James Foley, et al.

[When IS contacted James Foley’s family to ransom their son], the government told the Foleys that it was a crime for private citizens to pay off terrorists.

More important, in retrospect, was what the F.B.I. did not tell the family: Mr. Foley was being held alongside a dozen Europeans, whose countries have a history of paying ransoms.

[...]

Guided by its strict no-ransom policy, the United States government’s hands-off approach was vastly different from the tack taken by European countries, which quickly negotiated the release of their citizens in exchange for cash.

This greatly frustrated the family of Mr. Foley, 40, a freelance journalist, and the other American hostages, who were desperate for Washington to take stronger action.

[...]

There is little indication that the administration anticipated how Mr. Foley and other American hostages could turn into grisly propaganda by ISIS, increasing pressure on the United States to begin what may become another extended military engagement in the Middle East.

[...]

The United States and Britain are among the only countries that abide by a zero-concession policy, refusing to accede to terrorists’ demands, arguing that doing so encourages more kidnapping.

[...]

“What is hard to prove is how many Americans have not been kidnapped as a result of the fact that the enemy knows they will not get a penny from us,” said Gen. John R. Allen, who recently retired as the top commander in Afghanistan. “In the aftermath of this horrific event it makes it hard to explain this policy. But the fact that there are Americans in the region who were never taken because they knew there was no advantage to doing so needs to be factored in.”

  NYT

And not only were the American families left to their own devices for support while being constantly monitored by the FBI, when the kidnappers asked for money and release of a Pakistani neuroscientist from American prison, they were told by the FBI to stall on the money part of the request and say in no uncertain terms does the US trade hostages. In the meantime, the US traded five Taliban for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. And, as you know, two of the Americans have now been executed.

Two other Americans and two British citizens remain in ISIS custody. At least 15 others held with Mr. Foley, all but one of them European, succeeded in getting out in return for cash.

In an effort to make sure the death of Mr. Foley brings about change, his parents are now working to establish an organization that will advise families of other victims, giving them the information early on that they say they were not given.

Not in time for the family of British Alan Henning.

And, speaking of Bowe Bergdahl…

The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday pushed a resolution condemning President Barack Obama for failing to give 30-day notice to Congress about the exchange in May of American prisoner Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

[...]

Republicans insisted that Obama clearly violated the law, underscored by a Government Accountability Office report last month that reached that conclusion. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, accused Obama of a blatant disregard for the law.

  NY Daily News

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl plans to get out of the Army and pursue a college education once the investigation into his disappearance is completed, his lawyer told CBS News.

[...]

His release from nearly five years in Taliban captivity ended in May, after President Obama decided to swap him for five prisoners held in a Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

[...]

In a phone interview Tuesday, attorney Gene Fidell said that his client feels like he is in a holding pattern and wants to get on with his life.< br/>


  

At least he still has a life to get on with.