Send the USS COLE TO BERUIT for all the world to see!

original to FP | 071506 | Sam Pender

[Blackrain4xmas]

Wouldn't it be WONDERFUL to see the USS Cole off the coast of Beruit providing protection for 25000 fleeing Americans?

I think that'd send a knife-like message to UBL, and those who got so much pr from attacking it.

It's in the area, and just did a port call in Greece a week or so ago.

I think in the War on Terror it'd be a great reminder of the USS Cole incident and as the world media reported its presence. Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, MSNBC, CBS, NYT....they'd all be compelled to report its signifigance, the attack done on it, and the effect of not responding to that attack.

It's the modern form of gunboat diplomacy for asymetric warfare.

It'd send a damn fine signal that America can be hit, but not sunk.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Send your comments and hopes that the USS Cole be positioned for the world to see off the coast of Beruit....to the President

comments@whitehouse.gov

[Valin]

I LOVE it!

[Frank_2001]

Excellent idea!!

[txroadhawg]

"...they'd all be compelled to report its signifigance, the attack done on it, and the effect of not responding to that attack."

dont count on it

[shellback_72]

For the memory of those sailors that were murdered aboard her, I support the notion as well.

[thinkthenpost]

I believe the Cole is in the Iwo Jima task force which is in the 6th Fleet"s AOR and I am sure the Cole will be involved in the evacuation of US citizens from Lebanon.

[tflabo]

Wouldn't it be WONDERFUL to see the USS Cole off the coast of Beruit providing protection for 25000 fleeing Americans?

More wonderful to see it off the coast of Iran lobbing cruise missiles on Ahmedinejads and mullahs heads.

[flynmudd]

The USS Cole is the ship all new Navy recruits want to be on. My son has put in his request to be stationed at Norfolk on the USS Cole. Guess I will know next week.

[LadyBuzz]

If I recall correctly - the USS Cole left for a 6 month deployment in the past month or so.

[LadyBuzz]

USS Cole Steams Back To Mideast
First Middle East Deployment For Ship Since 2000 Terrorist Attack In Yemen

NORFOLK, Va., June 8, 2006

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The USS Cole prepares to deploy, June 8, 2006. (AP Photo/Mort Fryman)






Quote

"He's going to be in dangerous situations and I just hope he'll be OK. Hopefully. He will. He better!"

---

Carie Holmes, about boyfriend Dane Clark


(CBS/AP) The USS Cole left port Thursday for its first Middle East deployment since a 2000 terrorist attack blew a hole in its side and killed 17 sailors.

Tears flowed, the hugs were extra long and tight, handshakes were especially firm as the ship and its crew of 320 pulled out, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Krasula (audio).

The Cole, along with five other ships and a submarine, left the East Coast to conduct security operations in support of the War on Terrorism.

While worried about their loved ones, many family members believe the Navy will do everything possible to protect the Cole from another terrorist attack.

"Cole, along with all the other ships in the strike group, are very well prepared to handle anything that happens," Cmdr. Bradley Roberson, the ship's commaning officer, said on CBS News' The Early Show Thursday.

Carie Holmes' boyfriend Dane Clark is serving on the Cole.

"He's going to be in dangerous situations and I just hope he'll be OK. Hopefully. He will. He better!" Holmes told Krasula.

A few hours before the Cole departed, crew members learned that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in a U.S. air strike, Roberson said.

"I think today's news shows that the struggle against terrorism is going to still continue on and be long. However, this is a path in the right direction," Roberson told Early Show co-anchor René Syler. "It shows that the troops over in Iraq are doing a great job, aided by the Iraqi people, and things are going well."

The Cole had been refueling in Yemen's port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000, when al Qaeda-linked militants in a dinghy packed with explosives attacked. The explosion blew a hole in the side of the destroyer, but it remained above water and eventually underwent $250 million of repairs.

The victims are memorialized by 17 gold stars embedded in the floor of the corridor leading to the ship's dining area, reports Krasula. Roberson calls the ship an "active national monument."

No sailors from the 2000 crew are still aboard the Cole, which is expected to be gone for six months.

"This is a very outstanding crew, very smart, very talented, very brave. A lot of them have volunteered to come to this ship," Roberson said.


©MMVI CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Fiddlstix]

Great Idea!

[popdonnelly]

Second that!

[Integrityrocks]

With a big sign on it saying: "And now we have bullets in our guns."

[BlessedBeGod]

Excellent idea! I love it!

[CindyDawg]

YES!

[krb]

I'd rather see the USS Reagan over there.

Methinks Reagan owes Beirut some paypack.

[Old Seadog]

[pandemoniumreigns]

"dont count on it"

I think that we could in this case...

"USS Cole" is almost a household name for most...

[DJ MacWoW]

Beautiful.

[Atlantic Bridge]

That was the Cole on her way to be repaired:

Cool transport (although the reason for it was sad of course)!