Brittney Griner was originally detained in February, when she was arrested on drug smuggling charges at an airport in the Moscow region, with her appeal of her prison sentence in October being rejected. She was detained just a week before Russia launched a full-scale military attack against Ukraine, souring the relations with America, making it very difficult to negotiate for her release. Eventually, The United States and Russia agreed to a one-for-one prisoner exchange, where Brittney Griner would be returned home in exchange for releasing Viktor Bout.
Much of the controversy lies in the agreement to release Victor Bout, "The Merchant of Death." Bout, a former Soviet military translator turned international arms dealer, had been imprisoned for more than a decade after he was lured to Thailand in a Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation that spanned three continents. Bout helped fuel civil wars across the world by supplying more sophisticated weapons, sometimes to both sides of the bloody conflicts. "If I didn't do it, someone else would," Bout told the New Yorker. Michael Braun, the former chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told "60 Minutes" in 2010 that "Viktor Bout, in my eyes, is one of the most dangerous men on the face of the Earth." The reputation of Bout has led many to question whether the trade to bring Griner home was ethical, given the potential destruction Bout could cause once in Russian hands.
Additionally, Republicans are angered by the release of Griner, as the Biden administration was unable to secure Paul Whelan, a Marine turned corporate security executive who was convicted of espionage and is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian prison. Biden said his administration has “not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” and promised to “keep negotiating in good faith for his release.”
Regardless, Republicans claim favoritism, with Tucker Carlson calling out the decision on Fox News. “Whelan is a Trump voter, and he made the mistake of saying so on social media,” Mr. Carlson said in his monologue. “He’s paying the price now. Brittney Griner is not. She has very different politics. Brittney Griner despises the United States.”
This disapproval of the decision seems to have influenced a rise of homophobia and racism towards Griner and the left as whole. Ms. Gilbert, an expert on prisoner exchanges, received a spike in emails — many of them racist and homophobic — questioning why Ms. Griner should be released at all.
Ultimately, regardless of whether the decision to release Brittney Griner was good or not, the polarization between political parties and reinforced homophobia and racism is not a great response from any perspective, and is not a proper one for the successfully bringing an American citizen home.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/us/politics/griner-blowback.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/11/politics/griner-whelan-american-detainees-carstens-cnntv/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/viktor-bout-russia-arms-dealer-merchant-of-death-brittney-griner/
16 comments:
Paul Whelan was arrested in 2018. He's been in Russian prison for 3 more years than Griner. 2018 was during the Trump presidency, and according to Biden, "Russia is treating Paul's Case differently than Brittney's." If Trump didn't decide to rescue Whelan, it doesn't seem fair to accuse Biden of doing the same, especially since Whelan's arrest was on the grounds of suspected espionage. If I were an autocrat, I'd be more cautious of releasing Whelan too.
With that said, the hatred towards Griner is disappointing and disgusting. Best wishes for Whelan's return too.
Though I believe this was an extremely difficult decision for the Biden administration, it is the right one. The White House should and has been committed to making sure American lives are safe, especially in cases where they are held unjustly by authoritarian regimes. We can only wait to see how the release of the “merchant of death” will impact Americans, but at least we know for sure that Brittney Griner is safe. As Ben said, Griner is far more attainable than Whelan purely because of his connections to the US military. From the reactions, though, I do not believe the American people understand President Biden's position. The choice was never Whelan or Griner, but rather as White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said, “It was Griner or no one”. When dealing with an adversary like Russia, they have no remorse or ability to compromise, so I think Americans should be thankful that we even have Griner back. This is not a matter of being out-negotiated, but taking advantage of the slim possibilities Russia gave.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3767446-white-house-responds-to-criticism-of-griner-prisoner-deal/
I think Ben brings up an interesting point. It's quite hypocritical for Republicans to cite favoritism as the reason why Whelan wasn't rescued by Biden when his release wasn't negotiated during the Trump administration. Even so, it's disgusting to see that some Americans believe that being racist and homophobic is justified in this situation.
I wouldn't be surprised if Putin suspected that this prisoner exchange would create controversy and further separate America's two political parties. Knowing that Putin is supported by Trump along with some of his followers, the exchange has definitely created some backlash towards the Biden administration and Democrats as a whole.
Many people are using Griner's release to be subtly racist and homophobic, as stated in the comments above. Although the situation wasn't a win for the US, as they released someone who highly praises Putin, I'm glad Griner was returned. In addition, conservatives coincidentally leave out the point that the deal was "all-or-nothing", either Brittney was getting released or no one was. In Whelan's case, Trump had 3 years to release him from Russian prison, and news networks such as Fox did little to no coverage on this issue. If they cared so much about a marine being detained, why didn't they say anything during Trump's presidency? The answer is obvious. All in all, I hope Whelan makes a safe return as soon as possible, as this situation shouldn't been seen as partisan, it should be about fellow Americans being brought back to their families respectively.
Ben brings up a great point. People should be celebrating the release of any prisoners, not condemning Griner or making this a political issue. There is no reason, evidence, or cause to believe that the Biden administration didn't do everything in their power to bring home Whelan as well.
The ethics of this situation make either choice a hard one. The Biden administration had to choose between bringing an American back home at the expense of a high-profile arms dealer spreading weapons around the world. Given a simple ethics question of which decision would save more lives, choosing to keep both in prison might be the ethical option, but not the right choice. I agree with everyone in the chat that Griner does not deserve the hate for the decision the Biden administration made, as she was just the result of Biden and his team. In addition, Fox News trying to play politics that Whelan hasn't been brought home because he is Republican is a claim backed with no evidence besides what's on the surface level. Fox News and other sources should conduct more research to discover the true meaning behind decisions rather than come up with conclusions themself.
