the cole
Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the al Qaeda bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.
I was struck, after watching 'The Cole Conspiracy' on the History Channel, about the lack of a Federal response to the bombing of the Cole. The attack occurred in the early morning hours in Aden, Yemen on October 12, 2000 and yet the sailors of the Cole were alone to fend for themselves for three days. Three nights they slept out on the top deck. They bailed water. They cared for their injured. They mourned their dead.
For three days.
People have been extremely critical of Bush in the wake of Katrina, even though it was local and state officials in Louisiana who dropped the ball. Why hasn't former President Clinton ever been criticized for ignoring the Cole?
My questions:
Why send the Cole to Yemen--a hotbed of al Qaeda--to refuel? It's tantamount to a suicide mission.
Why weren't other ships in the region dispatched to aid the Cole?
Why weren't Delta Force or Navy Seals immediately shuttled into Yemen to salvage the Cole, rescue the crew and treat the injured?
Why did Clinton, in his statement immediately after the attack, urge Americans not to 'rush to judgement' about the identity of the perpetrators of this act of terror? Everyone, from my milkman to Clinton himself, knew al Qaeda was behind the attack. It wasn't hard to figure out.
I was struck, after watching 'The Cole Conspiracy' on the History Channel, about the lack of a Federal response to the bombing of the Cole. The attack occurred in the early morning hours in Aden, Yemen on October 12, 2000 and yet the sailors of the Cole were alone to fend for themselves for three days. Three nights they slept out on the top deck. They bailed water. They cared for their injured. They mourned their dead.
For three days.
People have been extremely critical of Bush in the wake of Katrina, even though it was local and state officials in Louisiana who dropped the ball. Why hasn't former President Clinton ever been criticized for ignoring the Cole?
My questions:
Why send the Cole to Yemen--a hotbed of al Qaeda--to refuel? It's tantamount to a suicide mission.
Why weren't other ships in the region dispatched to aid the Cole?
Why weren't Delta Force or Navy Seals immediately shuttled into Yemen to salvage the Cole, rescue the crew and treat the injured?
Why did Clinton, in his statement immediately after the attack, urge Americans not to 'rush to judgement' about the identity of the perpetrators of this act of terror? Everyone, from my milkman to Clinton himself, knew al Qaeda was behind the attack. It wasn't hard to figure out.
posted by Kent at 6:26 PM
3 Comments:
As a retired Sailor, that one hit me pretty squarely when it happened. I was still in the Navy at the time, and had just returned to the States from the Middle East myself.
And what was done? This was just one example of CLinton's inaction, which lead us to where we are right now.
This is really the forgotten action in the whole terrorism package. People will vaguely remember the bombing of the trade towers, definitely remember 9/11, Madrid, London, several embassies, but forget about the Cole.
As much as I hate to admit it, I agree, the Dem's blew this one. I believe I read somewhere and believe that Clinton wanted to do more but was influenced by two factors:
1. "Tail wagging the dog" criticism from the right (Im sure at the time Kent you would have accused Clinton of this). That date is significant also in that its about three weeks before election day. That spin would have run and the fiasco(I harbor no bitterness about who won, but at the system that let it happen that way) of Election 2000 would have been a Bush landslide.
2.Passifist Liberals similar but not entirely like myself who dissauded action (my passifism generally ends where an outright attack on a military vessel begins).
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