http://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2022/12/08/were-learning-that-merchant-of-death-viktor-bout-wasnt-such-a-bad-guy-actually/
We’ve been assured by the White House that it was either trade Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA player Brittney Griner or get nothing. That was Putin’s deal; there was reportedly no chance of freeing retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who’s been held for four years. President Joe Biden has bragged about having gone toe-to-toe with Putin, but a lot of people think that was a bad trade.
The liberal media’s job, then, is to convince us that it was a good and shrewd trade. An arms dealer for a basketball player? Well, stop and look at the facts, and “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout wasn’t really such a bad dude, as CornPop was.
The New Yorker assures us that Bout wasn’t driven by cruelty.
Michael Luo (@michaelluo)~ Who is Viktor Bout, the notorious arms dealer exchanged for Britney Griner? @nickschmidle profiled him in 2014 “He was distinguished not by cruelty or ruthlessness but by cunning amorality.”
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/03/05/disarming-viktor-bout
Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) ~ Media going with the "he actually isn't a cruel or ruthless arms dealer" bit.
JD (@m5drummer) ~ The old "arms dealer with a heart of gold" story. Just in time for Hallmark Christmas movies.
Sean (@Seanyboy619) ~ “Warlord, but mostly peaceful.”
Dave (@DilligafDave01) ~ The left is going to tie itself in knots to justify this mess.
Yes, they are. Here’s the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson explaining why it was a good trade:
Eugene Robinson (@Eugene_Robinson) ~ Trading Brittney Griner for an arms dealer was a good deal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/08/viktor-bout-brittney-griner-farc/
NevilleTheCat (@FearTheFloof) ~ It was not.
Rick (@Griv227) ~ For Russia it was.
...
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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