Wait, the leftists are actually applauding Biden for another demented moment? Trump was President on October 7th, 2023 in Biden's brain?
So what? Medicare loses $100 billion to fraud every year so why complain about random DoD line items right? What silly logic you use. It's the prisoner-swap thread and I'm pointing out these deals have a cost in geopolitical assets and also in money. The monetary cost isn't the entire point but that monetary cost does exist and there's nothing wrong about pointing it out.
These deals have little consequences on any state of American dominance. None. Stop acting like it does. T
Yea why hold any Russian prisoners? Doesn't really matter anyway. The United States will still be the dominant world super power. What nonsensical logic.
Buddy most of these deals happen with dudes who are like a year out from there 20 year prison sentence. If you think something like more terror attacks will happen out of this you are hopelessly naive. And this isn't a partisan thing. I couldn't give two bucks about "the cost" regardless of if a conserve or liberal government did the exchange. There is no real actual "cost" that effects America as a whole.
lmao I didn't say that. I didn't say anything in that universe. Classic just make up random stuff and attribute it to other posters when you have nothing else. You could apply this "no real cost" logic to almost anything based on what you've said. It's "only some 1-20 Russian prisoners" so what? It's only $1 million dollars so what? When does it become something we should be concerned with? You have some arbitrary line you've made up we should all consider? Are there bigger issues in the world? Sure. They have threads for those. Does that mean we shouldn't consider and explore this issue? No.
Brah you want to leave American citizens behind because "they deserve it" because you think the cost is too much. Your perception of cost here means leaving behind Americans. Hence why I'm nailing you for it. When you use cost to justify leaving behind Americans, ya I'm going to attack the vapidness of such a concern.
We are trading Russian skilled and valuable intelligence service operatives who have committed many serious crimes up to and including murder for Americans who recklessly, negligently and selfishly put themselves in harms way and provide little-to-no service or skills to the United States. and yes, besides that ^ cost, which is the greater consideration, it does cost the U.S. tax payer money to sort out these situations.
So you wanted indefinite detention? Because many of these people would have been released maybe 3 years from today if the deal didn't happen. So you want lifetime prison sentences for these crimes?
“Look, I think it’s great news, at least what little we know,” Vance said. “We certainly want these Americans to come back home. It was ridiculous that they were in prison to begin with. But we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home? And I think it’s because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump’s about to be back in office, so they’re cleaning house. That’s a good thing. And I think it’s a testament to Donald Trump’s strength.”
August 1, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson (substack.com) “This is a very good afternoon,” President Joe Biden said today. “[A] very good afternoon.” “Today, we’re bringing home Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir—three American citizens and one American green-card holder. “All four have been imprisoned unjustly in Russia…. Russian authorities arrested them, convicted them in show trials, and sentenced them to long prison terms with absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever. None.” In a complicated prisoner swap involving the U.S., Russia, and at least seven other countries, Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva and British-Russian activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who openly opposed the invasion of Ukraine, came home from Russia. Four German citizens who had also been wrongfully detained—meaning they had not broken laws but were being held as political bargaining chips—were also part of the exchange, along with a fifth who was released from Belarus. Also in the swap were seven Russian citizens who had been detained as political prisoners, four of whom worked with Alexei Navalny, the political opposition leader who died in February in a Russian prison. They have left Russia and will make their way to other countries. It is extraordinary that the U.S. government managed to force Putin to release his own citizens, and Biden called it out. “It says a lot about the United States that we work relentlessly to free Americans who are unjustly held around the world,” he said. “It also says a lot about us that this deal includes the release of Russian political prisoners. They stood up for democracy and human rights. Their own leaders threw them in prison. The United States helped secure their release as well. That’s who we are in the United States. “We stand for freedom, for liberty, for justice—not only for our own people but for others as well. And that’s why all Americans can take pride in what we’ve achieved today.” In exchange, Russian president Vladimir Putin got the prisoner he wanted most, hit man Vadim Krasikov, back from Germany. In addition, the U.S. released three Russians, Slovenia released two, and Norway and Poland each released one. All told, eight Russians went home. Foreign affairs journalist Anne Applebaum noted that “a group of brave journalists and democracy activists are being exchanged for a group of brutal spies.” The exchange included no money or sanctions relief. The U.S. had been calling for the freedom of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as part of the negotiations when he died abruptly in Russian custody in February 2024. His death briefly derailed the negotiations that had been going on since shortly after Biden took office. Even before he took office, he had asked his national security team to dig into all the cases of hostages being wrongfully detained, which they were inheriting from the previous administration. “I wanted to make sure we’d hit the ground running,” Biden said today, “and we did.” He noted that with today’s releases, his administration “has brought home over 70 Americans who were wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad, many since before I took office.” