Should the U.S. Government Pay Ransom Money?
Lesley Stahl speaks to a counterterrorism adviser who admits U.S. failures in dealing with hostages, and to the parents of Steven Sotloff, a journalist who was kidnapped and killed by ISIS.
In The News Piece in CBS News
Jan. 8, 2017
Peter Bergen was quoted in CBS News about the International Security program's new policy paper, "To Pay Ransom or Not to Pay Ransom."
Peter Bergen: They don’t know necessarily you’re American when they take you. It’s sort of a target of opportunity. So some countries are known to pay ransom – the French, the Germans, the Spanish.
Lesley Stahl: Even though, they don’t admit it.
Peter Bergen: They don’t admit it, but they do. Their citizens have much better outcomes than Americans. Americans are huge outliers here. You’re twice as likely to have a negative outcome compared to every other Western hostage.
Lesley Stahl: You say negative outcome. You mean murdered.
Peter Bergen: Murdered, die in captivity or just remain in captivity.