In the wake of reports from the Islamic State (ISIS) that American hostage Kayla Mueller was killed in an airstrike from Jordan,
the mother of James Foley says the United States isn't doing enough to free the group's hostages.
Foley, who was held with Mueller, was beheaded by ISIS last year.
Former House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers said Sunday on CNN's
"State of the Union" that Diane Foley is understandable distraught, but that the United States took "a pretty significant risk in sending a pretty daring rescue mission."
That mission relied on outdated intelligence, and the hostages were no longer at the location when U.S. special forces showed up.
"But the fact they would risk these soldiers and special forces community's personnel's lives in rescue attempts shows there were good faith efforts," Rogers said.
"Remember, in the Foley case, the amount of money was like $132 million, if my memory serves me correctly. That is not a realistic number for negotiation," Rogers said. "They never really intended to turn Foley over. They were using all of this for propaganda."
Diane Foley and other family members of American hostages have charged that the government has threatened them with breaking the law if they attempt to pay terrorist groups to free their loved ones.
Rogers said that even if the ransom amounts are smaller, they can "cause trouble" because paying a ransom only encourages terrorists to take more hostages, placing the lives of more Americans in the region in jeopardy.
"It is horrific ... But think of the people who are exposed if you meet these ransom demands," Rogers said.
Jordan's King Abdullah has taken leadership in the ISIS fight after the group released a video of a captured pilot from that country being burned alive, Rogers said. Jordan has hit ISIS with multiple airstrikes since the video was released and executed two ISIS members it had previously convicted and sentenced to death.
"He's been laying out plans literally for three years on how he thought that the United States should help the region," Rogers said. "This could act as the catalyst for discussions that have already happened. … This was, in an odd way, his permission to engage in the very plans he's been laying out."
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