Summary:
US President Barack Obama's 'dithering' mission to Syria to rescue hostages and kill Islamic State militants was 'crippled', it has been claimed.

Full article:
By . Sharon Churcher For The Mail On Sunday . Dithering by Barack Obama was alleged last night to have doomed a last-ditch attempt to rescue British hostage David Haines and US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. US commandos started to plan the mission in June, calculating that they could land in Syria, kill the terrorists and evacuate the hostages in 20 minutes. But the mission was ‘crippled,’ according to The Wall Street Journal, when aides to President Obama said he would not approve surveillance flights over Syria to confirm the hostages’ location. Scroll down for video . An evacuation mission to Syria to rescue journalist James Foley was said to have been doomed by Barack Obama because he would not approve surveillance flights that would have confirmed the hostages' location . US spies reportedly had to question villagers about the hostages’ whereabouts, tipping off IS. Mr Obama and his defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, then took two days to approve the raid, a government official charged. When the commandos landed, the hostages had been moved. A spokesman for Mr Hagel said: ‘There was no artificial delay.’ Mr Obama and his defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, then took two days to approve the raid. By that time, the hostages had been moved .