In many ways, President Obama's new policies regarding hostages are an understandable reaction to heartrending stories from the families of the victims of terrorist hostage-taking.
In fact, some of his initiatives are overdue and warranted. For example, the establishment of a dedicated fusion cell, as well as better communication with the families of the taken, are the kinds of things that make eminent sense. Even something as controversial as assisting families with contacting hostage-takers can find logic in many instances.
But the president's decision to permit families to pay ransoms is unwise, and one for which innocent people may pay the price. Inevitably, such financial support will enable extremists to commit further acts of terrorism, including taking even more hostages. Then-Under Secretary for Terrorism and Finance Intelligence David Cohen (now deputy director of the CIA) has made these very points. Speaking in August 2014, he said that "[r]ansom payments lead to future kidnappings, and future kidnappings lead to additional ransom payments. And it all builds the capacity of terrorist organizations to conduct attacks."
Likewise, terrorism expert Brian Michael Jenkins has pointed that the $132 million ransom allegedly demanded by kidnappers for James Foley was the "the equivalent of several hundred thousand AK-47s at black market prices or more than 200 times what it cost al Qaeda to carry out the 9/11 attacks." One can only imagine the nightmares so much money could have fueled had the Foley family somehow managed to raise it.
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