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan later noted that the administration has reclaimed U.S. citizens from “Afghanistan, Burma, Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Rwanda, and elsewhere.” Asking Germany to release Krasikov was a big ask, but the government was willing to exchange him for Navalny. After Navalny’s death, it seemed likely the deal could not be revived. But Sullivan believed he saw a way forward, and Biden called German chancellor Olaf Scholz and asked him to continue to move forward. “For you, I will do this,” Scholz said. The president told Sullivan to get it done. In April President Biden sent a formal request to Scholz asking him to make the complicated swap that transpired today. When a reporter today asked Biden what Scholz had demanded in return, Biden answered: “Nothing.” In his remarks today, Biden emphasized that the deal was “a feat of diplomacy and friendship—friendship. Multiple countries helped get this done. They joined difficult, complex negotiations at my request. And I personally thank them all again. And I’ve thanked them personally, and I’ll thank them again.” “This deal would not have been made possible without our allies Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey. They all stepped up, and they stood with us. They stood with us, and they made bold and brave decisions, released prisoners being held in their countries who were justifiably being held, and provided logistical support to get the Americans home. So, for anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do. They matter. “And today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world—friends you can trust, work with, and depend upon, especially on matters of great consequence and sensitivity like this. “Our alliances make our people safer.” Sullivan was clear about where specific praise was due. “Today’s exchange is a feat of diplomacy that honestly could only be achieved by a leader like Joe Biden,” he said at a press conference this afternoon.” He directed the team and was personally engaged in the diplomacy necessary. “There is no more singular or concrete demonstration that the alliances that the president has reinvigorated around the world matter to Americans—to the individual safety of Americans and to the collective security of Americans,” Sullivan said. “And honestly, guys, I can just say this was vintage Joe Biden, rallying…American allies to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters and doing it with intricate statecraft, pulling his whole team together to drive this across the finish line.” Tearing up, Sullivan added, “Today…was a very good day.” This deal was in the works during the weeks when the press was hounding the president and suggesting he was not fit to do the work of the office. In fact, a senior administration official briefing reporters this morning pointed out that on July 20, an hour before he announced to the nation that he would not accept the Democratic nomination for president, Biden “was on the phone with his Slovenian counterpart, urging them to make the final arrangements and to get this deal over the finish line.” This is the largest prisoner swap since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The administration warned journalists that no one should think that there has been a breakthrough in the relationship between the U.S. and Russia or that tensions have eased. Putin’s continuing attacks on Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and our European partners, as well as his growing defense relationship with China, North Korea, and Iran, all mean that “you will not see a policy change from President Biden or the administration when it comes to standing up to Putin’s aggression as a result of this,” an official said. But the deal does suggest that Putin might be finding it in his own interest to look like he might be willing to negotiate on different issues going forward, a reflection of the damage the Ukraine war has inflicted on his own society. Russia has recently pulled its ships from the Sea of Azov, Russian mercenaries just suffered big losses in Mali, and today, Russian media reported that the country’s largest oil refinery was on fire. Putin might also be seeing that Trump’s path to the White House has gotten dramatically steeper in the past couple of weeks. Indeed, Putin’s decision to go ahead with the swap was a blow to Trump. Gershkovich was a Wall Street Journal reporter when he was taken into custody in March 2023, and the Wall Street Journal covered the negotiations in quite some depth today. Reporters Joe Parkinson, Drew Hinshaw, Bojan Pancevski, and Aruna Viswanatha noted that Trump got wind that a deal was coming together and began to insist at his rallies and in interviews that Putin would free Gershkovich only for him. Putin has proven Trump wrong. That did not, however, stop Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance from claiming that Trump deserved credit for the swap despite Trump’s insistence that Gershkovich would be released only after Trump was reelected. For his part, Trump didn’t express any joy at all in the deal, simply claiming that Biden got fleeced and saying “[o]ur ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us!” And from the Department of Poor Timing, MAGA representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina tweeted this morning: “Biden is MIA. Why is no one talking about it?” At today’s White House announcement, a reporter noted that former president Trump “has said repeatedly that he could have gotten the hostages out without giving anything in exchange,” and asked President Biden: “What do you say to that?” “Why didn’t he do it when he was president?” Biden answered.
