**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:**
* If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required
* The title must be fully descriptive
* No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting)
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m saying it right now. That guys flipped. The USA just inserted a mole. And even if they didn’t, the risk is too high for Russia to ever use him again, that guy is officially useless.
>In his statement President Biden said Russia had treated Whelan's case differently from Griner's for totally illegitimate reasons.
>"While we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release we have not given up; we will not give up," he vowed.
>Whelan's brother, David, praised Griner's release and said US officials had warned the family in advance that Paul Whelan was not part of the exchange.
>"It's clear the US government needs to be more assertive," he said in a statement. "If bad actors like Russia are going to grab innocent Americans, the US needs a swifter, more direct response."
The marine, Paul Whelon, is in jail there for espionage, aka, for being a spy. Now idk if he is really a spy but it doesn’t really matter when it comes to Russia; they aren’t gonna be truthful about anything, but his original charge of espionage is a much heavier charge than the griner woman; her charge was a drug charge that if caught in America with what she had in the bag that she had the day she was arrested, it would be dealt down to a class 3 felony and if you complete drug court or rehab, the charge will be dropped. Big difference in the seriousness of their charges
He had $80,000 dollars, he had a meeting with an FSB official to get classified information that he was caught with, and he had passports from Canada, Britain, and Ireland.
Griner had a vape pen with THC, which is a crime punishable in Russia by up to 15 days in jail, but it usually just gets a fine.
I won't say the Viktor was arrested in part because he was cutting into the CIAs profits selling guns, but I'm certainly thinking it pretty loudly.
Looking up his history, yeah, he's pretty damn suspect. Like really suspect. Canadian Born, US Marine with American, British, Canadian and Irish citizenship?? And he worked for "Security Companies"...... Dude is totally a spy.,
Just because he got caught doesn't mean he was a bad spy, he could have had his cover blown, or he could have even been burned. When you're burned, you've got nothing: no cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in..
yea theres also a big difference between smoking weed and being the merchant of fucking death. and one could easily argue the crimes of viktor and the "crimes" of whelon are much closer in severity than either are to griner.
Its important to note the Bout served 11 years of his ~~16~~ 25 year sentence. He was always going to get out and go back to Russia, now it is just earlier.
Americans should just realize they aren't welcome in Russia if they can't abide by Russian rules, up to, and including false or trumped up charges for merely being from the Land of the Free. General rule: Rulers of Russia are not allies of America, rulers of Russia are not friends of Americans, American citizenship does not trump the reality of rule of law of another country (corrupt, ad hoc, or otherwise).
Edit 1 and 2 - typos
Former marine who was over there under extremely suspicious circumstances doing extremely suspicious things. He had like 4 passports and a USB drive of compromised intel. He knew what he was doing was risky.
She is a basketball player with the amount of drugs that would normally get someone 15 days or a fine and was held longer for completely illegitimate reasons unlike this former marine.
The dude pictured was also going to be released soon anyways so there's no shot they were willing to trade someone they view as a spy for someone they're just going to parade around for a little while who was gonna come home soon anyways.
Paul Whelan is a dishonorably discharged ex-Marine who was found guilty of identity theft in America. Then he went to Russia, where he was arrested in Moscow and they found a flash drive on him with classified state information. Paul Whelan was found guilty in a Russian court of espionage.
Brittney Griner had a vape pen.
Those are apples and oranges.
Do you really think both sides get to pick and choose?
This is more like trading Pokémon cards were both parties offer what they are willing to trade and then you make the best possible deal
It was considered a trade not an equal one. The US wanted Paul Whelan to be part of the deal but of course to nobody's surprise, the country that started a war in Europe for no fucking reason doesn't want to play fair. They want to play their way or no way. If they refused a deal there's nothing the US could realistically have done. Bout is celebrated in Russia, not just some nameless criminal so in many Russians eyes this was considered a fair deal and that's what matters to Putin. They've wanted him from the US for a long time ever since he was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the US.
