The Biden Administration today got taken to the cleaners in the prisoner swap of Viktor Bout – the world’s most notorious arms dealer in the world -- for American basketball player Brittney Griner while a real hero rots in a foreign prison.
This morning, Joe Biden said of Griner, “She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home.” However, American Paul Whelan, a former Marine serving 16 years in a harsh Russian penal colony, is not safe and is not coming home. He was arrested by Russia for alleged espionage in 2018. It’s no surprise that Biden failed a high-profile veteran. He left Americans behind in Afghanistan, too, just last year.
Griner checks the political boxes for the leftist president. She is black, lesbian, woke. Griner was arrested in Moscow last February attempting to board a plane with cannabis. Later, she was convicted of drug smuggling, sentenced to nine years in prison and recently transported to a harsh prison. The Phoenix Mercury center has already been canonized by the far-Left Women’s NBA.
As for the notorious Viktor “Merchant of Death” Bout, he had been serving 25 years in a U.S. prison for conspiring to kill American DEA agents, exporting anti-aircraft missiles and providing support for a terrorist organization. His evil exploits were depicted in the movie appropriately titled “Lord of War.” By raiding the armories of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s and using Soviet cargo planes to move black market weapons to conflict zones around the world, he became a billionaire. CIA agents captured him in 2008, and he began serving prison time in 2011.
Outkick blogger David Hookstead predicts, “Now, he’ll return to Russia and almost certainly go right back to slinging weapons all over the world. These are the tough choices presidents must make. And President Joe Biden has decided he’s okay with the swap.”
Breitbart’s Wendel Husebo said “critics of the deal said Bout should remain behind bars because he is one of the most dangerous criminals in the world.”
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons is outraged by the irony of freeing an athlete while leaving a military hero in a Russian prison. He displayed his outrage on Twitter and vowed not to vote for Biden. Mark Harris, of Outkick, believes “there is no question that millions of Americans share Parson’s frustrations about Whelan’s situation and how Griner’s unfolded.”
Whelan’s family said it’s glad for Griner, but called it “a catastrophe for Paul.”
A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the administration wanted Whelan included in the swap. Nonetheless, Biden got played in yet another of his foreign relations failures. Russia got what Russia wanted. All the U.S. president was left to do today is to say he hasn’t forgotten Whelan.
The Bring Our Families Home Campaign, said: "Paul Whelan has been let down and left behind at least three times by 2 Presidents. He deserves better from his government, and our Campaign implores President Biden to urgently secure Paul's immediate return using all tools available."
Griner returns to pounding a basketball. Whelan pounds sand.
