• grue@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    It annoys me that something as stupid as a marijuana vape gave Russia an excuse to secure the release of Viktor Bout without giving us Paul Whelan in return.

    Frankly, Griner should’ve been the one to bear the costs of her fuck-up, not Whelan.

        • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I think the official US policy is and should be that US lives are more important than maintaining control of political prisoners. It’s unfair to say the Griner wasn’t “worth it,” and it’s especially not okay for the government to make that determination.

          If the US government was ever at risk of saying (publicly) that someone “isn’t worth getting out of political prison” they’d lose all credibility in these negotiations for US citizens’ lives