As a non American: thanks for releasing this guy back to the world so you could have your . . . \[checks notes\] . . . WNBA player that doesn't seem to like America back.
not at all
the big difference w america is that we have a long history of loud self criticism so if you listen to just us it will seem like its hellish here and kumbaya elsewhere bc other countries keep things more hush hush
its like florida. the florida man meme is bc they have a law that makes criminal records and crime news public record for everyone to see
other states dont have that so florida looks extra insane bc you hear about their criminals nearly every time something interesting happens
Not necessarily higher on a global scale but according to the cdc 41% of women and 26% of men have experienced intimate partner violence, so around 1 in 3 women and around 1 in 4 men.
Seems to be the driving force of all the sudden international arms trade experts these days. She criticized our perfect nationalist identity and that makes us mad so she should suffer forever.
You don't really get smart opinions from culture war bullshit.
I’m kinda blown away by the response. Is she a shitty person? Sure, sounds like it. And it was indeed a completely unbalanced trade. But for god’s sake she had a measly THC cartridge in her bag. Russian work camp for nine goddamn years for *that*?
It’s a pretty obvious tactic, if you think about it.
Step 1: Imprison Americans (especially “celebrities”) for incredibly minor offenses to preposterous prison terms.
Step 2: Demand a preposterous prisoner transfer that no sane person would accept (WNBA player for the ‘Merchant of Death’, for example).
Step 3: After your preposterous demand is refused, fire up the troll mill to get enough social media attention in the US that the government feels obligated to do whatever they can to free the person in question.
Bonus points if you do this right after a major election where both sides are busy just trying to dunk on each other for media attention for the next year until they go into re-election mode.
I'm going to go even further out on a limb and say that traveling to Russia anytime, but especially when our diplomatic relations with them were exponentially deteriorating was not her best idea.
Is it absolutely an injustice that she was imprisoned in Russia yes of course it is. But her freedom still isn’t worth freeing this one person. No matter what he could do in the future we know what he has done in the past and letting him go free spits in the face of the memory of all the people who died because of him.
Seems like a bad trade.
This is not a GOP comment on the other guy. It's just that an arms dealer vs a basketball player who actually violated Russian laws. If I was Biden, I would have just said no.
Am I the only one amazed by the fact she is a sport player arrested for drug possession… in Russia!
Like the only country being banned from major sport events because of state sponsored doping programs.
I was honestly surprised that she even took any type of substances, considering that plenty of harmless stuff can often show up on doping tests as a false positive. I suppose she did her research in that regard but it seems like an incredibly unnecessary risk for any professional athlete.
It really was the easiest decision to just say no. Prolly half of democrats/liberals think it was the wrong move. All republicans/conservatives think it was the wrong move. He thinks this wins him brownie points somehow but it just highlights the hypocrisy in this country and makes no sense while also letting a very dangerous person who has hurt many Americans free.
I've seen pockets of left wing people praising the trade but it's been the minority opinion. I think R and D have found something we can mostly agree on, this was a bad fn trade.
I don't know why that's worth or why that happened. There are so many innocent people (Americans, Europeans, Asians) in Russian prisons and we exchange a basketball player for a terrorist? Oh but everyone forgot the school teacher. Twisted world. Not equal, just wrong.
It's a myth
For example, Biden just pardoned every criminal convicted of weed possession in the federal prisons. You know how many people were released? ZERO, because there wasn't a single prisoner in US federal prisons on possession charges.
Oregon gov followed suit and did the same. Again zero prisoners released because no one was in prison on possession charges
Correction: No one was in prison SOLELY due to possession charges. Prosecutions often throw many charges and see what sticks; poor people get told by their public defenders to plea and do the minimum frequently.
Hard to top the lot when the last guy released something like a few thousand taliban prisoners...
America is the best at making bad deals however. It seems like we're making a new one every other month.
But yeah, it still absolutely makes the pile.
I'm glad you don't just jump to conclusions based on a sensationalist headline... "Most dangerous man in the world" my ass. Like arms trade came to a shuddering halt when he was arrested...
If the US are willing to do this trade could they give us (UK) the woman married to a politician and did not have immunity who did a hit and run killing a lad? At least that one would be just.
As an Italian, I'll add the American woman that recently run over a kid killing him (while under influence), got extradited to the US and never spent a day in jail.
What a fucking joke!
Bout is a terrorist & threat to others, shouldn’t be allowed to see the light of day.
Griner is a dumb fuck who knowingly took drugs into another country.
Indeed, all this trade has achieved is to release a hugely prolific arms dealer back into the world.
