Putin Vows Revenge After Bombing
Obama sees an opportunity to follow Russia’s lead.
The Kremlin announced Tuesday it was a bomb that had detonated on a Russian flight from Egypt Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board. “We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said of the attackers — the Islamic State did take credit — who killed more people in the bombing than last week’s attack in Paris. Russia has put a $50 million bounty on the bombers. This announcement comes as world leaders including Russia and America begin to sit down and negotiate a political solution to the Syrian civil war so a coalition can battle the Islamic State. The Obama administration is probably hoping Putin’s announcement will motivate him to change strategy in Syria, to turn away from propping up Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Instead, it will probably be the Obama administration that changes. Already, it’s shifted. The Washington Free Beacon noted that just last month Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. wasn’t about to cooperate with Russia’s policies in Syria, but that’s not stopping the administration from saying it wants to partner with Russia now. The commander in chief who isn’t interested in “America winning” just wants to follow’s Putin’s lead, giving the nation greater legitimacy in meddling with Middle East affairs.