The USA will do nothing to help them, and they face death. This sounds a bit exaggerated. The US Government will generally make a good effort to bring back eve

The USA will do nothing to help them, and they face death. This sounds a bit exaggerated. The US Government will generally make a good effort to bring back even its own civilian citizens trapped in foreign lands (i.e. the reporters in North Korea). It seems unlikely that the government would not do that and more for its own covert operatives. One might argue that the government would sacrifice its own agents so as not to attract attention to their presence, but once the agent is captured the jig is already up, so to speak. As for press attention, I'm sure most governments can figure out how to arrange the return of a single person without involving the public in it.