Mother of beheaded journalist Foley ‘appalled’ at U.S. government

The mother of James Foley, the U.S. journalist who was beheaded by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), 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 U.S. government had dealt with her son’s case.

Foley alleged U.S. officials had suggested her family could face prosecution if they raised ransom money to free James and criticized the Obama administration of “lack of coordination.”

“I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance” to the U.S. government, Foley told CNN.

“It didn’t seem to be in [U.S.] strategic interest, if you will,” she added.

The Foley family members were told by officials “not to go to the media,” that the “government would not exchange prisoners,” or carry out “military action” to try to rescue her son, 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,” she lamented.

“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.”

“We were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow, miraculously.”

In early September, UK Prime Minister David Cameron hardened his position against countries paying ISIS ransom money to save their citizens.

He said paying ransoms to extremist groups such as ISIS was “self-defeating.”