When Barack Obama swapped five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay for deserter Bowe Bergdahl in 2014, he had to sell the swap with a bunch of lies. First, he tried to hide the fact that Bergdahl was a deserter. Second, he claimed that the prisoners who were swapped for Bergdahl posed little threat of returning to the fight. A few years after the swap, we learned that they had indeed rejoined the Taliban.
Joe Biden’s swap of convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death,” in exchange for WNBA player Brittney Griner has been widely criticized not only for being an inequitable trade but also because Bout remains a national security threat.
It turns out those critics were right, and it didn’t take long to find out. According to Russian state media, Bout has lauded Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and declared his intention to join the fight.
“I never understood why we didn’t do this earlier,” Bout said of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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“I fully support the special military operation,” Bout continued. “If I could share the skills I have, I would readily volunteer.”
Bout was a former Soviet military officer serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for crimes like plotting to kill Americans, acquiring and transferring anti-aircraft missiles, and giving material support to terrorist groups, possibly even al Qaeda.
“Bout provided tons of guns and ammunition to some of the most vicious warlords in the world and empowered them to carry out unspeakable atrocities,” explained Bout biographer Douglas Farah. “He is responsible for enabling murderous groups to kidnap and train thousands of child soldiers; use rape as a systematic method of terror and control; torture through the mass amputations of arms, legs, ears and lips; slaughter civilians, and help the Taliban take power in Afghanistan. Griner may have been carrying vape cartridges that were banned in Russia but not in much of the world.”