Biden had to make a hard decision and knew that he was going to face backlash due to his decision. To add on, I agree with everyone that has already commented on this post that Griner shouldn't deserve hate due to a decision that the Biden administration made knowing the potential consequences. I think that the media and republicans are just trying to stir the pot politically more by bringing in the capture of Whelan during Trump's presidency and comparing it to the situation with Griner during Biden's. This situation is also weird considering the fact that the US government had avoided prisoner swaps because it provides an incentive for countries to detain American citizens, so it is weird to see that they have changed their minds and are now facing backlash for that as well. I also wonder if Putin knows that by agreeing to this transfer, there will be a lot of conflicts, so he probably planned it to create more drama and unrest before the 2024 election.
For republicans to claim favoritism is really hypocritical. Getting prisoners out of foreign country prisons let alone Russia's isn't any easy thing to do. What I find most disappointing with much of the hate towards Griner is the racism and homophobia. Why when something controversial occurs do people turn to racism and homophobia when something doesn't align with their views. I don't understand what being racist and homophobic does for them because it's not going to change the fact that she is back in America. I'm not saying that the Biden administration's decision was right or wrong because as I said before this is a very difficult case, but it's really disappointing to see how little progression we make as a society where we feel the need to be homophobic and racist when something occurs and doesn't align with our own beliefs.
I agree with Sarah that this was a difficult decision politically for Biden. Griner is not to blame for the political power plays she was caught up in--the details of her arrest and imprisonment are sad and the fact that she is finally free is a relief to many. Ultimately, I think Biden chose to prioritize both an innocent party (Griner, who did not mean to violate Russian law) and the optics of the situation over an arms dealer. The situation was, in a way, a lose lose: either do nothing and no one would have been released, or act and release Griner at a cost. Bringing Whelan into the conversation is a strawman argument, one loosely held by some Republicans as they attempt to justify their discomfort with Griner's release. Given that former president Trump was the one to allow him to stay in prison, the blame for his continued incarceration lies not with the Biden administration, but the people that Fox News praise day in and day out.
Bringing back Griner is also a symbol -- she is an important figure in women's sports. Although one can question whether releasing Bout was worth it, many thought the US had a moral and political duty to free Griner. I definitely agree that there is a level of sexism or racism here as well. If it was a different male athlete, I really doubt there would be as much backlash. Also, some people are looking to place blame on Biden.
The controversy around Griner and Whelan's release is quite interesting. Although it is mentioned that Whelan was imprisoned in 2018, and his political views may have played a role in how Biden treated his return, Ben's point on the the lack of action by the Trump administration is quite interesting. Regardless, the backlash towards her rescue is quite gross, as the it reveals the widespread homophobia and racism that is still present in this country. While the decision to bring back Griner over Whelan is a tricky one, the excessive hatred about bring her back is another problem that needs to be addressed.
It's an extremely difficult situation. Many people believe that because Griner receives so much attention, America must act if they do not want to be hated by the people. Hundreds of Americans are currently imprisoned in Russia; why is Griner treated differently? The press.
It becomes a very tight a sensitive area because yes it is good that Griner is now home safe but it also raises suspicion that did we lose this trade? What about the school teacher who is still in jail in Russia for the same crime or even Paul Whelan who was just there for a wedding but because he was in the military Russia convicted him for being a spy. Now reports from the pentagon saying that they are afraid Victor Bout might go back to arms dealing could show that this was more of a publicity stunt that could end badly for the US. With the US only getting Griner back feels like it was forced and not many negotiations were taken place because we just gave back a man who has conspired to kill Americans and was the reason tens of thousand of people where killed on the battlefield with him selling to both sides of multiple wars.
It doesn't really make any sense that Paul Whelen that spent a longer time in the Russian prison than Griner. While she is a political figure in sports as Niki said, and her return is important to her WNBA career/basketball career, it's also important for them to realize the crime she committed as a political figure. She is supposed to be a role model to people, but then what was really interesting is that she was involved with drug trade with someone that is really dangerous. And what really surprised me was that this person was involved in the civil wars of the world by providing weapons. Like that is an extremely dangerous person to deal with and Griner ended up getting herself involved, which is her decision and I feel like she has to get the punishment she deserves, as well as any other person regardless of who she is.
It's unclear that the Biden administration prioritized Griner over Whelan, as Whelan has been there for a number of years with discussions going on and nothing was able to be done. Putin's administration knew that detaining a high-profile American sports star would clearly generate significant attention, as in American culture sports stars are celebrities. Even Steph Curry has brought attention to Griner's imprisonment during the Golden State Warriors' Ring Ceremony. This attention has put more pressure on Biden to release Griner, and Putin likely knew that this pressure would force him to make a trade for Victor Bout, despite the national security and law enforcement communities being against releasing Victor Bout. The risk they have pointed out in this type of trade is that we traded an arms dealer for someone who was essentially taken hostage, and it may encourage more of this type of behavior from Russia or others when they want to get one of their citizens out even if that person was guilty of the types of crimes Victor Bout was. Biden did not have any real good choices here, and he made the best choice he could to bring Griner home, and Victor Bout's sentence was ending in 6 years in any event, so he would have been released at that point regardless.
I think the fact that Whelan was imprisoned during the Trump administration, as said by others, makes it unfair to put the blame on Biden. If he has been in jail for years now, what makes Republicans think they can just get him out now? Instead of being angry that a fellow American has returned home safely, I think it is very telling that Republicans are instead critiquing the arrival of a Black, gay woman.
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