Apparently Brunson and Trump prayed in the Oval Office? What a nice touch. Very appealing to the evangelical crowd. I'm not impressed.Trump did not say "You're FIRED! "to BrunsonReality TV
In August of this year the subject of Brunson was covered here at the blog- Brunson walked/talked and quacked like a covert operative:
An agent operating on behalf of another state, working to destabilize another nation state. In this case Turkey. Nothing new under the sun, really. I covered his 'church' in Izmir- a barred window store front- Not very church like at all, but, conveniently located to a big port, making the location ideal for smuggling weapons and distributing the same to US affiliated terrorists. Gulenists and or PKK. Hell, possibly even Grey Wolves? Read or re- read the earlier post relinked above-Brunson had spent two years incarcerated. He was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment but was released based on the two years of time served. AA
The Turkish judiciary's decision on Friday to release American pastor Andrew Brunson was an impartial one, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his U.S. counterpart.Trump also tweeted: "There was NO DEAL made with Turkey for the release and return of Pastor Andrew Brunson.” Brunson was arrested in December 2016 and charged in the Aegean province of Izmir with being a member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind a defeated coup earlier that year.
After being transferred from jail to house arrest this July, Brunson on Friday was sentenced to just over three years in prison, but released due to time served and his good behavior in custody.
The charges against him included spying for both FETO and the PKK, a group recognized as terrorist by the U.S. and EU which is responsible for some 40,000 deaths in Turkey, including women and children.
Deal? No deal? My thoughts? No advance deal.I've been going over all the reasons, in my mind, why Turkey released Brunson at this time?1- Tied to the missing journalist incident which was surely set to turn the heat up on Turkey.Did Turkey make a pre-emptive move in advance of what was undoubtedly going to be Turkey portrayed very negatively along side Saudi Arabia? 2-Perhaps the reasoning might have been that the US would release some of the financial thumb screw tension that's been applied to Turkey these past months? Not likely.
Updated October 14/18: "TURKEY has caved in to US demands for the American pastor at the centre of a row between the two nations that saw the lira crippled - despite President Donald Trump refusing to ease his punishing sanctions against the troubled state"
As suggested the release had nothing to do with getting an easing of the sanctions 3-I do not think that this will affect US support of the PKK thugs in northern Syria- That plan is far to advanced for US/Israel to let it go now. They've had years to back off the regional remake and have not done so thus far. Releasing Brunson was not a consideration in this regard, in my opinion.
Believe it, or not, my early morning thinking about this recent move went back to Putin's release of Khodorkovsky. That was a shocker. Including to this blogger! But, the way I'm thinking about this .. Brunson was released to get ahead of the fall out from the Khashoggi incident. As mentioned in point 1. In a move reminiscent of Putin's release of Khodorkovsky. Good PR.Let's flashback to Khordokovsky, his release was covered below:
Apparently I thought as much of Khordokovsky as I do of Brunson. LOL. A thief and a leech.Clearly those were my kindest sentiments!
"Love how NYT’s calls him a ‘tycoon’ Makes me laugh. He is just a well connected opportunistic thief and leech ( To drain the essence or exhaust the resources of) on the real wealth makers of any society."
Let's go back to another 2013 article covering the release of Oligarch Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky"It looked like a scene from a Cold War spy thriller. 24 hours after his release, Oligrach Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who ended a 10-year sentence, appeared in Berlin wearing a heavy duty Russian air-force jacket and smiling broadly. It was, however, the Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement about Khodorkovsky's early release which caught a lot of people by surprise. A global media spectacle followed. Journalists and commentators scrutinised whether Putin's decision symbolised a political strength or weakness, whether Khodorkovsky admitted his guilt, and whether he is going to become a political opposition figure or remain in exile. Media outlets appeared to be outpacing one another in applying dramatic labels to the momentous event."
Just like Brunson, Mikhail hightailed it out of dodge... so to speak
"Labelled an "off-stage bombshell", Putin's announcement of the impending release of Khodorkovsky was deemed a shocking sensation. The change of heart was attributed to Putin's perceived love of surprises and his arbitrary application of the "carrot-stick" approach
Putin's bold decision has often been mistaken for arbitrariness in the latest analyses.
In contrast, Putin's announcement[Ru] of Khodorkovsky's impending release contained little emotion, only calm and calculated rationale. In stating that "10 years is a serious punishment," the president conveys a sense of "justice being done" and readiness to close that page of history.
In the case of pardoning Khodorkovsky, the decision was neither sensational nor arbitrary. Rather, it was a combination of socio-political factors: A strategically timed publicity stunt to bolster Russia's positive image internationally in the run-up to the Sochi Olympics, a result of skilful lobbying efforts by the German diplomatic elite and a humane act of mercy driven by Putin's personal convictions about vengeance, justice and mercy."
We know the US has lobbied hard to have Brunson released. Perhaps enough 'justice' had been served by the two years of imprisonment that Turkey saw more value/benefit in releasing Brunson then keeping him incarcerated.