Even if the Russians did such things, such behavior is abhorrent to Americans and their values.
Not at all. It's exactly what we should do in such a case.
For those who say..... "But you pit the hostages in danger by doing thst"..... Too bad. That's what happens,when you care so little about your own security that you allow yourself to be captured in the first place.
Actually, I do think that by giving Hostage Takers what they want, we just encourage more hostage taking, which is what made what Ronald REagan did in Lebanon in the 1980's so bad.
(I will concede his heart was in the right place, though.)
That said, the primary problem is we keep sticking our dicks in the Middle East Hornet's Nest and then complain about getting stung.
Here's what my policy would be.
1) No more aid to ANY country over there, including Israel.
2) No involvement in any internal or external conflict, unlike the four civil wars going on there right now we are involved in.
3) We take the money we spend building weapons and drones and ships we don't really need and invest them into clean energy in this country. Imagine the money we could save if we took the 10 Billion we spend on one Ford Class aircraft carrier and spent it on windmills or solar power or even a nuke plant.