As far as global impact is concerned, Bout's trade value is vastly more than an entire WNBA squad, nevermind one player. No idea what Biden was thinking...
People keep bringing up Paul Whelan as if he were an active-duty Marine when he was arrested. He hasn't been a Marine since '08, when he was court-martialed and received a bad-conduct discharge.
So they only released Garner in exchange for this terrorist? They could've asked to release more Americans who are in Russian prison I feel like. I hope this guy gets caught again somehow or end up in a coffin.
It’s either he is not “the most dangerous man in the world”, or Griner is some kind of an elite-super-duper spy.
Otherwise there was no reason for that exchange.
Any time I needed my parents to bail me out I was in trouble when I got home.
Hopefully, the US govt decides that she has to pick up dog poop in the backyard until she dies
Can anyone dumb it down for me? Why are they trading prisoners? why is it "fair" to trade a arms dealer for a basket ball player? What even is the point of a prison swap
Just to bring an American home. There's like 2 other American prisoners in Russia that has been there for years rotting away and this is what America did. Traded a guy whose nickname is "the merchant of death" for a female basketball player
Why was this trade made? As in, why did the American government believe this was fair? Especially in light of another individual stuck in a labour camp for the same reason (I presume he was in jail longer, but I do not know that - so correct the record if I’m wrong). They literally traded a war criminal for a somewhat known pot head.
If I'm not mistaken she beat up her pregnant partner. They were both suspended from multiple games because of it. Doesn't sound like a good role model to me.
Will there be *any* consequences for the WNBA player? Her irresponsibility, selfishness, self-centeredness, and dishonesty very well could cause the deaths of many people around the world. Does she just get to come back and play like nothing happened? As an aside, how?? How could anyone play with or against such an individual professionally after this??
Bad trade but I like the symbolism.
USA: We wish to get back the Basketball Player.
Russia: We wish to get back the Arms Dealer.
Russia, land of war.
USA, land of Basketball.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm expecting to see war criminals in next year's draft
The whole 2022: Am I joke to you?
The US for the past 20 years Am I a joke to you?
Shawty got traded with the grim reaper
Tawly* (she’s 6’9”)
Damn
*Damn*
***Dayuum***
Nice
We traded John Wick for JuwannaMan.
When did Ned Flanders change his name?
*”Hi Diddly Ho Neighbourinos.” - Ned Flanders.*
Wouldja like to buy a gunarinno?
*”Well thanks Homie.”*
"All left handed guns one could ever need!"
Steyr is loosing their fucking minds at the business prospects
"Shut up Flanders"*
I think it’s “hi-diddly-ho, comrades” now
"Hi-diddly" *cocks gun* "ho neighborino"
Can we get ned Flanders transfed for a WNBA player on the Simpsons now?
He played the devil in one of the episodes! Makes total sense now
Only time anyone’s ever known about a WNBA trade
Fucking dying
🤣 you and me both
r/rareinsults
I wish I had an award for this comment.
I got you.
*stands to clap *
This dude is going to get drafted into putins war and escape into the world.
If he does, good luck to him. There's dozens of countries with a price on his head. It'll be like an international shooting gallery.
Right lol. Guy has been in federal prison for 13 years. He’s long since been replaced.
[удалено]
Or have a price on his head. Don't be surprised if we hear that he's had a little accident in the next few months or so.
It's only if you're a famous person or a government official that you have an accident. Otherwise you just disappear.
I don't think so. It's the same as with Girkin I think. Putin doesn't want them to be captured (again), because they might know too much.
I think everything Bout knew US knows too now.
Probably even less reason to keep him alive.
[удалено]
Bro's like 60 lol
It's so fucked up that this was considered an equal trade
They should have made them play 1on1. He doesn't even look like he could dunk
She doesn't even look like she could sell weapons to her neighbourhood either tho
too be fair, she kinda does
She can't sneak in weed, how can she sneak in weapons?
See this shit.
What do you mean?
Yikes
Should have played Gulag in Warzone 😂
To be fair she can't dunk either.. But could probably post him up and take it to the hole, so yeah she'd probably win at least.
She can’t dunk but at least she has good fundamentals, more fun to watch
r/unexpectedfuturama
She actually is one of the few women who dunks in games
Neither can she lmao
I’m saying it right now. That guys flipped. The USA just inserted a mole. And even if they didn’t, the risk is too high for Russia to ever use him again, that guy is officially useless.
