Joe Biden just took a major shot by a publication that has been helping Biden from day one.
Washington Post columnist Max Boot slammed Biden this week.
Why? Because he paid far too much for Brittney Griner.
Checking the Boxes
I am already on record saying that for Victor Bout, I would not have gone for Griner or Whelan.
Griner is a spoiled basketball player who knowingly broke the law.
Whelan is a former Marine that was given a bad conduct discharge for larceny.
Bout is a notorious Russian arms dealer who plotted the deaths of American citizens and regularly worked with terrorists.
If the Russians truly said you get Griner or nobody, then I would have walked away from the table.
Boot wrote, “In return for her freedom, President Biden agreed to set free Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year prison sentence on charges of conspiring to sell weapons to kill Americans.
“We need a serious discussion about whether this is the right policy for Washington to follow. Should we be winning the release of those currently detained at the risk of creating more hostage crises in the future?
“There is legitimate cause for concern that such deals make us more vulnerable, as Republican critics now charge, but they didn’t start with Biden. President Ronald Reagan traded arms for hostages with Iran. President Barack Obama set free five senior Taliban leaders from Guantánamo Bay to return U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Afghanistan.”
He continued, “Now, Biden has chosen to pay a disturbingly high price for Griner’s freedom. It’s not entirely clear why Russian dictator Vladimir Putin wanted Bout back so badly, but he is closely linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
“Although it’s been 12 years since Bout was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the United States, he might still have smuggling networks that could be of use to Putin in waging the war in Ukraine.
“Besides setting free a dangerous international criminal known as the ‘merchant of death,’ the deal sent a message to the entire world that the United States remains in the business of paying off hostage-takers. That can only encourage more unlawful detentions of Americans.”
Of course, he still managed to take a shot at Republicans in the process, even though he literally just made the argument we have been making.
Honestly, Whelan and Griner together probably would not have been enough for me to give back Bout.
This was a bad deal and the only reason it went through was because Biden wanted the photo op.
Source: Fox News
