One of the most notorious weapons dealers; a basketball player sentenced for drug charges. A criminal hunted down and locked up for trying to kill Americans by selling weapons to terrorists; an American with a weed vape. Of course, they aren’t comparable. Yet, President Joe Biden’s offer to swap the basketball player for the merchant of death draws the public’s attention. Debate is risen amongst all people about this proposal.
Veterans of past experience with war and other exchanges say that the unfair exchange would just increase the use of Americans as bargaining chips. “I take a pretty hard line on it,” John R. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador, said, “It’s one thing to exchange prisoners of war.
It’s one thing to exchange spies when you know that’s going on.” But negotiations and exchanges with terrorists or with authoritarian governments become dangerous because then you’re just putting a price on the next American hostage.”
Coming from another angle, Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the C.I.A in America, counters this claim. He values his own citizens a thousand times as much as the Russian arms dealer. He would do anything to save an American life, and so would everyone else, he says.
What makes this debate and proposed exchange interesting is because a week before Brittany Griner, the American basketball player, was arrested, Russia attacked Ukraine. Many officials think that this case seemed like an attempt to bargain from Moscow to try and get America to support Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war. Still, President Biden faced huge pressure to free Ms. Griner. So did the Russians with Viktor Bout – they had long sought the release of this wanted man. Ever so desperate to set both of them free, a bargain was made an option between America and Russia.
Amongst the people who take the side that the prisoner swaps shouldn’t be controversial, is a former U.S. marine, Trevor R. Reed. Reed states, “The thing that you have to understand is countries like North Korea – Russia now, obviously, China, Syria, Iran Venezuela – countries like that are going to take Americans hostage no matter what. Even if they don’t receive some type of exchange for those prisoners, they will do that anyway, just out of pure malice just to show the United States that, ‘We took your citizens.” Mr. Reed has personal experience with this because he was also used a hostage; he was just freed in April from Russian custody in exchange for a cocaine trafficking Russian pilot.
Now, it is unclear whether the two countries are going to take out this proposal or end it, considering all the debate around the subject. Plus, Russia might not be willing to give up their death merchant for a foreign WNBA player. But, no matter what the government does, there will still be more questions about the decision they carry out.
Sources
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/griner-bout-hostages-diplomacy.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/russia-griner-whelan-prisoners.html
Veterans of past experience with war and other exchanges say that the unfair exchange would just increase the use of Americans as bargaining chips. “I take a pretty hard line on it,” John R. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador, said, “It’s one thing to exchange prisoners of war.
It’s one thing to exchange spies when you know that’s going on.” But negotiations and exchanges with terrorists or with authoritarian governments become dangerous because then you’re just putting a price on the next American hostage.”
Coming from another angle, Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the C.I.A in America, counters this claim. He values his own citizens a thousand times as much as the Russian arms dealer. He would do anything to save an American life, and so would everyone else, he says.
What makes this debate and proposed exchange interesting is because a week before Brittany Griner, the American basketball player, was arrested, Russia attacked Ukraine. Many officials think that this case seemed like an attempt to bargain from Moscow to try and get America to support Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war. Still, President Biden faced huge pressure to free Ms. Griner. So did the Russians with Viktor Bout – they had long sought the release of this wanted man. Ever so desperate to set both of them free, a bargain was made an option between America and Russia.
Amongst the people who take the side that the prisoner swaps shouldn’t be controversial, is a former U.S. marine, Trevor R. Reed. Reed states, “The thing that you have to understand is countries like North Korea – Russia now, obviously, China, Syria, Iran Venezuela – countries like that are going to take Americans hostage no matter what. Even if they don’t receive some type of exchange for those prisoners, they will do that anyway, just out of pure malice just to show the United States that, ‘We took your citizens.” Mr. Reed has personal experience with this because he was also used a hostage; he was just freed in April from Russian custody in exchange for a cocaine trafficking Russian pilot.
Now, it is unclear whether the two countries are going to take out this proposal or end it, considering all the debate around the subject. Plus, Russia might not be willing to give up their death merchant for a foreign WNBA player. But, no matter what the government does, there will still be more questions about the decision they carry out.
Sources
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/griner-bout-hostages-diplomacy.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/russia-griner-whelan-prisoners.html
