Free Republic

The U.S. government Friday defended its handling of James Foley's case after the slain journalist's mother told CNN that officials suggested the family could be charged if they tried to raise money to free him. Saying everything possible had been done to bring the journalist home, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters officials worked very closely with Foley's family and with his employer, GlobalPost CEO Philip Balboni. "Any advice that this department or other departments give to the families about what they should do in these situations is based solely on what is best for returning their loved one...

In addition, the source added guard forces around the hostages doubled while widely publicized reporting about the scope of new aerial surveillance in the region caused ISIS to change its pattern of behavior on the ground. "Any time you (disclose) very highly sensitive tactical information, you're giving away your road map if you will, your strategy," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee receives regular intelligence briefings. "It's very highly damaging to the hostages." The details about the rescue mission were released by the Defense Department and National Security Council one day after...