New mission to rescue American hostages held by ISIS difficult but possible: US military experts

Former military sources in the United States have revealed that a rescue operation to free American hostages held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is still a possibility, even after a secret mission into Syria in July was revealed inadvertently.

Green Beret commander Lt. Col. Jim Gavrilis said that the U.S. may have lost some strategic surprise but tactical surprise is still possible and the possibility of conducting another raid cannot be ruled out, reported ABC News.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had revealed earlier that the U.S. had launched a "substantial and complex" operation into Syria several weeks ago to free hostages taken by the ISIS. The operation involved sneaking dozens of commandos into the heart of Syria. It was carried out without any glitches except that there were no hostages at the location, he added.

The report said that if the mission had been a success then it could have saved the lives of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who were beheaded by the ISIS recently.

However, the news left others within the special operations community aghast because they felt that the operation "potentially" compromised a future mission. A senior military official was quoted as saying that the operation has severely limited the options for conducting other hostage rescue missions.