The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. If people die as a result of him going free, was it worth it?
Whether or not you agree that weed should be legal, you do agree that there are laws (even here in the US) that make marijuana illegal and that you can be punished for those laws, correct? Do you think that she did not break the law in Russia? I still maintain that when you leave our country and travel to another country, you are agreeing to adhere to the laws in said country. If you don't want to follow those laws, don't travel to that country. Remember this story? https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/27/...ngapore-tells-of-the-blood-and-the-scars.html
Absolutely. We don't waste innocent American civilian lives in the hopes of saving other lives. That is simply fear mongering and authoritarian thinking. This whole discussion is horrifying to me. We are truly on the path to fascism, and a large segment of our population is on board with it.
Go look up that guys history. It's not fear mongering. He has been instrumental in the deaths of a lot of people. What makes you think that he's going to change now? If we had taken Osama Bin Laden alive, would you ever want to see him released? Do you think taking him out of circulation for 15 years would make him less dangerous?
I don't believe anybody should be in jail for the personal use of any substance. I don't believe anything that resulted from any trial run by Russia, or any admission from her while in Russian custody. I don't know that she committed any crime at all.
That has no bearing whatsoever on this topic. If you travel to a corrupt country, you are exposing yourself to their corrupt courts. Don't go to corrupt countries.
There should be no incentive for a person of her unique abilities and resulting high profile to visit such a country. Unfortunately here in the US that isn't the case, so we expose ourselves and our ambassadors to these risks.
The idea that being sent to Russia is gaining your freedom is an oxymoron. Bout's assets were frozen long ago. He's broke. Broke in Russia in the winter....sounds like fuel for a depressing novel.
Sure. And I'd plant multiple GPS trackers in his ass and scoop him back up once we received the innocent civilian.
If someone ignores the signs on the beach that say, "Shark infested waters. No swimming" and they go swimming and get attacked by a shark, what do you say? So fuck me for thinking someone is a fucking fool for traveling to Russia right before war breaks out? A war that we are clearly involved in? Biden issued this warning about Ukraine on February 10th https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/wh...ave-ukraine-russia-troops-world-war-rcna15781 Griner was arrested on February 17th https://people.com/sports/brittney-griner-russia-arrest-and-trial-timeline/ The official warning about Russia didn't come until later that month, but how could anyone not see what was happening in that region? It's like traveling into Taliban territory during the war in Afghanistan, or into Iran. So rather than pay attention to geopolitical news, she went to Russia like nothing had changed and she got arrested. Is that sad? Yes. Was it preventable? Yes. How the hell is she not partially responsible for the predicament that she was in? Russia is our enemy and we are fighting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine right now. This seems to me like really basic common sense.
Whelan is a sketchy dude. He was discharged from the Marines for bad conduct. It's hard to say what the circumstances are with him. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46757119
I don't believe anyone here thinks that Griner didn't use poor judgement, because she clearly did...but I don't think that's the crux of the discussion...just sayin'.
What's the crux of the discussion then? Griner was arrested for weed. Whelan was arrested for espionage. I'd say those are massively different circumstances.
Yeah - after reading a bit more about him, I think he might be a spy, but not for the USA. Or maybe just a fool. barfo
Either way, his situation isn't nearly as cut and dry as Griner. The Russians won't tell us all the details, but based on his past the guy seems sketchy.
Seems to me that for that last 2 pages or so, it's been whether or not Griner should have been released instead of Whelan, and whether it was a bad trade or not. I not defending Griner for using very poor judgement but I think that if we traded a "bad guy" for Griner and it was the only option Russia gave us, I say do it. I also believe that the arms dealer isn't that much worse than the US or Russia or China or any other country who supplies/sells arms to other countries...the end result is the same, those weapons are designed to kill people.
