As the saying goes, “Opinions are like assholes: everyone has them.”
This does not mean, of course, that all opinions are good ones. A carpenter’s opinion on a dado joint is probably better informed than mine. Cops know more about the criminal mindset than landscapers and con men know a “mark” when they see one. One would not hire a “shock jock” podcaster to perform open heart surgery, although the know-it-all might have read a few books on the subject.
I ran into someone recently who is all lathered up about the Britney Griner release by the Russians in exchange for a slime ball that we’ve had in jail for 14 years. Britney Griner is a WNBA star who allegedly entered Russia with an ounce of hash oil, which is a criminal offense in that country. She was subsequently tried, convicted, and sentenced to seven years in prison. The guy who Griner was exchanged for was an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death”, because his specialty was trafficking weapons to terrorist groups.
My acquaintance completely lost her cool when talking about this, blaming President Biden for the deal and complaining that another American in Russian captivity, ex-Marine Paul Whelan, should have been the exchangee if we were trading captives with the Russians.
As the tirade went on, it became obvious that the facts that Britney Griner is Black, a Lesbian, and a person who lent her support to the Black Lives Matter movement, had a lot to do with the vitriol. “She hates America!”, my friend said, although I am absolutely certain that the two have never met and discussed their political beliefs.
I pointed out to my friend that, personally, I would never have dealt with the Russians to free Britney Griner, as she committed a felony in another country and is subject to the laws over there. We have no right to judge another country’s laws, although prideful Americans often do.
The Russian criminal, Viktor Bout, has completed more than half of his U.S. prison sentence. He was an international weapons trafficker who never committed a crime in America, as far as I can determine. The so-called “Merchant of Death” has never personally killed anyone. Bout is a slimy and clever businessman who made a lot of money equipping tyrants and terrorists with instruments of death.
(Not to belabor a point, but doesn’t the “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” argument cover Viktor Bout like it does the American arms industry, the largest weapons supplier in the world. Making military-grade equipment available to violent people is currently legal in the United States, so why was Mr. Bout imprisoned here?)
So, from a “deal” perspective, I think it was a lousy one which I would never have made. Of course, neither my friend nor I are the President of the United States, so we don’t have the slightest idea of what transpired, why, and what other considerations there might have been which have not been reported to the public. Those last details are often the juicy ones that only get revealed in history books decades later. It might later be revealed that part of the deal was sending life-saving Russian natural gas to Germany for the winter.
One thing that’s pretty obvious is that the United States has limited leverage with Russian President Vladimir Putin these days. He is prosecuting an invasion of Ukraine and our country is supplying arms to the Ukrainians, which has got to be annoying him something fierce. Putin is probably not in the mood to deal reasonably with Biden, so (in a negotiation) the U.S. has to give more than it would like to close the deal.
Why didn’t the U.S. trade Bout for the imprisoned ex-Marine Whelan? From what I’ ‘ve read, Biden wanted both Griner and Whelan for Bout, but Mr. Putin wouldn’t put Whelan into the deal. Why? Probably because Whelan was convicted of spying in Russia, and Putin hates foreign spies operating in the Motherland. And, also, if Whelan was released, Biden would score points with several domestic political constituencies. And, so, it probably felt good for Putin to poke his fingers in Biden’s eyes.
The big hoo-haw over releasing the “Merchant of Death” for Britney Griner is pure politics. Fox News is jumping all over the deal, accusing Biden of betraying Whelan and rewarding enemy nations who’ve done us wrong.
The fly in the Whelan ointment is the fact that he was imprisoned in 2018 while Donald Trump was in office. Trump, whose only loyalty is to himself (and, sadly, Vladimir Putin at the time), didn’t lift a finger in two years to bring patriot Whelan home from Russian prison. Now that there’s a Democrat in the White House, conservative politicians, broadcast talking head experts, and ex-President Trump himself are raining down on the prisoner swap, accusing Biden of disloyalty toward a former U.S. Marine.
Don’t make me laugh.
Politicians are always trying to reinforce their bonafides with their core supporters. Obviously, obtaining the release of Britney Griner, a famous Black athlete who also happens to be a lesbian, scores points with Biden’s urban supporters. So, it is a “win” for Biden, who gains nothing politically by leaving Bout in prison to serve out the final ten years of his sentence.
Each party always roasts the other when one of these prisoner exchanges occur, noting soberly that the “U.S. doesn’t negotiate with terrorists”, etc. However, all Presidents do these trades occasionally to score political points. Recently, Ronald Reagan, Trump, both Bushes, and Obama negotiated controversial, hard-to-justify prisoner exchange deals with enemy states and terrorist groups. President Reagan infamously green-lighted the “arms for captives” deal with the Sandanistas. President Trump once freed 5,000 Taliban fighters in exchange for the release of 1,000 Taliban captives. Biden will probably do other exchanges in the next two years and be criticized by his opponents each time.
No one who isn’t privy to the negotiations has any grounds for second-guessing the geopolitical decisions of our National elected leaders. Unless you are in the room, you have no idea what was offered, what was refused, and why the deal happened the way it did.
There is a reason that these folks get elected… and smart-alecks like me and my critical friend aren’t called to lead the country.
I think it’s best to leave the dirty work to our professional politicians and international relations experts so that we common folk can sit back in our easy chairs with a can of Budweiser and freely criticize them.
Apologies to the NFL, but taking potshots at our elected officials is truly “America’s Game”.