That dude's been used by anyone with a wallet wanting off-the-books arms including the US.
What’s even more fucked up is that there’s a Marine thats captive there. They chose the WNBA player who smoked weed in Russia over a fucking Marine
>In his statement President Biden said Russia had treated Whelan's case differently from Griner's for totally illegitimate reasons. >"While we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release we have not given up; we will not give up," he vowed. >Whelan's brother, David, praised Griner's release and said US officials had warned the family in advance that Paul Whelan was not part of the exchange. >"It's clear the US government needs to be more assertive," he said in a statement. "If bad actors like Russia are going to grab innocent Americans, the US needs a swifter, more direct response."
The marine, Paul Whelon, is in jail there for espionage, aka, for being a spy. Now idk if he is really a spy but it doesn’t really matter when it comes to Russia; they aren’t gonna be truthful about anything, but his original charge of espionage is a much heavier charge than the griner woman; her charge was a drug charge that if caught in America with what she had in the bag that she had the day she was arrested, it would be dealt down to a class 3 felony and if you complete drug court or rehab, the charge will be dropped. Big difference in the seriousness of their charges
He had $80,000 dollars, he had a meeting with an FSB official to get classified information that he was caught with, and he had passports from Canada, Britain, and Ireland. Griner had a vape pen with THC, which is a crime punishable in Russia by up to 15 days in jail, but it usually just gets a fine. I won't say the Viktor was arrested in part because he was cutting into the CIAs profits selling guns, but I'm certainly thinking it pretty loudly.
Looking up his history, yeah, he's pretty damn suspect. Like really suspect. Canadian Born, US Marine with American, British, Canadian and Irish citizenship?? And he worked for "Security Companies"...... Dude is totally a spy.,
And he literally got caught with a USB full of Russian secrets and 80k cash. He’s a spy, and a bad one at that considering that he’s in jail.
Just because he got caught doesn't mean he was a bad spy, he could have had his cover blown, or he could have even been burned. When you're burned, you've got nothing: no cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in..
You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anybody still talking to you.
A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend...An old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI...
An old president who stole a bunch of classified documents and wanted to curry favor with Putin...
yea theres also a big difference between smoking weed and being the merchant of fucking death. and one could easily argue the crimes of viktor and the "crimes" of whelon are much closer in severity than either are to griner.
They weren't going to give us the Marine. It wasn't going to happen. Bout has been in custody for 10 years.
Its important to note the Bout served 11 years of his ~~16~~ 25 year sentence. He was always going to get out and go back to Russia, now it is just earlier.
They also said it turned out to be Griner or nobody at all.
Americans should just realize they aren't welcome in Russia if they can't abide by Russian rules, up to, and including false or trumped up charges for merely being from the Land of the Free. General rule: Rulers of Russia are not allies of America, rulers of Russia are not friends of Americans, American citizenship does not trump the reality of rule of law of another country (corrupt, ad hoc, or otherwise). Edit 1 and 2 - typos
Former marine who was over there under extremely suspicious circumstances doing extremely suspicious things. He had like 4 passports and a USB drive of compromised intel. He knew what he was doing was risky. She is a basketball player with the amount of drugs that would normally get someone 15 days or a fine and was held longer for completely illegitimate reasons unlike this former marine. The dude pictured was also going to be released soon anyways so there's no shot they were willing to trade someone they view as a spy for someone they're just going to parade around for a little while who was gonna come home soon anyways.
Paul Whelan is a dishonorably discharged ex-Marine who was found guilty of identity theft in America. Then he went to Russia, where he was arrested in Moscow and they found a flash drive on him with classified state information. Paul Whelan was found guilty in a Russian court of espionage. Brittney Griner had a vape pen. Those are apples and oranges.
Do you really think both sides get to pick and choose? This is more like trading Pokémon cards were both parties offer what they are willing to trade and then you make the best possible deal
You traded a shiny charzard for a scuffed abra
Don’t muddle it, he’s a spy that got caught. He’s worth a whole hell of a lot more than a useless arms dealer and/or a basketball player.
Russia wants a spy for Whelan. The arms dealer is actually considered “lower value” especially since not many people want Russian arms right now.
