WASHINGTON: The mother of James Foley, the US journalist who was beheaded by militants from the Islamic State, has expressed outrage over her government’s handling of her son’s case.
In an interview aired on CNN Thursday, Diane Foley said was “embarrassed and appalled” over how the US government had dealt with her son’s case.
“As a family, we had to find our way through this on our own,” she said, adding that the family was told many times that raising ransom “was illegal (and) we might be prosecuted.”
The family was also told no prisoners would be exchanged for Foley, nor would the government take military action, the mother said. The family was told not to go to the media and “trust that it would be taken care of.” She said: “As an American I was embarrassed and appalled.”
She added: “I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance” to the US government. It didn’t seem to be in our strategic interest, if you will.”
Diane pointed out: “Jim would have been saddened. Jim believed to the end that his country would come to their aid.”
She lamented: “We were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow, miraculously,” Foley’s mother said. “And he wasn’t, was he?”
She said: “Jim was killed in the most horrific way. He was sacrificed because of just a lack of coordination, lack of communication, lack of prioritization.”