The Obama administration has rescued dozens of Americans held abroad since President Obama issued an executive order last year establishing a “hostage recovery fusion cell,” a government report released Friday stated.
“With the reforms we have made over the last year, the U.S. government is now well postured to ensure that hostage recovery activities will remain an enduring priority from administration to administration,” an accompanying statement from National Security Council spokesman Ned Price read.
The National Counterterrorism Center report written this summer and made public Friday documented the federal government’s progress on implementing President Obama’s executive order aimed at enhancing hostage recovery efforts.
The report said Obama’s order “brought under one roof law enforcement, intelligence and military experts at the hostage recovery fusion cell, where they work side-by-side to develop and pursue recovery strategies.”
The order also created a new position, special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, and an interagency hostage response group.
The report concluded that “last year’s institutional and policy changes have had a positive impact on hostage recovery efforts,” Price stated.
The National Counterterrorism Center interviewed eight former hostages or their relatives who had been rescued since the executive order was issued. They indicated “overall satisfaction” with the government’s progress.
The new group “has successfully recovered several dozen hostages, wrongfully or unlawfully held detainees and victims of kidnap, all while adhering to the [U.S. government’s] ‘no concessions’ policy on ransom payments,” the report concluded.
“Building and sustaining mutually beneficial and positive relationships with the families of hostages must remain a continuing effort,” it continued.
“In some areas, achievements to date could be eroded or reversed without consistent senior policymaker attention. Finally, families, especially those with open cases, have expressed concerns about the durability of the” bodies and positions created by the executive order, the report read.
Obama issued the executive order in response to public outcry over the beheadings of reporters James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as the kidnapping and eventual murder of aide worker Kayla Mueller by the Islamic State.