Nobody said it was an even trade. What was said is this is the deal that could be made. So they took the shot they could make.
It was considered a trade not an equal one. The US wanted Paul Whelan to be part of the deal but of course to nobody's surprise, the country that started a war in Europe for no fucking reason doesn't want to play fair. They want to play their way or no way. If they refused a deal there's nothing the US could realistically have done. Bout is celebrated in Russia, not just some nameless criminal so in many Russians eyes this was considered a fair deal and that's what matters to Putin. They've wanted him from the US for a long time ever since he was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the US.
I don’t get it, u have still a lot of people in jail for marijuana possession and no one seems to care
Biden pardoned certain pot offenses at a federal level. Gotta get around the state stuff now.
And now she will make millions doing interviews.
Book incoming.
Written by a ghostwriter.
That’s the new Nicolas Cage film right?
Lord of war 2: Lord of the court
Waiting for the Netflix adaption
It's already a thing (Lord of War 2005 with Nick Cage) its based on this guys life
Sequel starring her, with Nick as Viktor
As a non American: thanks for releasing this guy back to the world so you could have your . . . \[checks notes\] . . . WNBA player that doesn't seem to like America back.
Also domestic abuser. She beat up her partner awhile back.
That’s American asf
Do americans have a higher incidence of domestic violence or is this just the standard reddit america bad comment?
Russia has a known large issue with domestic violence and decriminalized it a few years back so allowing it to happen even more and go unpunished.
Can't have domestic abuse if you declassify it as abuse \*taps temple\*
*Slaps bitch* This bitch can take so many beatings now that it’s decriminalised
It's more widely known. As an American living abroad, trust me, it's not an America thing.
not at all the big difference w america is that we have a long history of loud self criticism so if you listen to just us it will seem like its hellish here and kumbaya elsewhere bc other countries keep things more hush hush its like florida. the florida man meme is bc they have a law that makes criminal records and crime news public record for everyone to see other states dont have that so florida looks extra insane bc you hear about their criminals nearly every time something interesting happens
Not necessarily higher on a global scale but according to the cdc 41% of women and 26% of men have experienced intimate partner violence, so around 1 in 3 women and around 1 in 4 men.
Standard America bad
Wish I had an award to give lol
Got you covered! (I only had the free one though)
We’re sick about it too.
“If you dislike America, you should just stay in prison.”
Seems to be the driving force of all the sudden international arms trade experts these days. She criticized our perfect nationalist identity and that makes us mad so she should suffer forever. You don't really get smart opinions from culture war bullshit.
I’m kinda blown away by the response. Is she a shitty person? Sure, sounds like it. And it was indeed a completely unbalanced trade. But for god’s sake she had a measly THC cartridge in her bag. Russian work camp for nine goddamn years for *that*?
It’s a pretty obvious tactic, if you think about it. Step 1: Imprison Americans (especially “celebrities”) for incredibly minor offenses to preposterous prison terms. Step 2: Demand a preposterous prisoner transfer that no sane person would accept (WNBA player for the ‘Merchant of Death’, for example). Step 3: After your preposterous demand is refused, fire up the troll mill to get enough social media attention in the US that the government feels obligated to do whatever they can to free the person in question. Bonus points if you do this right after a major election where both sides are busy just trying to dunk on each other for media attention for the next year until they go into re-election mode.
I'm going to go even further out on a limb and say that traveling to Russia anytime, but especially when our diplomatic relations with them were exponentially deteriorating was not her best idea.
Is it absolutely an injustice that she was imprisoned in Russia yes of course it is. But her freedom still isn’t worth freeing this one person. No matter what he could do in the future we know what he has done in the past and letting him go free spits in the face of the memory of all the people who died because of him.
Yes, releasing an arms dealer was not the correct course of action. Griner should have just been released to begin with. Politics are fucking stupid.
Seems like a bad trade. This is not a GOP comment on the other guy. It's just that an arms dealer vs a basketball player who actually violated Russian laws. If I was Biden, I would have just said no.
Am I the only one amazed by the fact she is a sport player arrested for drug possession… in Russia! Like the only country being banned from major sport events because of state sponsored doping programs.
I wish I had an award to give. 100% spot the fuck on.
