Senior administration officials revealed on Wednesday, Aug. 20, that a Special Operations team had attempted to rescue several American hostages held in Syria earlier this summer, including the now-deceased journalist James Foley, but that the mission ended in failure, according to a New York Times release.
The revelation was made a day after a video was made public by the Islamic State terrorists in which one of their operatives beheaded one of the American hostages, James Foley.
The statement described the mission as a “complicated operation,” which was authorized by President Obama.
American intelligence agencies believed the hostages were being held in an area in Syria, but when several dozen special ops commandos were dropped at the location, the hostages were not there.
The American forces came under fire during the operation and one American was slightly injured, but all returned.
The exact time and location of the mission were not disclosed.
The statement of the officials confirmed that the video which became public on Tuesday, Aug. 19, showed the American freelance journalist James Foley being murdered by a Sunni terrorist.