USS Cole bombing
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The USS Cole bombing was a suicide bombing attack against the guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) on October 12, 2000.
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The attack
On October 12, 2000, USS Cole came to the harbor of Aden, Yemen for a routine fuel stop. Cole completed mooring at 09:30. Refueling started at 10:30. At 11:18 local time (08:18 UTC), a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer, and an explosion occurred, putting a 40-by-40-foot (12 m-by-12 m) gash in the ship's port side. The crew fought flooding in the engineering spaces and had the damage under control by the evening. Divers inspected the hull and said the keel was not damaged.
Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others were injured in the blast. The injured sailors were taken to the United States Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near Ramstein, Germany, and later to the U.S.
The attack, organized by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist organization, was carried out by suicide bombers Ibrahim al-Thawr and Abdullah al-Misawa.
The destroyer's rules of engagement, as approved by the Pentagon, kept its guards from firing upon the small boat loaded with explosives as it neared them without first obtaining permission from the Cole's captain or another officer. Petty Officer John Washak said that right after the blast, a senior chief petty officer ordered him to turn an M-60 machine gun on the Cole's fantail away from a second small boat approaching. "With blood still on my face," he said, he was told: "That's the rules of engagement no shooting unless we're shot at." He added, "In the military, it's like we're trained to hesitate now. If somebody had seen something wrong and shot, he probably would have been court-martialed." Petty Officer Jennifer Kudrick said that if the sentries had fired on the suicide craft "we would have gotten in more trouble for shooting two foreigners than losing 17 American sailors."
USS Donald Cook and USS Hawes made best speed to arrive in the vicinity of Aden that afternoon providing repair and logistical support. Catawba, Camden, Anchorage, Duluth, and Tarawa arrived in Aden some days later, providing watch relief crews, harbor security, damage control equipment, billeting, and food service for the crew of Cole.
Image:MV Blue Marlin carrying USS Cole.jpg
In a form of transport pioneered in 1988 by the USS Samuel B. Roberts aboard the Mighty Servant 2, Cole was hauled from Aden aboard the Norwegian heavy semi-submersible salvage ship MV Blue Marlin (see Figure 2). She arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi December 24, 2000.
Previous attempt
One of the 2000 millennium attack plots, the attempted bombing of USS The Sullivans, is widely seen as a trial run of the Cole bombing. This attack failed when the bombers' boat, overloaded with explosives, began to sink.
Consequences and after-effects
President Bill Clinton declared, "If, as it now appears, this was an act of terrorism, it was a despicable and cowardly act. We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable". Some critics [1] [2] [3] [4] haved pointed out that, under U.S. law, an attack against a military target does not meet the legal definition of terrorism (see: 22 USC ยง 2656f(d)(2)).
On January 19, 2001, The Navy completed and released its Judge Advocate General Manual (JAGMAN) investigation of the incident, concluding that Cole's commanding officer "acted reasonably in adjusting his force protection posture based on his assessment of the situation that presented itself" when Cole arrived in Aden to refuel. The JAGMAN also concluded that "the commanding officer of Cole did not have the specific intelligence, focused training, appropriate equipment or on-scene security support to effectively prevent or deter such a determined, preplanned assault on his ship" and recommended significant changes in Navy procedures.
On November 3, 2002, the CIA fired a AGM-114 Hellfire missile from a Predator UAV at a vehicle carrying Abu Ali al-Harithi, a suspected planner of the bombing plot. Also in the vehicle was Ahmed Hijazi, a U.S. citizen. Both were killed. This operation was carried out on Yemeni soil, possibly with the cooperation of the Yemeni government.
On September 29, 2004, a Yemeni judge sentenced Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Jamal al-Badawi to death for their roles in the bombing. Al-Nashiri, believed to be the operation's mastermind, is currently being held by the U.S. at an undisclosed location. Al-Badawi, in Yemeni custody, denounced the verdict as "an American one." Four others were sentenced to prison terms of five to 10 years for their involvement, including one Yemeni who had videotaped the attack.
Deaths
- Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, 21, of Mechanicsville, Virginia.
- Electronics Technician Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, 35, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
- Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, of Woodleaf, North Carolina
- Information Systems Technician Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna, 21, of Rice, Texas
- Signalman Seaman Cherone Louis Gunn, 22, of Rex, Georgia
- Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, 19, of Norfolk, Virginia
- Engineman 2nd Class Marc Ian Nieto, 24, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
- Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class Ronald Scott Owens, 24, of Vero Beach, Florida
- Seaman Lakiba Nicole Palmer, 22, of San Diego, California
- Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett, 19, of Churchville, Maryland
- Fireman Patrick Howard Roy, 19, of Cornwall on Hudson, New York
- Electronics Warfare Technician 1st Class Kevin Shawn Rux, 30, of Portland, North Dakota
- Mess Management Specialist 3rd Class Ronchester Manangan Santiago, 22, Kingsville, Texas
- Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, 32, of Ringgold, Virginia
- Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., 26, Rockport, Texas
- Ensign Andrew Triplett, 31, of Macon, Mississippi
- Seaman Craig Bryan Wibberley, 19, of Williamsport, Maryland
External links
Categories: U.S. military history 1900-1999 | History of Yemen | Al-Qaeda activities | Suicide bombing
