Ex-CIA Agent: 'Silly, Juvenile' to Reveal Foley Rescue Attempt

It was "silly" and "juvenile" for the administration of President Barack Obama to reveal the United States failed in an effort to rescue American journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by ISIS terrorists, said Michael Scheuer, a former CIA agent who for 10 years led the agency's unit hunting Osama bin Laden.

Scheuer told "Fox & Friends" it was also unwise for the White House to "advertise a defeat" or alert the terrorists that the United States knew "where they're holding their prisoners, or we think they know where they're holding their prisoners."

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"It's a rather silly attempt to — I don't know what it's an attempt to do," Scheuer said Thursday. "It seems to me a juvenile thing to do."

The Pentagon released information Wednesday that U.S. Special Forces led an unsuccessful attempt to free Foley and other American hostages in Syria earlier this summer. A video released earlier this week, allegedly posted by terrorist group Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), graphically showed Foley being killed.

Scheuer said the announcement about the rescue attempt could also cause harm to the hostages still held captive by IS.

"By announcing it and giving the impression we're still looking, we may move up the execution of the last two Americans that they have," he said.

While Obama in January downplayed the IS threat, calling it a "JV team," on Wednesday he referred to the terrorist organization as a "cancer."

Scheuer said the references show how little the president understands about the militant group.

"He's absolutely clueless about what this enemy is up to, what it's about," Scheuer said. "This is not a cancer. This is not a terrorist group. This is, in essence, a worldwide insurgency, which we have encouraged by refusing consistently to kill them."

One of the primary actions Scheuer recommended to protect the United States would be to "close the southern border, and perhaps even spots on the northern border with Canada."

He said the United States is "exposed," because "we don't know who's in our country."

Scheuer blamed politicians who didn't "give a darn about protecting America" for the border problem, saying they are more concerned with "not being called anti-Hispanic or anti-human rights."

"Americans will die because of their preening to the small liberal crowd on the left who believes that we're the homeland for everybody, instead of the homeland for Americans," he said.

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