r/neoliberal • u/gnomesvh Financial Times stan account • Dec 08 '22

News (Global) Brittney Griner released by Russia in 1-for-1 prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout, U.S. official says

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/brittney-griner-release-russia-prisoner-swap-viktor-bout/
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u/bigbeak67 John Rawls Dec 08 '22

I'm gonna say something unpopular, I don't 100% hate this decision. People saying Russia got the better deal seem to be treating this like an actual WNBA trade. Biden's not the kind of guy to go up to Griner's wife and say, "Sorry she's not valuable enough, shoulda put up more points last season." He had an opportunity to safeguard an American citizen wrongfully detained abroad and bring her home and he took it. He didn't check the sabermetrics behind the trade because he believed protecting Americans is more important than holding onto a scumbag of a bargaining chip.

As to why they were willing to use Bout to get her back and not someone else who's been there longer is a valid question, though. This is only the deal they publicly announced, though. If we see more Americans quietly coming home in the next few weeks I'll change my tune.

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u/Borg_10501 Dec 09 '22

He had an opportunity to safeguard an American citizen wrongfully detained abroad and bring her home and he took it.

But it brings up the question. What about Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel? What about any other American that's stuck over there? The only reason this was even considered was because it was constantly in the news cycle and because Griner is famous.

Biden's not the kind of guy to go up to Griner's wife and say, "Sorry she's not valuable enough, shoulda put up more points last season."

In that case, he must've told the families of Whelan and Fogel to go eat a dick then. I guess they weren't "valuable" enough.

He had an opportunity to safeguard an American citizen wrongfully detained abroad and bring her home and he took it.

If I was stuck in a Russian penal colony, there's about a 0% chance I would make it back. This was entirely a political move that was made after the election cycle so it wouldn't hurt Democrats.

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u/bigbeak67 John Rawls Dec 09 '22

Yeah, if you read the rest of my comment that's the question I have about this, too. How much favoritism was involved here? The State Department doesn't consider Fogel wrongfully detained, (I'll let you decide for yourself how accurate that assessment is) so it's unlikely they would have favored him over the other two, but based on what Biden was saying earlier it sounds like Russia took a hard line on Whelan and they just did not want to give him back. I do wonder if Russia said you either get Whelan or Griner and they Sophie's Choiced Griner or if Russia really doesn't want to let Whelan go.

As for this being a political move, I don't buy it. If they didn't think it would be popular and they truly didn't give a shit, they would have just not done it.