Washington D.C. – Politico, December 15, 2024
Debra Tice, the mother of American journalist Austin Tice who went missing in 2012 while reporting in Syria, seemed to take issue with the government on Sunday for their approach toward locating her son following the collapse of the Assad regime last week.
“The U.S. government has made the decision that they’re not going into Damascus. So my feeling is, if they don’t want to be there, they shouldn’t be there, and the people that are there are the people that are determined,” Tice told NBC’s “Face the Nation” host Kristen Welker.
The government’s collapse was caused by Syrian rebels who entered Damascus, the Syrian capital, early in the morning Dec. 8. They declared victory, forcing Syrian President Bashar Assad, who succeeded his father in 2000, to flee to Moscow and ending the Assad family’s 50-year reign.
Tice gave credit to journalists such as NBC correspondent Richard Engel and organizations like Hostage Aid Worldwide — a non-profit that fights for the release of hostages — for reporting from Syria on the ground.
“They are determined to be looking,” she said of Engel and the Hostage Aid Worldwide workers. “They are going into the cells, they’re going into some deep and dark places, and obviously, they are compelled to be there and the U.S. government is not.”
When asked if she thinks the U.S. government should be there, Tice said, “What do you think?”
