The American government decided to conduct a review of the manner in which it responds whenever American citizens are kidnapped by terrorists overseas. The review should focus mainly on the manner in which the families of the captives are being informed and treated during the entire process. Duncan Hunter received a letter from a top Pentagon official, which stated that President Barack Obama had ordered a “comprehensive review of the U.S. Government policy on overseas terrorist-related hostage cases, with specific emphasis on examining family engagement, intelligence collection and diplomatic engagement policies”. Duncan Hunter had previously stated that the United States should have a stronger response in situations where Americans are taken hostage by terrorists and that a review and revision should be considered.
Under Secretary of Defense Christine Wormuth, the Pentagon official who wrote the letter suggesting the review to Duncan Hunter said that the review was being conducted because of “the increased frequency of hostage-taking of Americans overseas” and that they would try to seek innovative solutions in order to recover hostages. The White House stated that President Obama had asked for a review a while back, over the summer. Alistar Baskey, National Security Council spokesman said: “President Obama directed relevant departments and agencies, including the Departments of Defense and State, the FBI, and the Intelligence Community, to conduct a comprehensive review of how the U.S. government addresses these matters […] While we are not in a position to detail every effort or every tool we are using to try to bring American hostages home, we will continue to bring all appropriate military, intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic capabilities to bear to recover American hostages. Those efforts continue every day”.
ISIS released the fifth beheading video, in Sunday. The video shows the explicit and violent execution of American aid worker Peter Kassig. Other two previous videos depict images of other two American citizens being beheaded: James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Foley’s family was disappointed by the manner in which the American government handled the kidnapping issue of their son. Foley’s mother declared: “I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance”. She added that the American government should put more efforts into negotiating with the Islamic State in order to free hostages. Countries in Europe have managed to successfully handle the release of some captives by paying the ransoms asked by ISIS. Obama did not agree with this manner of co-operating with ISIS, because he believes that money actually helped the group’s rise.