Can you imagine, a nation built on violations of every freedom and human right known to man saying that. Increasingly I'm thinking we should have wiped Russia off the map when we had a chance. We still could but not under the current C.in-C.

Patton was correct

Is he not speaking of the killing of Qaddafi after he was in custody, and not the capture of the man himself?

That's my understanding, although I could be wrong. It seems a comment against vigilante justice in all cases, which really is what our laws today protect all of us against (whether we deserve it or not, in Qaddafi's case). Due process and all that.

To me, I think such a country saying such a thing is (hopefully) indicative of our nation's great influence on the world... and that even black pasts may have golden futures.

Regards.

Putin led the sinister KGB for years, fomenting discord and hatred around the globe and insinuating themselves into as many conflicts as possible, always exacerbating them. He's still an admirer of Stalin and pines for the good old days when the Russians often murdered their political opponents, jailed others without real charges. Were Russia fiscally strong there's no telling how much damage he'd do.
      That's just a start as to why it's absurd to credit the monster for decrying ''vigilante justice,'' as you called it. All Russian leaders since the 1917 Revolution have espoused vigilantism, with the possible exceptions of Gorbachev and Yeltsen. Putin represents a return to the worst days of the Cold War. Luckily he's hamstrung by Russia's weak economy.