They could have just as easily used a friendly port in the U.A.E. like Jabal Ali, which we used freely during GW1. The more I hear about Zinni, the more I'm glad he's not an active duty Marine general.
Aden is quite a ways from Jebel Ali, but I am wondering if going into Aqabah Jordan, Djibouti, Muskat Oman, Hurghada Egypt wouldn't have been better. I think the truth of the matter is that the Cole went into Aden for only one reason, to show the flag.
But they SHOULD have simply refueled at sea {topped off requiring only minutes} from a USNS oiler. Second major blunder was placing a ship two days away from the rest of the fleet and alone. Third blunder was they were in fact aware of the danger they meaning State Department but the alert was not processed through the Pentagon and sent to the Captain of the COLE in time. That's what we get for letting the State Department be the overseer of such vital information. If Zinni had indeed retired three months prior then the responsibility fell elsewhere. Those orders could have been changed at any point. IIRC Franks was in charge.
Refueling in Yemen was a political move and like many still ongoing blunders was bad judgment from the Pentagon. The same type of blunder equal to PUEBLO and LIBERTY. The COLE attack is the reason we should not be using the UAE for yard work and berthing our carriers pier side there.
The COLE attack wasn't just a lucky hit and someone knew precisely where to detonate for maximum damage. D.I.W. is as bad as it gets next to sinking for a ship. The crews heroic efforts and Navy Damage Control Training served them well to save the ship under the circumstances.
So where could a M.E. terrorist learn the layout of a ship such as the Cole? In the UAE shipyards would be my first guess. Now keep in mind our so called ally Yemen has managed to allow an escape of those who masterminded the COLE bombing. Our government being the good friend to Yemen it is did not demand via military threat if necessary the surrender of custody of those responsible for the bombing once they were located. Why weren't they in GITMO facing a military tribunal? We'll never get those answers as long as the State Department continues to be the guiding force behind our M.E. military operations.