U.S. came up short in deal for Brittney Griner
WNBA star Brittney Griner was freed by Russia in a high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Credit: AP/Rick Scuteri
Timing is everything ["Freedom for WNBA'S Griner," News, Dec. 9]. President Joe Biden, the great negotiator made a trade with Russia that will go down in history as one of the saddest and worst negotiations in history. The timing is right on the mark, after the midterm elections. Biden is leaving a former military man behind who has spent four years in a Russian jail.
Negotiations do not end with a take-it-or-leave-it situation. It is horrible that the Biden administration did not use this "Merchant of Death" swap to its full advantage -- both Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout. Biden blinked first. We now have less hope of getting Whelan out.
Edward Tardibuono, Levittown
It is certainly good that Brittney Griner is home with her loved ones, but what about Paul Whelan? We have brought someone home who has admitted her crime in another country while we left a former U.S. Marine there. He is an American patriot while Griner once called on the WNBA to stop playing the national anthem before games.
Myra Sherr, Hewlett
The holding of Brittney Griner as a hostage of hostility and a political pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin's corrupt chess game was just as wrong as Putin's unjust war in Ukraine. Thank you, President Joe Biden and the State Department, for bringing Griner home.
The Rev. Arthur L. Mackey Jr., Roosevelt
President Joe Biden’s pandering for votes for himself and the Democratic Party has reached a new low. It is inconceivable that he would agree to swap a basketball player caught with drugs for an arms merchant who was convicted of conspiracy to kill Americans. What a disgrace.
Frank J. Donohue, Riverhead
A quid pro Joe: We cry for a ban of assault weapons and release a man who supplied them. Glad we got Brittney Griner home, but we should’ve gotten more.
Jeff Ward, Medford
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