By At the time, it was called one of the most lopsided trades in history. In 2022, WNBA star Brittney Griner received a conviction on drug charges in Russia.
The Phoenix Mercury star told ESPN that “there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law.” An expert on Russian criminal cases explained her plea,” admitting her guilt.
Griner’s conviction sparked outrage among Joe Biden’s top supporters, at least in 2022—wealthy celebrities in Hollywood. That’s when the president made the worst trade in WNBA history.
Biden offered to give Russia Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer currently serving a 25-year US prison sentence. Known as “The Merchant of Death,”
The New York Post wrote, “Bout has been in US custody since 2008, when a secretive sting operation lead by the Drug Enforcement Administration captured him in Thailand.” The Russian had been fueling war for decades, especially in the Middle East where he supplied Hezbollah with weaponry.
Griner’s previous activism, the NBA, and its players have not been especially helpful in getting popular movement behind getting the basketball star back from Russia. Conservative pundits have mocked her for previously criticizing the United States.
Now, Biden’s blunder has directly begun threatening the lives of Americans and our allies, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Since his release, Bout has joined a pro-Kremlin far-right party and won a seat in a local assembly in 2023, seemingly turning the page on his days as an arms broker. But when Houthi emissaries went to Moscow in August to negotiate the purchase of $10 million worth of automatic weapons, they encountered a familiar face: the mustachioed Bout, according to a European security official and other people familiar with the matter.
The potential arms transfers, which have yet to be delivered, stop well short of the sale of Russian antiship or antiair missiles that could pose a significant threat to the U.S. military’s efforts to protect international shipping from the Houthis’ attacks.
The Biden administration has been worried that Russia might provide the Houthis with such advanced weapons to retaliate for Washington’s support of Ukraine, but there is no evidence that those missiles have been sent, or that Bout is involved in such a deal.
Sales to the Houthis would extend Bout’s decadeslong career in selling arms to some of the world’s most controversial customers. Born in 1967, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, then part of the Soviet Union, according to official records, Bout served as a military translator, learning French, English, Arabic, Farsi and Portuguese. He was sent to assist Angolan forces during a 1980s civil war.
Last week, several U.S. Navy warships were targeted in a “complex attack” by Iran-backed Houthi forces in the Red Sea, involving cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the Department of Defense. Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Defense Department, confirmed the attack, but emphasized that no U.S. military ships were hit or damaged, and no service members were injured. The missiles were reportedly intercepted or failed before causing harm.
Houthi forces claimed that their assault, consisting of 23 missiles and bomber drones, damaged three U.S. Navy vessels as they transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a strategic waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. However, U.S. Central Command and the Navy confirmed that the attack was successfully countered, with no strikes hitting U.S. ships. The Pentagon has yet to respond to further inquiries about the incident.
The militant, terrorist group also recently attacked a British oil tanker.
🚨 On October 1, 2024, #Houthi forces launched an attack on the British oil tanker “#CORDELIAMOON” in the #RedSea, using drones and missiles. This assault caused damage to two vessels. pic.twitter.com/E7daNYeCFV
— Ivan Kircanski (@KircanskiIvan) October 3, 2024
The Daily Mail wrote, “The devastating attack, swiftly claimed by the Iran-backed Houthis, unfolded roughly 110 kilometres (70 miles) off the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, which as in recent days sustained a series of airstrikes by Israel’s air force.
Armed crewmembers were seen desperately trying to gun the oncoming ship as it sped towards the hull.
A trio of guards wearing bulletproof vests brandished assault rifles and let loose a volley of shots at the marine drone but were powerless to prevent it from ramming the vessel.
Moments later a punishing explosion rang out and the tanker’s deck was clouded by smoke as sirens began to blare out.”
On September 25, Griner scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, adding five rebounds, and two blocks, but her basketball team was swept in the WNBA playoffs.
[Read More: Kamala Forced To Do The One Thing She Hates]
