A US special forces officer says his attempts to put a rescue plan together for two Canadian hostages being held in Pakistan were scuttled by US government infighting and a lack of policy on how to deal with hostage situations.
Green Beret Lt-Col Jason Amerine had originally been assigned by the US Army in 2013 to look into ways to obtain the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by insurgents in 2009 in Afghanistan.
Amerine told a US Senate hearing Thursday that during his efforts, he obtained details about Colin Rutherford of Toronto; US citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle of Ottawa; and US citizen Warren Weinstein.
Amerine fell under criminal investigation by the Army this year after informing Congress about a scuttled deal he tried to cut with the Taliban to free Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl along with all of the American and Canadian civilian hostages held by terrorists in Pakistan.
“Warren Weinstein is dead. Colin Rutherford, Joshua Boyle, Caitlin Coleman and the child she bore in captivity are still hostages in Pakistan. I failed them. I exhausted all efforts and resources available to return them but I failed,” Army Special Forces Lt. Col. Jason Amerine said before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
