The United States has finally decided to trade Brittney Griner’s freedom for that of a Russian arms dealer. Griner is a basketball player who was detained in Russia for carrying traces of hash oil in her luggage.
The person who will be swapped for Griner is Viktor Bout, an arms dealer and trafficker who has sold weapons to terrorists, rebels, and militants all around the world, earning the nickname “Merchant of Death” before he was caught by the U.S. for trying to kill Americans.
The trade seems highly unreasonable, exchanging a murderous arms dealer for a harmless young female basketball player who had some traces of hash oil in her bag. However, the Biden Administration would do anything to save an American life. Jeremy Bash was chief of staff at the CIA when the U.S. made a high-profile spy trade in 2010. “The fact that Bout is a big fish isn’t really part of the calculus,” he said. “We value our own citizens a thousand times more than we value the foreign criminal. Israel takes the same approach. They’d trade a thousand Hamas fighters for one I.D.F. soldier. We in the U.S. take the same attitude. We will do almost anything to save an American life.” A former U.S. Marine is also being held, and he, too, will be exchanged for Bout.
Russian officials have wanted Bout released for a long time. Their offer for Griner and the former Marine is undesirable, but it is the only choice. Questions have come up regarding whether there should be standards for whom should be traded when there are American prisoners held by enemy countries. Some prisoners, like Griner, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the other hand, Russia wants to trade Griner and the former Marine for a dangerous arms dealer who has sold to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and similar militants and rebels.
The swap for Griner and the other prisoner is a bad deal, but it is the only deal the government has.
Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659263427193x621719543737524700/Why%20the%20U.S.%20Offered%20to%20Swap%20Griner%20for%20Bout%2C%20a%20Russian%20Arms%20Dealer%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
The person who will be swapped for Griner is Viktor Bout, an arms dealer and trafficker who has sold weapons to terrorists, rebels, and militants all around the world, earning the nickname “Merchant of Death” before he was caught by the U.S. for trying to kill Americans.
The trade seems highly unreasonable, exchanging a murderous arms dealer for a harmless young female basketball player who had some traces of hash oil in her bag. However, the Biden Administration would do anything to save an American life. Jeremy Bash was chief of staff at the CIA when the U.S. made a high-profile spy trade in 2010. “The fact that Bout is a big fish isn’t really part of the calculus,” he said. “We value our own citizens a thousand times more than we value the foreign criminal. Israel takes the same approach. They’d trade a thousand Hamas fighters for one I.D.F. soldier. We in the U.S. take the same attitude. We will do almost anything to save an American life.” A former U.S. Marine is also being held, and he, too, will be exchanged for Bout.
Russian officials have wanted Bout released for a long time. Their offer for Griner and the former Marine is undesirable, but it is the only choice. Questions have come up regarding whether there should be standards for whom should be traded when there are American prisoners held by enemy countries. Some prisoners, like Griner, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the other hand, Russia wants to trade Griner and the former Marine for a dangerous arms dealer who has sold to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and similar militants and rebels.
The swap for Griner and the other prisoner is a bad deal, but it is the only deal the government has.
Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659263427193x621719543737524700/Why%20the%20U.S.%20Offered%20to%20Swap%20Griner%20for%20Bout%2C%20a%20Russian%20Arms%20Dealer%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
