
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There is enormous sympathy for Brittney Griner, the basketball star held hostage by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yes, hostage. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In view of the offense, the trial was a sham and the sentencing outrageous. ; If this were a legitimate law enforcement issue, Griner would have been fined – maybe a month in jail, at most – and sent home.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But this was not a law enforcement issue. ; This was an international chess game at the highest levels. ; Griner was not being held as punishment for a minor infraction, but as a bargaining chip to obtain the release of a notorious terrorist Putin pal, Viktor Bout – who was culpable in the deaths of thousands of people, including a lot of Americans, civilians, and military.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Any patriotic American would want to see Griner brought home – as well as the other hostage, Paul Whelan. ; But the issue is much more complex.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Rogue nations and terrorists take hostages to gain concessions – sometimes money and sometimes a prisoner swap. ; For many years, the United States had a firm policy to never pay ransom money – and prisoner exchanges would have to have a parity in terms of the relative importance of the prisoners.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It is a tough heart-wrenching policy but not without sound reasoning. ; To acquiesce to high demands makes taking hostages a successful strategy. ; That means whenever a nation like Russia, Iran, or terrorist groups – such as al Qaeda or ISIS – wants something, they grab American citizens. We have seen this movie before.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Biden administration got Griner back – which is a good thing if you discount all the negative implications and outcomes. ; In return, Putin gets Bout, a major mass murdering terrorist at the highest level.  ; In this exchange, Putin again trumped Biden because the Madman of Moscow got his prize terrorist protege back.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is the kind of prisoner exchange that was – for good reasons – against U.S. policy. ; We get the release of a wrongfully detained American citizen – a major sports figure – and Putin gets a major figure in the spread of international terrorism, who can now return to killing innocent Americans on behalf of the Russian despot. ; (I am personally betting that Bout will turn up somewhere in the shadows of the Ukraine War.)</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And what about Whelan?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Whelan is a fellow who has been languishing in a Russian prison for longer than Griner – and with less justification. ; For a while, Whelan was paired with Griner in search of a deal that would include both of them.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The fact that Whelan has been left behind is an unmitigated failure on the part of the Biden administration. ; Do you mean that a guy like Bout was not worth both hostages? ; Putin got off cheap – and he still has Whelan as a future bargaining chip. ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Based on this outcome – and even the Biden response to Putin in the Ukraine War – Putin seems to have figured out that he can snooker Biden at will. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It is reasonable to wonder if woke politics played any role. ; Griner is a gay black female and Whelan is an older straight white man. ; If those were not the distinctions in determining who gets brought home and who does not, what were the relevant differences in the cases? ; Why did Biden agree to Griner and punt on Whelan?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I would love to see those questions put to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but I shall not hold my breath.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As can be expected, the left-wing media is in high praise of Biden – but not much talk about Whelan. ; For his part, Whelan did express disappointment that Washington had not done more to secure his release. ; He has every right to be bitter. ; He got sold out at the negotiating table.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There is reason to cheer about the return of Griner, but there are a LOT of elements that mitigate against unbridled joy. She is a big winner in this deal. ; The losers are Whelan, Biden, and America’s image of strength. The biggest winner in this exchange is Putin … once again.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

Brittney Griner: Bad call on a tough decision
