The mother of murdered American journalist James Foley offers harsh criticism of the U.S. government's efforts to secure his release from ISIS militants in a new interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
"As an American, I was embarrassed and appalled," Diane Foley told Cooper in an interview that will air Thursday evening. "I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance, and it didn't seem to be in [U.S.] strategic interest, if you will."
She added: "Jim would've been saddened. Jim believed to the end that his country would come to their aid."
Earlier this summer, the U.S. military did attempt a rescue operation to find Jim Foley and the other hostages believed to be held near ISIS' de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, although the special operations troops were unable to locate any of them. The Wall Street Journal reported the hostages were likely moved as little as 72 hours prior to the raid.
Regardless, the Foley family had no knowledge of that secret operation before Foley was murdered last month.
Diane listed things the U.S. government advised the family not to do, including not going to the media and not to raise a ransom since it would be illegal — "we might be prosecuted," Diane says she was told. She also says the government told her it would not exchange prisoners or conduct a military action to go after him.
"We were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow, miraculously," she says. "And he wasn't, was he?"
Here's the clip: