The parents of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist missing in Syria, urged the Donald Trump administration to talk directly with the Syrian regime about their son after John Bolton’s recent memoir alleged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo disapproved of the president’s plan to do so.
“We continue to walk the labyrinth of bureaucracy in which the President is calling for engagement, and the State Department maintains an unyielding stance of non-engagement with Syria,” Marc and Debra Tice told Al-Monitor in emailed comments.