White House efforts to write a new policy for dealing with hostages earned an immediate rebuke from its chief GOP critic on Capitol Hill, who has served as an intermediary for families of hostages held by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a member of the Armed Services Committee who has spearheaded a bipartisan legislative effort to overhaul the Obama administration’s hostage policies, said initial information leaking out from the administration about its changes to its hostage policies is “pathetic” and “nothing more than window dressing.”
“After a long-drawn out review of U.S. hostage policy, the changes offered up by the White House prove that neither the right questions were asked nor were any lessons learned,” Hunter said in a statement. “Wholesale changes are needed, but what’s being put forward is nothing more than window dressing, I fear.”
“It’s a pathetic response to a serious problem that has plagued the ability of the U.S. to successfully recover Americans held captive in the post-9/11 era,” he continued, saying the new policies fall far short of the families’ expectations, as well as like-minded lawmakers representing their interests on Capitol Hill.
The White House on Wednesday is expected to announce new policies aimed at reassuring families that the administration is doing all it can to recover their loved ones held by extremist groups overseas. President Obama launched the review after intense criticism from the families of American Journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid worker Peter Kassig – all of whom were beheaded by the Islamic State.
Other Americans held by terrorists overseas perished while in military custody, including Kayla Mueller in Syria, Luke Somers in Yemen and Warren Weinstein, who was thought to be located in Pakistan and was the victim of a U.S. drone strike aimed at killing al Qaeda leaders. President Obama in late April apologized for accidentally killing Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian held with him.
The administration has been reviewing its policies ever since family members of several hostages beheaded by the Islamic State, as well as others, expressed outrage about the lack of communication.
One of changes will be to tamp down the U.S. policy of trying to prevent families of the hostages from paying ransoms. The mother of James Foley — a U.S. journalist beheaded by the Islamic State — has expressed outrage at how the U.S. government dealt with her son’s case, reporting shortly after his death last fall that his family members could be charged if they raised a ransom to free him.
Unlike many European countries, the U.S. government has a policy of not paying ransom in exchange for captured Americans, but families also have said FBI and other within the Obama administration have threatened them with prosecution if they tried to raise a ransom on their own.
But another, that the White House will create a fusion center headed by the FBI, with State Department and Department of Defense deputies, is already rankling Hunter.
“The fact that the FBI has retained the leadership role within the fusion cell ignores the long list of mistakes and grievances presented over the duration of the review — and I was one of many individuals to offer my concerns and recommendations,” he said. “There needs to be a single person situated above the fusion cell, with the authority necessary to direct certain activities, isolate turf battles, and streamline the bureaucracy.”
“The FBI is not organized or developed for hostage recovery in hostile areas, yet they are leading the fusion cell,” he continued. “Even with two deputy directors representing the Defense Department and the State Department beneath a Director housed at the FBI, there’s no chance that the FBI will have the authority to direct either entity.”
Hunter on Wednesday plans to introduce his own bipartisan legislative overhaul to the federal government’s hostage policy, along with Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., as well as Rep. John Delaney, D-Mass.
Weinstein’s wife, Elaine Weinstein, also has said the steps have fallen short of her expectations that a member of the White House National Security Council head up any joint-agency hostage-recovery efforts.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he had not yet seen Elaine Weinstein’s response so could not comment. He also noted that the White House will release the full report of a 10-month review of the administration’s policy, as well as an executive action, Wednesday.
“Once the report and once the executive order is out,” he said, he could discuss the components of the plan in greater detail.
“Our goal entering into this process was to both better integrate the variety of federal government resources in order to help secure the safe return of American hostages and improve communication to the families who are going through this horrible ordeal,” Earnest said. “You can evaluate the kind of progress we were able to make toward that goal” once the report is released.
