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Score One for Putin
Back in February, American basketball player Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia for possession of marijuana. This was not her first problem with the law. Here in the States, she pled guilty to domestic violence after beating up her girlfriend last year. She was sentenced to a 26-week domestic violence counseling program.
Russia, however, did not feel that a marijuana counseling program would be helpful to Ms. Griner, and sentenced her to 10 years in prison for drug possession. Until, that is, she was released in a prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout. Mr. Bout has had problems with the law as well:
Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” was sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison on four counts of conspiring to kill Americans, acquiring and exporting anti-aircraft missiles, and sending material aid to a terrorist entity. The criminal was arrested in 2008 in a Thailand sting operation and was accused of providing weapons, which the U.S. alleges were intended to kill Americans, to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Biden signed Bout’s commutation order ending his prison term early.
So Russia gives us a dopehead basketball player. And we give Russia “the Merchant of Death.” And President Biden, apparently, thought this was a good deal.
America is the most powerful country in the world. And it is being led by fools.
We have a problem. And so does the rest of the world.
Published in General
Okay, I don’t have the time right now to look up all the news stories, but remind me later. Though I’m sure you’ll have no trouble yourself. This is precisely why there have been so many calls for auditing both the money and the weaponry we sent to Ukraine. Because nobody is keeping track. We even have a Ukrainian member of Congress, Victoria Spartz, a Republican, who called for an audit and suggested these weapons were ending up in Syria or Russia. She was immediately branded a Putin stooge for daring to suggest an audit was needed. (And by members of her own Party.)
I know, I know! The Ukrainians sold the weapons to the Russians for cash, which is why the Russians have been driven back in Kharkiv and Kherson. I pulled that information out of a bodily orifice, which seems to be the same source for a lot of information these days.
Yes, I know. Which is why I’m forced to keep reminding people of what’s true.
Are you a Russian bot?
I detect trust issues. Not lack of trust. It’s trusting our government way too much. Even conservatives, who should know better, have this precious trust that our government is looking out for our interests and the interests of freedom-loving people around the world.
One of the most mystifying things is watching people who were harsh critics of the Biden administration’s actions in Afghanistan become Biden-administration super-fans when it comes to this administration’s actions in Ukraine.
Really, Hang! How dare you challenge the Regime’s Narrative!?
“Putin was SCAMMED in Brittney Griner Trade. He could have gotten anything! Russian intelligence is apparently as clueless as U.S. intelligence.
The Russkies were holding an American citizen who hit ALL the media’s erogenous zones:
Black – CHECK!
Lesbian – CHECK!
In a gay marriage – CHECK!
Brought hashish and vaping cartridges into Russia – CHECK!
Played for the WNBA – CHECK!…” — Ann Coulter
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2022/12/08/meet-the-merchant-of-death-viktor-bout-n1651909
Questioning the Biden adminstration’s actions here makes one a Russian bot? I would say not questioning it is of more benefit to Putin (and Biden).
https://contra.substack.com/p/no-country-for-white-men-the-story
Yup. The way the regime, for lack of a better word, reacted to and treated DJT opened my eyes. If the whole “Russian Collusion” farce didn’t convince one that the deep state/regime could not be trusted, the Charlie-Foxtrot of the Biden administration should have.
Do you know any actual person who has done that? Or do you get your information about these people the same way you get your other information?
I can think of three right here on Ricochet off the top of my head. But you’re right. They might have endorsed Biden’s Afghan debacle, too. I know we had some here who called it a success.
any proof?
Lots of Russian disinformation out there about weapons diversion-the BBC looked into it:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-62983444
This was from back in April, from that Right-Wing stalwart CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/19/politics/us-weapons-ukraine-intelligence/index.html
And at the time you declared it “old news” and that the problem had been solved.
Yet CBS continued to report on it several months later. . .
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-front-lines/
. . . and then got their leash yanked by Zelenskyy and “partially retracted” it. But all they could say is that oversight was “significantly improved.” Meanwhile, Ukraine demanded that CBS be investigated for their reporting on the lack of oversight.
https://towardfreedom.org/story/archives/europe/watch-the-arming-ukraine-film-cbs-pulled-after-govt-pressure/
And look, here’s the Regime’s foremost propaganda outlet from a month ago, and even they acknowledge the problem continues:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/01/us-weapons-ukraine-oversight/
So this has been happening all year. But no, I guess I just “pulled this out of my posterior,” right?
