The United States policy against paying ransoms to terrorists will be updated soon. The policy has been under review since last summer, when ISIS horrifically murdered New Hampshire journalist James Foley in Syria.
While the ban on the US government paying ransoms is not expected to be reversed, private American citizens like the Foley family may be given this freedom.
Foley's murder sent an unprecedented new wave of terror through the west, and it put ISIS on the map, but ISIS had been hard at work for years, kidnapping journalists and aid workers from European countries whose governments are willing to pay ransoms.
Phil Balboni is the founder and president of the Boston-based Global Post website, one of the news organizations James Foley was freelancing for when kidnapped. Balboni also founded necn. He says the first email he got from ISIS was a friendly one.
But soon there was a price- $100 million euros- about $132 million american- the demand delivered again by email to Global Post and the Foley family in New Hampshire.
The Foley family raised close to $1 million dollars, and legal counsel said they were within their rights as citizens to pay a ransom to get their son back. A presidential memorandum of understanding signed by George Bush in 2002 seemed to support them. The directive covers "United States citizens taken hostage abroad."
But that directive was interpreted differently by a National Security Council representative who threatened the Foley family with prosecution if they paid. Balboni and the Foley's were left to negotiate by email with terrorists on the other side of the world.
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Eventually, the emails stopped. Unbeknownst to the Foley's, the US military attempted a rescue a month before their son was killed, but he had been moved, and the military came up empty handed.
The end for Foley came on August 19, shortly after the silence was broken by a final, angry email from ISIS, but from this profound tragedy came the executions of others, including American journalist Stephen Sotloff.
Reliable sources tell necn that the recommendations are likely to include a sort of hostage tsar who will help the families of kidnap victims negotiate with terrorists.
The presidential review of US hostage policy is expected to be in the president's hands within the next few weeks.
If you are interested in learning more about the James Foley Legacy Foundation, click here.
