Russia is a terrorist state. You cant negotiate with them. This is the facts of today.
this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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Except they did do just that for Brittney Griner.
Brittney Griner was a celebrity stuck in a political dispute, Whelan is a totally different case. I don't think he was spying for the CIA, but he was up to some pretty sketchy stuff, and he has an even sketchier past.
He's claimed to work as a police officer in multiple places that say they have no record of him, or that he only worked there for a short time. He was court marshalled for larceny and given a bad conduct discharge. Even after his discharge he was hired as head of security for a global firm that did business in Russia. Even ignoring the fact that he holds like 4 different citizenships, just the information that he has provided himself is super sketchy.
I wouldn't be in any rush to to spend political capital on this dude either.
Besides, how many Merchants of Death do you think we have in custody?
Less than we have in political offices unfortunately.
That's fine. I just would not have spent political capital on Griner, either.
At least that has some return on investment, that's if you're looking at it from the perspective of a politician.
Though I do find it pretty hypocritical that he spent that capital freeing someone from a crime that he himself is perfectly fine sending people to jail for in America.
If only he was a WNBA player vaping THC.
For her we gave up the Merchant of Death.
Wasn't worth it.
I'm sure she would disagree, as would you if you were in a Russian prison.
I wouldn't go near Russia. But she is a tad bit biased.
I don't know what she is biased about. Seems to me that she was just trying to make a buck and the kickback of Russia invading Ukraine ran over her. Wrong place. Wrong time.
Yea, no...If you're going to cross into another country, make sure you respect the laws of said country. Next time she'll hopefully leave her drugs at home.
The laws in Russia are very much determined on what Russia's anxiety is at the time. Don't play the lawful card.
Don’t play the lawful card.
Really? That's your defense for breaking the law..."Don't worry about the law"?
Don't go to Asia if that's your attitude. They make Russia look like a vacation resort.
When you say “leave her drugs at home” and “she thought she was above the law”, you make it sound like she audaciously took a bag of weed with her. What she actually took was
cartridges containing less than a gram of medically prescribed hash oil
that she didn’t consider would be a problem. There is a difference, even if you’re unable to recognize that.
It should be common knowledge that you can't just bring prescribed medication into a foreign country. There is even plenty of OTC medication you can't bring into some countries.
Heck, in many places you can't even bring fruits, meat, or dairy. Not doing your due diligence before traveling is on the person traveling.
I don't think she deserves to be in prison for that and I would assume if relations with Russia at the time were better she would have just been denied entry/fined.
But breaking the law is still entirely on her and returning such a high profile prisoner in exchange for her mistake stings.
should be
It’s not even entirely clear in her own country from state to state, it being medically prescribed confused the situation even more, get over yourself.
Further, she’s out, it’s over, all of you harping on it means nothing except you get to feel superior over a black athlete.
I feel superior that I never had to release a person in the top 10 wanted list because I really needed my drugs.
That's a reasonable position however you want to spin it.
Your rhetoric is typical of a racist.
Or possibly just an asshole.
really needed my drugs
Probably both. An asshole who doesn’t understand or respect medicinal uses for cannabis, and a racist who judges POC more harshly than others for it.
No, that’s not a reasonable position.
Also, she didn’t choose the terms of her release, so again, your position seemly blaming her for who was traded isn’t reasonable. Also, if she wasn’t traded for him, Whelan probably would have been. And most likely you wouldn’t be complaining about that nearly as much, and you’d be perfectly happy letting her be in prison instead, which is why all your bullshit is most likely racist as hell.
And I’m blocking you now, worthless person.
I'm racist is all you've got for that? Really? Brilliant rebuttle.
She also disregarded a state department directive that Russia is a dangerous country to go to for Americans.
So, not only was she above the law, she felt she was above the US government's intelligence department as well.
She's put national security at risk and we all fucking paid for Biden making an appeal to black voters.
The majority of what you said also applies to Whelan.
He was there for work (just like her) despite all the warnings, and his presence was even more of a risk as a reporter than as someone there to play for a basketball team.
It’s done. Get the fuck over it.
That's correct...I think they should both rot in prison...but only one was let go. Why is that?
Defense? I didn't realize I needed a defense. But if I do, mine would that Russias aw's laws are whatever they want to make them at any given time. Even the Russians know this.
Not bringing illegal drugs to another country seems like a very low bar to clear tbh
Seems to me like she thought she was above the law because she was semi-popular.
This poor guy doesn't get the same special treatment because he isn't sort of somewhat a little bit famous.
This guy's real problems are....
A. Hes up on espionage charges
B. The US is still supplying weapons to Ukraine
C. The US has no high value prisoners that Russia wants
Then they'd be wrong. It objectively isn't worth it.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Gerschkovich is still awaiting a trial, but Whelan, who was arrested on similar charges in 2018 while attending a friend's wedding, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the families of Americans who are being detained or held hostage to not give up hope.
Speaking Tuesday at a regular press briefing at the State Department, spokesperson Mathew Miller reiterated that Russia had rejected "significant proposals" for the two men's release, "one as recently as a few weeks ago.
According to CBS Detroit, Whelan's brother David said in an email earlier this month that the White House was telling the family Paul's case remained a top priority, but that he was unsure what that meant anymore.
"It has taken nearly twelve months for the U.S. to gather its resources and make a singular offer for Paul's freedom," David Whelan said in the email.
The U.S. has negotiated prisoner swaps with Russia in the past, including the high-profile 2022 deal that saw basketball star Brittney Griner freed by Moscow in exchange for the U.S. releasing long-jailed arms dealer Viktor Bout, whose illicit deeds earned him the nickname,"the Merchant of Death."
The original article contains 749 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 74%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
He is accused of reporting the truth within the borders of fascist Russia.
Sorry bro, you need to be a celebrity to get special treatment.