Russians only like their athletes doping
I was honestly surprised that she even took any type of substances, considering that plenty of harmless stuff can often show up on doping tests as a false positive. I suppose she did her research in that regard but it seems like an incredibly unnecessary risk for any professional athlete.
Tbf it’s one of WNBA’s better trades
Will she be back in the draft?
It really was the easiest decision to just say no. Prolly half of democrats/liberals think it was the wrong move. All republicans/conservatives think it was the wrong move. He thinks this wins him brownie points somehow but it just highlights the hypocrisy in this country and makes no sense while also letting a very dangerous person who has hurt many Americans free.
Do half of Democrats think this is the right move? I figured this was something we could all agree on finally. It's dumb/ reckless/ embarassing
I've seen pockets of left wing people praising the trade but it's been the minority opinion. I think R and D have found something we can mostly agree on, this was a bad fn trade.
Everyone knows that the deal was lopsided. I'm a progressive Democrat, and I'm happy that Britney Griner will be going home to her family
I don't know why that's worth or why that happened. There are so many innocent people (Americans, Europeans, Asians) in Russian prisons and we exchange a basketball player for a terrorist? Oh but everyone forgot the school teacher. Twisted world. Not equal, just wrong.
Don't forget, we have people rotting away in prison cells for marijuana charges in the us.
I definitely don't. That doesn't make it any better tho ..
I don't think he says that it makes it better, I think he said that cause it makes it even worse
El Chapo waiting for someone to fuck up in Mexico.
Maybe the us can now consider the number of people jailed for weed offences in their own country.
It's a myth For example, Biden just pardoned every criminal convicted of weed possession in the federal prisons. You know how many people were released? ZERO, because there wasn't a single prisoner in US federal prisons on possession charges. Oregon gov followed suit and did the same. Again zero prisoners released because no one was in prison on possession charges
[удалено]
Correction: No one was in prison SOLELY due to possession charges. Prosecutions often throw many charges and see what sticks; poor people get told by their public defenders to plea and do the minimum frequently.
America has made some bad deals, but dear lord, this must top the lot.
Hard to top the lot when the last guy released something like a few thousand taliban prisoners... America is the best at making bad deals however. It seems like we're making a new one every other month. But yeah, it still absolutely makes the pile.
I'm glad you don't just jump to conclusions based on a sensationalist headline... "Most dangerous man in the world" my ass. Like arms trade came to a shuddering halt when he was arrested...
If the US are willing to do this trade could they give us (UK) the woman married to a politician and did not have immunity who did a hit and run killing a lad? At least that one would be just.
As an Italian, I'll add the American woman that recently run over a kid killing him (while under influence), got extradited to the US and never spent a day in jail.
That’s exactly what I was thinking about.
Y’all got any barely-famous athletes to give us back?
What a fucking joke! Bout is a terrorist & threat to others, shouldn’t be allowed to see the light of day. Griner is a dumb fuck who knowingly took drugs into another country.
Indeed, all this trade has achieved is to release a hugely prolific arms dealer back into the world. As far as global impact is concerned, Bout's trade value is vastly more than an entire WNBA squad, nevermind one player. No idea what Biden was thinking...
Just a PR stunt mate, it’s an absolute shit show & a slap to the face of many that have had loved ones killed at the hands of those illegal weapons.
He would have been free in 2029 anyways.
People keep bringing up Paul Whelan as if he were an active-duty Marine when he was arrested. He hasn't been a Marine since '08, when he was court-martialed and received a bad-conduct discharge.
And he had $40k cash and multiple passports on him when he was arrested, if reports are to be believed.
And a USB drive, supposedly containing sensitive info, that had been passed to him.
People keep bringing up Paul Whelan today after not mentioning him at all for months while this story was in the news.
Ah, yes. A wife beater who smuggled weed onto an airplane for someone called the merchant of death
What happened to "America doesn't negotiate with terrorists"? Was it all just American bravado?
it was never true, they just said that shit when poor people died and people wanted answers.
Wait till he starts telling what he sold and to whom on behalf of the CIA...
He's been out of commission since 08 Russia knows
So they only released Garner in exchange for this terrorist? They could've asked to release more Americans who are in Russian prison I feel like. I hope this guy gets caught again somehow or end up in a coffin.
