian citizen in broad daylight in Berlin in 2019 – in a potential trade, the German source said.


The US made several other offers to the Russians, sources said, to try to get them to agree to include Whelan in the swap. Among the names floated by the US was Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national extradited to the US in August on allegations of money laundering, hacking and extortion. The US also offered to trade Roman Seleznev, a convicted Russian cyber-criminal currently serving a 14-year sentence in the US, sources said.


A lawyer for Seleznev did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Frédéric Bélot, a lawyer who represented Vinnik in France before his extradition to the US, told CNN on Friday that he was not aware of any current discussions between Moscow and Washington over including Vinnik in a potential prisoner swap.


But Bélot said he could see Vinnik being part of prisoner swap negotiations in the future.


“They [Vinnik and Whelan] make part of the possible ‘candidates’ for the next swap,” Bélot said in a text message to CNN.


Since Vinnik’s extradition to the US in August, Bélot has appealed directly to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to help secure Vinnik’s release from US custody.


But ultimately, the Russians indicated they would only be willing to trade someone they considered to be a spy – Whelan, who was convicted on espionage charges in 2019 – for one of Russia’s own spies: Krasikov.


The National Security Council declined to comment. A senior Biden administration official acknowledged to CNN on Thursday night that the Russian side had repeatedly demanded someone not even in US custody, even as the US made a number of different proposals. In the end, the Russians kept asking for the same thing that the US could simply not deliver on, the official said


“We have shown an openness to talk about that which is actually available to us and gotten only in response a demand for something not available to us,” the official said, reiterating that the Russians refused what had been offered to secure the release of Whelan.
More...

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/
 
Cuddles said:
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.
More...
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.
 
kmgilroy89 said:
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.
More...


I dont think Putin felt he was under any pressure to release Whelan
 
exGOPer said:
Some washed up smuggler (who smuggled Russian weapons which are hard to come by nowadays) 15 years past his prime.

Who gives a shit?
More...

He was "washed up" because he got arrested in 2008 not because he decided to clean up his life and stop dealing arms...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top