The wife of an American held hostage in Pakistan says the U.S. government did nothing to help her free him as she negotiated with his captors and paid a ransom.
"Do something. You're the strongest country in the entire world, do something," Elaine Weinstein says she pleaded with the State Department.
Her comments were made in an interview to be
broadcast Sunday on "60 Minutes."
"And they did nothing," she said.
Weinstein spent almost four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to free her husband, Warren. Even after paying $243,000 in ransom, the kidnappers did not free him, instead trading him to another group in North Waziristan, which wanted to trade him for prisoners held in Pakistani jails.
Elaine Weinstein shared videos, tapes of phone calls from Warren, and chat messages of his kidnappers during the interview.
Throughout the negation process, she said she told herself, "You keep it together. Your husband's life is in your hands."
She did receive advice from the FBI, even though it was against U.S. law to pay ransom to terrorists. She also hired a private firm to help in the negotiations.
Still, the final word was up to her as to what they did, a responsibility she said was difficult.
"Can you imagine? My word is the last word?" she said. "I have to decide ... I never held life and death in my hands."
When her husband was not released as promised, Weinstein turned to Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, but said they did nothing to help.
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