Video Tribute - USS Cole Bombing, 7 Years Ago Today

On October 12, 200, two Yemeni suicide bombers rammed an American destroyer, the USS Cole with a dingy that was full of explosives. The explosion killed 17 US sailors and injured 49. The Jawa Report has a fine summary post up today:

Lawrence Wright in The Looming Tower notes, “The FBI was convinced that the bombers had been tipped off about the arrival of the Cole, and they wanted to expand the investigation to include a member of the president’s own family and a colonel in the PSO.”

The Cole Bombing was often mentioned in connection to the Able Danger story:

The New York Post reported that Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s former liaison to Able Danger said Capt. Scott Phillpott, Able Danger’s leader, briefed Gen. Peter Schoomaker, former head of Special Operations Command about the findings on Yemen “two or three weeks” before the Cole attack. “Yemen was elevated by Able Danger to be one of the top three hot spots for al Qaeda in the entire world,” Shaffer said. (Me: Here's an Able Danger news article list on this blog.)

Here is a moving tribute to those sailors we lost in this terrorist attack:

The heroes who died in this monstrous al-Qaeda terrorist attack are:

Monique Francis, 19
Seaman Tim Gauna, 21
Signalman Seaman Recruit: Louis Gunn, 22
Ensign Andrew Triplett, 30
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronchester Santiago, 22
Seaman Craig Wibberley, 19
Electronics Warfare Technician First Class, Kevin Shawn Rux, 30
Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer, 22
Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, 21
Engineman 2nd Class Marc Nieto, 24
Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class, Ronald Scott Owens, 24
Electronics Technician 1st Class, Richard Costelow, 35
Fireman Apprentice Patrick Roy, 19
Engineman Fireman Joshua Parlett, 19
Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis, 26
Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, 19
Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, 32

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