Russia's 10 Million Dollar Reward

The Russian stance on the war in Iraq has been used to support arguments in opposition to the US/UK presence in Iraq. Many people have looked to the foreign policy of other nations to validate the mindset that we shouldn't be in Iraq. Russia has stood with China in its dissention of America's decision to disarm Iraq, stating that we should seek a peaceful end. Russia has even gone so far as to indicate that rendering violence for violence is wrong for America to do in response to the September 11th attacks.

On June 3rd, gunmen attacked an entourage of Russian embassy workers, in Baghdads Mansour district. Vitaly Titov died there from a gunshot wound to the head. Four more Russian embassy staff were then kidnapped before US troops arrived. The murder of the remaining staff was then shown on an Internet video. First one blindfolded man was beheaded; the headless body of another was shown in a pool of blood and a third man was shot on the video. The fourth captive was not included on the video but evidence shows he too was tortured and murdered. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization linking seven insurgent groups including Al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility, stating "God's verdict has been carried out on the Russian diplomats ... in revenge for the torture, killing and expulsion of our brothers and sisters by the infidel Russian government,"

The Russian government offered a $10 Million dollar reward for information leading to the killers responsible for this vile attack. Here is the crux of the matter. President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian Special services to hunt down and kill those responsible. This seems a fair reaction in my view. What I find interesting is that this is the response over the deaths of five innocent people. It pains me to even try to understand Russias inability to comprehend why we have elected to do the same thing in response to the 2,986 people who lost their lives on 9/11.