The father of Kayla Jean Mueller has a bone to pick with the United States Government.
“We understand the policy about not paying ransom but on the other hand…we tried and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens’ lives,” Carl Mueller told NBC’s “Today” show.
Mueller was referring to the kidnapping and death of his daughter, Kayla, who began assisting Syrian refugees in Southern Turkey in December, 2012.
The United States has a policy of not paying ransom to terrorist groups in return for hostages.
Kayla Mueller
Although Turkey lies right on the border of Syria–where a brutal civil war has raged since March 15, 2011–Mueller insisted on putting herself at even greater risk.
In December, 2012, Mueller attended a two-day international conference in Aleppo, 70 miles inside Syria. She survived that trip without incident, and returned to Turkey.
But as the fighting intensified and casualties mounted, she wanted to return to Syria to collect stories for her blog. She begged her Syrian boyfriend to take her along during his trips there.
Her boyfriend relented in August, 2013, and she accompanied him on another trip to Aleppo during a 10-day break from her work. But as they were leaving, this time Mueller didn’t prove so lucky.
On August 4, 2013, as they drove to the bus station in Aleppo, gunmen ambushed them. Mueller’s boyfriend was beaten and released.
He was Syrian, so his life didn’t count for propaganda material. But Mueller was an American–and her captors were members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
According to Catherine Herridge, an American reporter, the White House learned the location of Mueller in May, 2014. But no decision was made on a rescue mission for seven weeks.
By that time, the hostages had been dispersed. On February 6, 2015, ISIS released a statement claiming that a female American hostage–Kayla Mueller–they had been holding was killed by one of a dozen Jordanian airstrikes in Raqqa, Syria.
These airstrikes had been triggered by ISIS’ release of a February 3 video showing the barbaric “execution” of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kasaesbeh.
Al-Kasaesbeh, locked in a steel cage like an animal, could only watch stoically as an ISIS member ignited a trail of flammable liquid leading directly to him. The pilot stood upright throghout the ordeal until the flames at last consumed him.
ISIS burning of captured Jordanian fighter pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh
So the Jordanians bombed a series of ISIS targets in Syria. And Kayla Mueller, who had thrust herself into a Syrian civil war, was apparently killed in one of those raids.
Which led to the interview with Kayla’s distraught parents.
“Any parents out there would understand that you want anything and everything done to bring your child home,” said Carl Mueller. His wife, Marsha, sitting next to him, naturally agreed.
Referring to the United States’ policy of refusing to pay ransom for hostages, Mueller said:
“And we tried. And we asked. But they put–they put policy in front of American citizens’ lives. And it didn’t get changed. So, that’s something they’re going to work on. I’m sure that’s in the works.”
Asked if his daughter hadn’t put herself in peril by jumping into the middle of a Syrian civil war, Mueller replied:
“Well, yeah, it was overenthusiastic youth and, of course, being naive. But who wasn’t, you know? How many mistakes have we all made in life that were naive and didn’t get caught at?
“Kayla was just in a place that was more dangerous than most. And she couldnt’ help herself. She had to go there and had to help.”
But did she have to go there? There weren’t Americans she could have aided–at far less risk to herself?
On the September 28, 2014 edition of 60 Minutes, President Barack Obama spoke about his recent decision to commit American troops to fighting ISIS.
Steve Kroft: I think everybody applauds the efforts that you’ve made and the size of the coalition that has been assembled.
But most of them are contributing money or training or policing the borders, not getting particularly close to the contact. It looks like once again we are leading the operation. We are carrying…
President Obama: Steve, that’s always the case. That’s always the case. America leads. We are the indispensable nation. We have the capacity no one else has. Our military is the best in the history of the world.
And when trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don’t call Beijing. They don’t call Moscow. They call us. That’s the deal.
President Obama
Steve Kroft: I mean, it looks like we are doing 90 percent.
President Obama: Steve, there is not an issue…when there’s a typhoon in the Philippines, take a look at who’s helping the Philippines deal with that situation. When there’s an earthquake in Haiti, take a look at who’s leading the charge making sure Haiti can rebuild. That’s how we roll. And that’s what makes this America.
President Obama is right: “When trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don’t call Beijing. They don’t call Moscow. They call us.”
And, according to former CIA agent Michael Scheuer, that’s the problem: America can’t learn to mind its own business.
