James Foley
James Foley's mother criticized the U.S. government during an interview with CNN journalist Anderson Cooper Thursday. Reuters

James Foley’s mother Diane Foley criticized the U.S. government during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. She revealed details about what the government told her while her son was being held captive in Syria for two years. The Islamic State beheaded her son, an American photojournalist, on Aug. 19.

“As an American I was embarrassed an appalled,” she told Cooper. “I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance.”

“Jim would have been saddened,” she said. “Jim believed to the end that his country would come to his aid.”

“We were asked not to go to the media, just to trust,” Foley added. Raising a ransom to bring her son home was illegal, the government told her, because they “would not exchange prisoners, would not do a military action.” Foley said, “We were just told to trust that he would be freed, somehow, miraculously, and he wasn’t, was he?”

Foley spoke about the “hatred” ISIS has and said, “Our government needs to learn from the mistakes it’s made.” The full interview can be seen on “Anderson Cooper 360” Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT.

Check out the clip below, courtesy of CNN:

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