Re the USS Cole, October 12, 2000: (Note Clinton, Gore, Albright and Bush remarks in particular!!)
If SI was working with a decent search engine right now, you could reference Stock Talk Search, and find out exactly what I said.... I know I, and most people here, were appalled that our government didn't do more about this very bad attack on American soil....(ships and Embassies are considered American soil....)
If you can find my comments on STSearch, please let me know...SI's Dogpile is not working, and Metacrawler is not just another pile of $$$^&*(....
However, I did look back in some saved news emails I sent myself....Here's what I found....And notice what Clinton, Gore, Albright and GW Bush said (this was a month before the Election, and 2 months before it was settled)....then see what response was made....and ask yourself if "not much except words" was enough response....Evidently OBL didn't think it was a strong response either......
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States voiced outrage on Thursday over an apparent suicide bomb attack on a U.S. Navy Warship in the Yemeni port of Aden that killed four American salors injured 36 and left 12 others missing.
``If, as it now appears, it was an act of terrorism it was a despicable and cowardly act,'' said President Clinton in his first public comments about the attack.
U.S. defense officials, who asked not to be identified, said two men aboard a small boat helping the USS Cole with mooring lines stood
to attention just before the blast, which ripped a hole the size of a house in the side of the warship.
Navy officials said two other American warships were being sent into Aden from the Gulf on Friday to help with damage control and other work on the Cole.
The attack coincides with a new bout of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Anti-U.S. sentiments are running high in much of the Arab world over Washington's perceived support of Israel in the latest round of fighting.
Clinton said if the Yemen blast was a terroris act, those responsible would be held accountable, warning that such attacks would not stop the United States from its role in trying to broker peace in the Middle East.
``If their intention was to deter us from our mission of promoting peace and security in the Middle East they will fail utterly,'' Clinton the reporters.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the United States would not be cowed by such incidents.
``If it turns out as it appears, to have been a terrorist attack we will hold those who committed it accountable and take appropriate steps,'' Albright said, saying the United States was using ``all its resources'' to find out what happened.
She added Washington would take all measures to protect its people, but added: ``It does not mean we can crawl into an ostrich-like mode. We are eagles.''
The State Department said it would reiterate an Oct. 4 warning against travel to troubled parts of the West Bank and Yemen and reminded all Americans abroad of the risk of violence related to Middle East conflict.
The last major attack on U.S. targets was in August 1998 when twin blasts rocked the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 250 people.
NO RESPONSIBILITY CLAIM
No one has claimed responsibility for the Yemen attack.
Early reports indicated that a rubber raft loaded with explosives had rammed into the huge warship, but Navy Lt. Cmdr. Cate Mueller said later from the Pentagon that the blast may have occurred away from the side of the ship.
``The explosion apparently occurred on a small boat that was assisting the Cole with mooring lines,'' said Mueller.
The hole, on the water line on the left, port side of the Cole, measured 20 feet by 40 feet and caused it to list after water gushed into the lower decks.
The United States is sending an anti-terrorism team to Yemen to investigate the explosion, said P.J. Crowley, National Security Council spokesman at the White House.
He said the United States was dispatching investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and a Marine ''FAST'' team -Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team -- that was already in the region.
White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Clinton had spoken to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Thursday, seeking to prevent violence from escalating in the Middle East. Clinton also planned to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak later in the day.
Violence increased in the West Bank on Thursday after two Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinians.
Israeli attack helicopters fired at targets near Arafat's Gaza headquarters and witnesses reported hearing seven explosions. The headquarters itself was not hit.
Clinton condemned the murder of two Israeli soldiers on the West Bank and urged Palestinians and Israelis to undertake an immediate cease-fire.
GORE, BUSH WEIGH IN
Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Al Gore, extended his condolences to the relatives of those killed in the attack on the USS Cole and said he would go to the White House to take part in crisis discussions on the Middle East.
``If it is determined to be the result of a terrorist operation, those responsible should know that the United States will not rest until the
perpetrators are held accountable,'' the vice president said from the campaign trail.
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush said he was saddened and angered by the``cowardly attack.''
``I hope we can gather enough intelligence to figure out who did the act and take appropriate action. There must be a consequence,'' the
Texas governor said.
Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a prominent member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a Vietnam veteran, said the United States would respond robustly to the Aden attack, which he said appeared to be linked to the violence in Israel.
``I believe the USA has the intelligence capability-- we will find out and when we do a very high price will be paid by those who perpetrated this outrage,'' McCain told CNN. |