Really good movie, with superb opening credits.
I don’t know where you pulled this out of, but I do know:
A)You must not have read any of your sources- not one highlights any instance of actual diversion of weapons- they just outline the difficulty in keeping track of weapons. The CBS source also specifically states things were improving.
B) during the spring & summer Ukraine was constructing the strike force that liberated Kharkiv in a masterful offensive (all the while a favorite source of yours, Col MacGregor, was at the same time predicting the imminent collapse of the Ukrainian army). To do so meant husbanding the new weapons and purposefully not sending them piecemeal to the front- not using them until they could be employed in sufficient mass to crush your enemy. Ukraine was training its forces with the new weapons & wisely not committing them to use until they were ready. The weapons weren’t seen at the front b/c Ukraine was preparing the ground for its counteroffensive. The fruit of this policy was seen in Kharkiv & Kherson. The Russians got a good glimpse of the weapons- much more than they bargained for.
How can you not know! The sources are RIGHT THERE!
The rest of what you said has no bearing on the information I have given you.
I have no idea who this Col. MacGregor is who you say is my “favorite,” but whatever. Your explanation doesn’t answer the question of lack of oversight about where these weapons are going. You’re spewing out non-sequiturs.
How do I know? I actually read the links- something you obviously didn’t. Your sources (ie the links you provided) do not list any instance of weapons diversion- not a single one- try reading them.
addendum- the links clearly discuss the difficulty of oversight- but provide no evidence of diversion. Your anti-Ukrainian bias leads you to believe that the lack of any evidence of diversion indicates a widespread criminal activity- a peculiar interpretation.
I did. I also read what I wrote. And you didn’t.
MiMac is correct. This does not say the equipment is diverted. It says we are not tracking the equipment once it gets across the border to Ukraine. And you know why that is? It’s because the U.S. doesn’t want the kind of boots-on-the-ground involvement that your type claimed our support would lead to.
The proof that the equipment is being well-used for the intended purposes is the success Ukraine is having in using it to drive the Russians back.
It all makes one wonder if some of the people complaining about our support for Ukraine are doing so because they want Russia to win enough influence over the country so Ukraine can be corrupt on a large scale again. They want their corruption back.
Do you agree that some people might have that motivation?
Which is exactly what I said.
Heh. That’s not any sort of proof at all.
No, this is what you said:
We know reasonably well what’s happening to them. It’s not a black hole where we have no knowledge whatsoever. They’re being used to drive back the invaders. We probably don’t have exact knowledge of where each serial number is at any given point in time, but that’s not the same as nobody knowing what’s happening to them.
Sure it is. Wartime is a test of military development and procurement. Russia has failed that test on several fronts. Its lies and corruption have been exposed. Ukraine is making very good use of what it purports to have (and to have been given), so it has passed the test. There will be more tests to come, of course.
And that doesn’t mean there aren’t any bad actors who engage in traitorous behavior. I wonder who will squeal the loudest whenever Ukraine executes any of these traitors.
Or how Stalin used Germany and the US to enslave half of Europe for a couple of generations. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Yup. That’s why we shouldn’t slobber all over Biden while he’s helping Ukraine, like FDR did with Stalin when he was helping to defeat Hitler.
Biden shouldn’t get too much credit, he has been following Obama & leading from behind. Biden was more in line with the Rand Corp assessment that Ukraine was going to fall so rapidly that aiding them was a lost cause-he only did enough so he could say he tried but it was hopeless. It was only the unforeseen Ukranian success at stopping the thunder run to Kyiv that galvanized Western support. Nothing fosters support like success-especially unexpected success by David vs Goliath. We are fortunate that Ukraine is a vastly better ally than Stalin’s USSR. Ukraine has no designs on its neighbors & didn’t initiate the war (unlike Stalin who in September 1939 was a co-starter of WW2 alongside his, then ally, Nazi Germany). Not to mention all the atrocities by Stalin even before WW2 (Holdomar, Gulags, the Great Purge etc). The USSR was an ally b/c Nazi Germany was rightfully judged the greater threat the time. Ukraine is an ally b/c they have been invaded by a threat…
What do the Russians think (assuming the translation is correct)
Evidence indicates Biden Admin prioritized WNBA’s Griner over Marine Paul Whelan, despite claiming otherwise
Stealth edited report and commentary from Marine’s family and attorney indicates that Russia offered both as an option.