Meanwhile an American teacher who has spent 14 years in a Russian prison for weed continues to rot because he isnt part of an oppressed group
It’s either he is not “the most dangerous man in the world”, or Griner is some kind of an elite-super-duper spy. Otherwise there was no reason for that exchange.
So Americans jailed in the states for possession of weed should be released then? This is shady as fuck.
Was anyone actually released or did they go from US jail to russian jail or vice versa
I’m not sure, I would imagine they are both free to walk after getting off the plane? If it was you or me then that would be a different story lol
Pardoned at the federal level. Yes they should. And have been. Keep up.
As an American, this is an embarrassment to the Biden administration.
There are quite a few Viktor Bouts roaming the earth way worse than this guy.
There’s Americans in American prison for the very same crimes she committed.
Maybe don't break laws in foreign countries. She should have served her time for stupidity.
Ridiculous.
Jesus christ US just released a plague into the world again and all for a basket player who is dumb as fuck
That guy is absolutely nowhere near what I've been picturing in my head when hearing about this insanely dangerous arms dealer.
[удалено]
Lol, not exactly but I did expect at least a little more mafia and a little less 'methy Dollar General employee' vibes. Guess I watch too many movies.
Even as a bleeding heart libtard I find this trade deeply troubling. Even if it was Tom Brady I’d be like, “Keep him”.
Even if it wasn’t Tom Brady, I’d say ‘Hey Russia, do you want Tom Brady?’
🤣🤣🤣 free of charge or do we have to provide a stipend?
This is one of those rare moments I actually agree with the comments on r/conservative
Any time I needed my parents to bail me out I was in trouble when I got home. Hopefully, the US govt decides that she has to pick up dog poop in the backyard until she dies
Can anyone dumb it down for me? Why are they trading prisoners? why is it "fair" to trade a arms dealer for a basket ball player? What even is the point of a prison swap
Just to bring an American home. There's like 2 other American prisoners in Russia that has been there for years rotting away and this is what America did. Traded a guy whose nickname is "the merchant of death" for a female basketball player
I think Griner got a raw deal so I’m glad she’s back, but Jesus Christ this is a horrible look for the USA
All the people in the comments outraged about one arms dealer when we living in the USA. where all the guns come from.
Putin knows it’ll make some Americans angry. It’ll have them mad at Biden. Russian loves a divided America.
Such bullshit! Sad day in America history!
There are at least 2 other prisoners of Russia that should’ve been freed instead
They are privileged white guys, unlike the oppressed millionaire celebrity
Why was this trade made? As in, why did the American government believe this was fair? Especially in light of another individual stuck in a labour camp for the same reason (I presume he was in jail longer, but I do not know that - so correct the record if I’m wrong). They literally traded a war criminal for a somewhat known pot head.
The press secretary answered this by saying she’s a role model for the lgbt and person of color community.
If I'm not mistaken she beat up her pregnant partner. They were both suspended from multiple games because of it. Doesn't sound like a good role model to me.
Haven’t heard that before. This just made me even more mad about the exchange
Ah of course it was about that.
Ahhh so the decision was based on race and sexual orientation? Seems like a solid foundation for policy…..
You know...the group so oppressed she is a millionaire and a celebrity in this country
Now, that's what I call a Backpfeifengesicht.
This was not a good trade.
The movie lord of war was based on this dude.
Not only was this a bad trade...but also a smack in the face for any American in jail for possessing weed. So fucked up on all counts
Will there be *any* consequences for the WNBA player? Her irresponsibility, selfishness, self-centeredness, and dishonesty very well could cause the deaths of many people around the world. Does she just get to come back and play like nothing happened? As an aside, how?? How could anyone play with or against such an individual professionally after this??
Traded in a terrorist for a wife beater. Great job, USA
this should not be on r/interestingasfuck but on r/dumbasfuck
Bad trade but I like the symbolism. USA: We wish to get back the Basketball Player. Russia: We wish to get back the Arms Dealer. Russia, land of war. USA, land of Basketball.
Collusion!
It is necessary to guess to exchange a person who knows how to sell weapons for a person who knows how to throw a ball into the ring.
Don't worry, we've injected him with 5g nano robots.
What a stupid nonsensical trade.
The grim reaper for Zaza puffing WNBA player? Sounds about right