President Barack Obama has announced he will form a hostage affairs envoy who will specialize in “securing the release of American hostages held abroad,” according to a story yesterday by CNN. Obama has chosen former Bosnian war negotiator James O’Brien to lead the team.
Obama’s decision to form the hostage envoy has come on the heels of a presidential term in which several high-profile hostage murders have taken place, including the much-publicized deaths of James Foley, Abdul-Rahman Kassig, and Steven Sotloff at the hands of Islamic militants.
The parents of American hostages killed overseas were vocal critics of the way American government officials handled hostage situations on foreign soil.
This backlash, coupled with the Obama administration’s review of the country’s hostage policies, also played a part in the formation of the hostage enjoy.
John Kerry has been a vocal advocate of the enjoy, telling NBC News Obama’s selection of O’Brien to lead the envoy was a wise one. O’Brien is “exactly the right person” for the job, Kerry was quoted as saying.
Jim is exactly the right person for a job that demands a high level of diplomatic experience and the ability to analyze and find effective remedies to complex problems.
Kerry went on to say that the new hostage envoy would rely on “diplomacy to secure the safe return of Americans held hostage overseas.”
The BBC pointed out yesterday that Obama’s decision to create a diplomacy-based hostage envoy is a departure from his administration’s hard stance against negotiating with terrorists.
Obama may have been influenced by recent revelations that “some European governments” have made payments to Islamic militants to free hostages.
(The Obama administration) has also come under increasing pressure since it was revealed some European governments had been paying Islamic State (IS) militants to free their nationals abducted in Syria and Iraq.
According to the BBC, this past June the White House “gave families permission” to make payments to captors in exchange for the release of hostages.
