Navy SEALs conducted a raid last month to rescue two professors, an American and Australian, in Kabul, but missed them by several hours because the White House couldn’t make up its mind.

While the raid in eastern Afghanistan ended up with seven enemy fighters dead, the hostages were gone, Fox News reports. Thankfully, no special operators died in the operation.

U.S. special forces had wanted to conduct the mission earlier, but ended up aborting the attempt after the White House dallied on issuing approval. When the White House finally did come to a decision, the hostages, who were likely kidnapped by the Haqqani network Aug. 7, had been moved elsewhere.

“It didn’t go the way it was supposed to go,” one official said.

Three defense officials told Fox News the White House held off giving approval because of apparent intelligence concerns and disputes among different government agencies.

SEALs were in the air on the way to the mission, but had to turn around and head back to base.

“They turned back that first night because they didn’t have authority. They could have gone without permission if they thought hostages’ lives were in imminent danger,” one official said.

President Barack Obama signed off on the operation the next day, but officials said the delay cost the operation. The hostages were moved just a few hours before.

Now, the intelligence community is not confident on where the hostages remain. The professors were teaching at the American University of Afghanistan before they were abruptly kidnapped, making this incident the first ever abduction at the university. The professors were driving just outside the university when they were stopped and taken. A few days prior to the kidnapping, the Taliban targeted a group of Western tourists in western Afghanistan, injuring five of them. Fortunately, the tourists were evacuated to Herat.

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