Slain journalist’s parents, New Hampshire delegation grateful for work in ISIS death
“ISIS is like grass. You mow it, but it continues to grow."
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen congratulated President Donald Trump following his announcement Sunday that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed, noting that al-Baghdadi’s victims included journalist James Foley of New Hampshire.
Foley was killed by ISIS fighters in 2014 after being kidnapped in Syria.
Diane Foley, mother of journalist James Foley.
Foley’s parents, Diane and John Foley, told WMUR-TV that al-Baghdadi’s death in a U.S. special forces operation in Syria is significant, but it doesn’t end the threat. Diane Foley said “we’ve got to be ready for retaliation.”
“I’m glad we are still on this issue,’’ Diane Foley told the Boston Globe Sunday. “These folks are shrewd and will continue to pose a threat.’’
Foley, who lives in Rochester, N.H., also told the Globe she would have preferred that Baghdadi had been taken alive.
“My preference is for all of these ISIS fighters and leaders to be held in custody and face trial,’’ Foley said.
On WMUR, John Foley said that “I believe ISIS is like grass. You mow it, but it continues to grow. And I don’t think that the elimination of al-Baghdadi is the final answer.’’
The president mentioned Foley in his address Sunday, saying that ISIS fighters’ “murder of innocent Americans — James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller — were especially heinous.”
Two of the four Democrats in New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, Shaheen and Rep. Chris Pappas, congratulated President Trump on the mission Sunday.
