The Courage of our Youth Was Witnessed in Aden (Part II)

USS COLE, YEMEN: (FILES) This US Navy file photo shows US Navy and Marine Corps security personnel patrolling past the damaged US Navy destroyer USS Cole 18 October 2000 following the 12 October 2000 terrorist bombing attack on the ship in Aden, Yemen. Abdel Rahim al-Nashiri and Jamal Mohammed al-Bedawi, the two Al-Qaeda suspects convicted for the bombing, were sentenced to death September 29, 2004 by a Yemeni court. Four other suspects were given ten years in prison. AFP PHOTO/US NAVY PHOTO/Lyle G. BECKER (Photo credit should read LYLE G. BECKER/AFP/Getty Images)

Part II: The Operations & The Investigation

The Sullivans

The attack on the USS Cole was not the first attempt to attack a US warship in Aden.  An attempt in January 2000 was discovered in the course of the Cole investigation when investigators showed a picture of al-Nashiri to some local fishermen.  Subsequent interrogations revealed that al-Nashiri decided to attack USS The Sullivans when he saw it enter the harbor on January 3, 2000.  The attack was to take place at night, and al-Nashiri got his men in place for the operation.  They put the boat into the water, while al-Nashiri drove to an advantageous spot to view the attack.

The Courage of our Youth Was Witnessed in Aden (Part I)

USS COLE, YEMEN: (FILES) This US Navy file photo shows US Navy and Marine Corps security personnel patrolling past the damaged US Navy destroyer USS Cole 18 October 2000 following the 12 October 2000 terrorist bombing attack on the ship in Aden, Yemen. Abdel Rahim al-Nashiri and Jamal Mohammed al-Bedawi, the two Al-Qaeda suspects convicted for the bombing, were sentenced to death September 29, 2004 by a Yemeni court. Four other suspects were given ten years in prison. AFP PHOTO/US NAVY PHOTO/Lyle G. BECKER (Photo credit should read LYLE G. BECKER/AFP/Getty Images)

Part I: The Setup

Introduction

The bombing of the USS Cole is a seminal event in the development of the war between al-Qaeda and the West and its allies, but it is an accident of history.  The explosion that ripped a hole in the side of one of America’s Arleigh Burke class destroyers at 11:17am on October 12, 2000, was supposed to happen many months earlier.  A strike on a US warship in the port of Aden had been planned for January 3, 2000, but, like other plots centered about the millennium, it failed.  An embarrassing miscalculation on the part of the plotters left their vessel and its deadly cargo stuck in the sand during low tide.