Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the Biden administration about the risks of a prisoner swap involving convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in return for WNBA star Brittney Griner and a former US marine detained in Russia.
The majority of sports fans applauded the efforts of the Biden administration Brittney Griner prisoner swap per The Spun, however, the former secretary of state thinks the measure could endanger US foreign policy.
Pompeo explained his opinion on Fox News saying that Viktor Bout is "a bad guy who wanted to kill Americans."
"It presents a real risk to the United States... There's a real reason the Russians want to get him home. To offer a trade like this is a dangerous precedent. This is not a good trade, not the right path forward, and it'll likely lead to more," he added.
Brittney Griner and a former U.S. marine Paul Whelan might be traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death" whose sales of weapons fuelled deadly conflicts around the world.
Bout, who is presently serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison after being found guilty in 2011 of conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to supply anti-aircraft missiles, and assisting a terrorist group, has long been a target of Russian officials who have long called for his release.
He was captured in 2008 during a sting operation at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where he met with undercover agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration who were posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is considered a narco-terrorist organization by US authorities.
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The organization would receive $20 million worth of "a breathtaking" armory of weapons according to the prosecution, including hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, machine guns, and sniper rifles, as well as 10 million rounds of ammunition and five tons of plastic explosives.
US Officials Confirms Prisoner Exchange Proposal
On Wednesday, the Biden administration confirmed making a substantial proposal to assist in Griner and Whelan's release.
In mid-February, Brittney Griner was detained at a Russian airport when authorities reportedly discovered cannabis oil in her luggage. She could spend up to 10 years in prison after entering a guilty plea to a drug smuggling charge this month, although Griner has claimed that she did not intend to break Russian law.
In 2020, Whelan received a 16-year prison term for espionage-related charges. He maintained his innocence while the US government said the allegations were false.
Why Viktor Bout Is a 'Bad Guy'?
Viktor Bout gained notoriety in the chaotic initial years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. He had access to a substantial fleet of aircraft from the Soviet era and a significant stockpile of excess weapons there: two major feats that helped launch his career as an arms dealer, per The Guardian.
Bout had provided weapons to the Taliban and the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor's regime in Liberia, Unita in Angola, various Congolese factions, and the militant Islamic group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines throughout his lengthy career.
During this time, multiple international arrest warrants were filed for him, making him one of the most wanted men in the world.
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