Front Burner
Al Qaeda's Attack on the USS Cole
Kirk Lippold
- On
- October
- 12,
- 2000,
- eleven
- months
- before
- the
- 9/11
- attacks,
- the
- USS
- Cole
- docked
- in
- the
- port
- of
- Aden
- in
- Yemen
- for
- a
- routine
- fueling
- stop.
- At
- 1118,
- on
- a
- hot,
- sunny
- morning,
- the
- 8,400-ton
- destroyer
- was
- rocked
- by
- an
- enormous
- explosion.
- The
- ship's
- commander,
- Kirk
- Lippold,
- felt
- the
- ship
- violently
- thrust
- up
- and
- to
- the
- right,
- as
- everything
- not
- bolted
- down
- seemed
- to
- float
- in
- midair.
- Tiles
- tumbled
- from
- the
- ceiling,
- and
- the
- ship
- was
- plunged
- into
- darkness,
- beginning
- to
- sink.
- In
- a
- matter
- of
- moments
- Lippold
- knew
- that
- the
- Cole
- had
- been
- attacked.
- What
- he
- didn't
- know
- was
- how
- much
- the
- world
- was
- changing
- around
- him.
- The
- bombing
- of
- the
- Cole
- was
- al
- Qaeda's
- first
- direct
- assault
- against
- the
- United
- States
- and
- expanded
- their
- brazen
- and
- deadly
- string
- of
- terrorist
- attacks
- throughout
- the
- Middle
- East.
- In
- this
- gripping
- first-person
- narrative,
- Lippold
- reveals
- the
- details
- of
- this
- harrowing
- experience
- leading
- his
- crew
- of
- valiant
- sailors
- through
- the
- attack
- and
- its
- aftermath.
- Seventeen
- sailors
- died
- in
- the
- explosion
- and
- thirty-seven
- were
- wounded
- --
- but
- thanks
- to
- the
- valor
- of
- the
- crew
- in
- the
- perilous
- days
- that
- followed,
- the
- ship
- was
- saved.
- Yet
- even
- with
- al
- Qaeda's
- intentions
- made
- clear
- in
- an
- unmistakable
- act
- of
- war,
- the
- United
- States
- government
- delayed
- retaliating.
- Bureaucrats
- and
- politicians
- sought
- to
- shift
- and
- pin
- blame
- as
- they
- ignored
- the
- danger
- signaled
- by
- the
- attack,
- shirking
- responsibility
- until
- the
- event
- was
- ultimately
- overshadowed
- by
- 9/11.Front
- Burner
- captures
- a
- critical
- moment
- in
- America's
- battle
- against
- al
- Qaeda,
- telling
- a
- vital
- story
- that
- has
- --
- until
- now
- --
- been
- lost
- in
- the
- fog
- of
- the
- war
- on terror.
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