From Wills Robinson, Mail Online
The White House allegedly knew the location of James Foley and other hostages in Syria five weeks before the failed rescue mission was given the go-ahead.
According to Fox News, officials from the Obama Administration knew where the journalist, who was beheaded by ISIS, and other British and American hostages were being held in May.
However the mission to try and extract them was delayed until early July – prompting questions the set back was unnecessary.
The source told the station: ‘We had a lot of really good information on where they were being held, very specific information.’
They added that hostages were only moved between a handful of locations because they felt the city of Raqqa was so secure.
The group of British and American hostages were even said to have been held in one location for three weeks.
A former military official also told the station that when the team ‘finally did go’ they felt the intelligence was ‘drying up’.
Diane Foley, James’ mother, has always believed that there was information about her son’s location long before the rescue attempt.
She has maintained that the effort came too late, but admits it was a problematic mission because it was dangerous.
Foley was killed in a graphic propaganda video released in August by the terrorist organization, which calls itself the Islamic State – but new details from his two years in captivity are still emerging.
The 40-year-old from Rochester, New Hampshire, was captured not far from the Syrian border with Turkey in 2012 by a small jihadist group which would later swear fealty to ISIS.
Following his death, White House counterterrorism adviser told the press: ‘The U.S. government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the president authorized the Department of Defense to move aggressively to recover our citizens.
‘Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present.’
Foley was killed in a graphic propaganda video released in August by the terrorist organization, which calls itself the Islamic State. Questions have been raised as to why the rescue mission was delayed
National Security Council spokesman Bernadette Meehan told Fox on Monday: ‘U.S. forces conducted this operation as soon as the President and his national security team were confident the mission could be carried out successfully and consistent with our policies for undertaking such operations.’
Initially dozens of Western captives were held together, but ISIS began to release those whose governments would pay large ransoms for them.
Eventually only Britons and Americans – whose governments refuse to pay out – were left, and the regime grew harsher.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2819743/Obama-administration-knew-James-Foley-held-FIVE-WEEKS-failed-rescue-mission-Explosive-claims-question-attempt-save-hostages-unnecessarily-delayed.html#ixzz3I4WL2oOw
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