The mother of American journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in August says the Obama administration didn't do enough to save her son's life.
Diane Foley talked to
CNN's Anderson Cooperin an interview scheduled to air Thursday night.
"We were told that we could not raise ransom, that it was illegal. We might be prosecuted," Diane Foley says in a preview of the interview aired on CNN. "We were told that our government would not exchange prisoners, would not do military action. So, we were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow miraculously. And he wasn't, was he?"
Foley was captured on November 22, 2012 while working as a freelance journalist reporting on the Syrian civil war. ISIS released a video of his execution on August 19 of this year, and warned that another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, would be killed if the United States did not stop airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.
The airstrikes continued, and a video of Sotloff's beheading was released on September 2.
Diane Foley said she was "embarrassed and appalled" that the government didn't work harder to free her son and other hostages, saying the family's efforts seemed like an "annoyance" to the White House.
"And it didn't seem to be in our strategic interest," she said. "Jim would have been saddened. Jim believed to the end that his country would come to their aid."
National Security adviser Susan Rice told CNN that the White House did make efforts to free Foley and the other hostages, pointing to a rescue operation that failed only because the hostages had already been moved to another site.
"We're all heartbroken that that was not possible," Rice said, adding that everyone in the administration worked "very hard" to be supportive to Foley's family.
Diane Foley said that effort came too late. She said the government knew of the hostages' location months before the raid was finally initiated.
But Diane Foley told Cooper that ISIS is made up of "very difficult people. Their hate for us is great. And yet, some of our response to them has only increased the hate."
She told Cooper she wants to see a debate and discussion on how ISIS is dealt with. She said the United States and European countries should decide on a single way of dealing with terrorists. Europe tends to pay ransom for kidnap victims while the United States does not.
"I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made, and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated," she said.
Foley's mother said the family met many people within the government who wanted to help, but they were stifled by the bureaucracy.
"I don't want to blame people, because that's not going to help," she said. "It's nobody's fault. It's just the fault of a lack of discussion around it and understanding of the problem."
In a televised national address Wednesday night, Obama called the beheadings of Foley and Sotloff "acts of barbarism" as he outlined a plan to attack ISIS in Syria through airstrikes while supporting others already fighting ISIS on the ground.