36. "Whelan is an ex-marine who has served 4 years in a penal colony " In response to In response to 32
> >Can't follow your logic here, you think it would have made >more sense to free an American who was as awful and did as >heinous acts as Bout in exchange for Bout?
I’m not following your logic either. What did Whelan do that was “as awful and heinous” as Bout ? Whelan was accused of espionage - charges both he and the U.S. government deny - and was given a bogus trial and convicted on bullshit (much like Griner). So no - Whelan wasn’t and isn’t on the same level of Bout. Even if he was a spy - that still wouldn’t put him on par with Bout.
Whelan has been unfairly imprisoned and has been doing hard labor in a Russian penal colony for nearly a half decade.
>I don't understand the reasoning behind not trying to get the >person least deserving to be in jail out first (unless I >misunderstand you).
You get Griner out regardless and I’m glad that they did. But this was a prisoner swap: you generally don’t swap somebody who committed one of the most prolific international war crimes for somebody who barely committed a misdemeanor. Also, I’m not so sure it’s fair to say Whelan is any more deserving of being in a penal colony than anyone else unfairly charged and sentenced by Putin’s authoritarian Russia.
> >********** >"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then >they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson > >"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"