A thorough review is now underway examining how the U.S. handles efforts to free American hostages being held by militant groups overseas, the White House said Monday, according to Reuters.
Prompted by the three recent beheadings of Americans conducted by the Islamic State, President Barack Obama ordered the policy review to re-examine how the U.S. uses resources to extract Americans being held captive.
A video was released by the Islamic State group on Sunday announcing the death of a third American, Peter Kassig, an aid worker and former U.S. Army Ranger.
"The administration's goal has always been to use every appropriate resource within the bounds of the law to assist families to bring their loved ones home," White House National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said in a statement, reported Reuters.
"In light of the increasing number of U.S. citizens taken hostage by terrorist groups overseas and the extraordinary nature of recent hostage cases," added Baskey, "this summer President Obama directed relevant departments and agencies, including the Departments of Defense and State, the FBI, and the Intelligence Community, to conduct a comprehensive review of how the U.S. government addresses these matters."
While specific details were not divulged by the Obama administration, Baskey said that the U.S. will "continue to bring all appropriate military, intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic capabilities to bear to recover American hostages. Those efforts continue every day."
One Pentagon official was quoted last week by ABC News as saying that the review would focus heavily on "examining family engagement, intelligence collection, and diplomatic engagement policies."
The parents of U.S. journalist, James Foley, who was reportedly killed by the Islamic State in August, spoke out about the months leading up to his death, and told CNN that they were "embarrassed and appalled" by how the U.S. government handled their son's case.
The family was told "not to go to the media" and that the "government would not exchange prisoners," or carry out "military actions" to attempt a rescue, Diane Foley told CNN, adding that she thinks their efforts to get their son freed were "an annoyance" to the government.
