Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Should America Rethink Its Ransom Policy?
American journalist James Foley was beheaded in Syria this week by a militant from the Islamic State. We now know that before carrying out the execution, the group demanded $132 million in ransom from the U.S. government. The U.S. didn’t pay it, because it has a policy of not paying ransoms. But European countries DO pay.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readAmerican journalist James Foley was beheaded in Syria this week by a militant from the Islamic State. We now know that before carrying out the execution, the group demanded $132 million in ransom from the U.S. government. The U.S. didn’t pay it, because it has a policy of not paying ransoms. But European countries DO pay. And their citizens usually get released.