Above article is a good summary on the return of Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and British-Russian activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a complex prisoner swap involving the U.S., Russia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey. This exchange included 16 individuals: 7 Russians, 5 Germans, and 4 Americans/British-Russians. The deal was delayed by the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but Germany proceeded with the swap thanks to Chancellor Scholz’s relationship with Biden. This diplomatic effort underscores the importance of alliances and highlights that the U.S. stands for freedom and justice not only for its own citizens but for others as well. ps. This also demonstrates that Biden was actively working on the negotiation while Republicans spread conspiracy theories that he was on his deathbed. In fact, they continue to propagate such theories, ignoring facts in favor of fabricated narratives. ps2. Trump is once again his usual grumpy self, unable to express happiness at Americans being brought back. Instead, he’s attacking the U.S. for being 'fleeced' in the negotiations (he himself released 5,000 Taliban prisoners).
Biden does what trump couldn't do, I so wish Alexei Navalny would have been part of this but in reality, I don't think the murderer in charge, Putin, was ever going to let him see the light of day. Putin killed him as he does with anyone who doesn't agree with him...................I can see why trump wants to emulate him, there both tyrants who in reality are just egotistical sycophants
The deal involved releasing 7 Russian citizens who were political prisoners, 4 of whom had worked with Navalny. It appears they were close to securing his release, but his unexpected death nearly derailed the entire negotiation. You might be right that Putin decided to remove him from consideration by killing him.
Side, but important story: Bloomberg broke the embargo. Shame on them. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/art...-embargo-breaking-evan-gershkovich-scoop.html How did Bloomberg beat The Wall Street Journal and the rest of the press corps on one of the most-watched stories in the world: the release of Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from Russia? At 7:41 a.m. on August 1, Bloomberg published its scoop about the prisoner swap. Ten minutes later, a Bloomberg editor posted proudly on X, “It is one of the greatest honors of my career to have helped break this news. I love my job and my colleagues.” Then, 8:59, the piece was updated to read: “An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that the Americans have not been released yet.” The Journal itself didn’t report it until just after 11 when their reporter and other Americans — whose freedom was negotiated by the U.S. Government as part of an extremely complicated, 24-person swap across multiple countries — actually deplaned in Turkey. According to multiple sources at the Journal and other major outlets, the Bloomberg scoop left journalists and government officials fuming. With a prisoner swap, you don’t know if it’s going to happen until it happens. (As one Journal reporter put it: “We literally had Yaroslav Trofimov on the ground with binoculars waiting to see Evan come off the plane, and we pubbed as soon as that happened.”) Which means that Bloomberg’s story proclaiming Gershkovich was free was inaccurate, given that the Russian plane was still in the air at the time of publication. That plane could have just turned around and gone back to Moscow, which is why the Journal and other publications had agreed to hold off. “Incensed” is how one reporter, whose outlet had agreed to an embargo – delaying publishing what they knew – reacted to Bloomberg’s decision. “People are very, very disappointed in Bloomberg. And not just the embargo breaking, but the football spiking.” (The Bloomberg editor’s X post was later deleted.) Another reporter added, “We all want to break stories. We also need to consider the risks of breaking those stories. I hope editors and reporters thought long and hard about the risks of revealing the details of a hostage transfer before the hostages were back in U.S. custody.” For days, various media outlets had been aware — through their own reporting and as information trickled out elsewhere — that a prisoner swap involving American journalists and dissidents was in the works. But news organizations were asked by the White House to hold their stories until Gershkovich et al. were in U.S. custody. Until then, the prisoners would still be in Russian captivity, and officials feared that any attention brought to the fragile deal could risk compromising it — not just for the U.S., but for the multiple other countries whose prisoners were freed as part of the swap. News outlets found this compelling and agreed. In exchange for their agreement to the embargo, journalists were briefed ahead of time and given useful information for their reporting. Including Bloomberg. In multiple emails with a White House official in the past 48 hours, one of the Bloomberg reporters who would byline the eventual scoop made it clear that they agreed to hold their stories and were aware that other outlets that had similar information were also holding back. By Wednesday evening it was clear that some kind of prisoner swap would be happening as early as the next day and that the White House was preparing, inviting about 30 reporters to a background briefing at 8 a.m. Thursday. Reporters received more information during that briefing, the understanding, again, being not to report the details until the prisoners were in U.S. custody. But Bloomberg by that time had already run its scoop. A spokesperson for Bloomberg News declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment.
