Replies

Let's not forget this one...

April 2004, Failing the USS Cole, how Bill Clinton ignored threats made by Osama bin Laden towards U.S. ships.

Oct 12 2000 - Transcript of Albright remarks
Q: Madame Secretary, I was reading the description of Yemen in our latest terrorist report, and I'm wondering why this country was ever taken off the terrorist list when there are groups like the Islamic Jihad; Hamas has an office there; Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- all of these apparently still have a presence there. Osama bin Laden has a presence there. Why was this country removed or not put back on the list of terrorist-sponsoring states when a country like North Korea, which has no terrorists, as far as I know, is still on the list?

Sec. Albright: Well, as you know, we're very careful in determining how that list is put together. And there are a variety of considerations in it, and we obviously felt that there was a reason to.

Oct 15 2000 - Sandy Berger interview with Tim Russert of NBC's "Meet the Press"

Mr. Russert: What is concerning to many Americans is why this ship refueled in Yemen. The State Department -- I'll show you here on our screen -- last year put out advisories saying, "Lax and inefficient enforcement of security procedures and the government's inability to exercise authority over remote areas of Yemen continue to make the country a safe haven for terrorist groups." Why would we refuel a U.S. Navy ship in a country that the State Department says is a safe haven for terrorists?

Mr. Berger: Well, first, there's a geography element here. As you take ships from the Mediterranean to the Gulf, they have to refuel. There are a limited number of places where they can refuel. This entire area is a high threat area. The military has taken substantial steps in this area. Twenty-five ships refueled here in the last 18 months without incident. Obviously we'll have to find out what, if anything, happened in this particular case. But this entire area is an area I think would be described as a high threat, high risk area.

NY Times - Nov 5 2000 - Bin Laden Is Reported 'Satisfied' by Cole Hit

Cnn - November 11 2000 - Yemeni sources cite at least 3 failed plots prior to Cole bombing - terrorists linked to UBL

CNN - NOV 24 2000 - Yemen president: Boat used in Cole attack bought in Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday, Yemeni Prime Minister Abdel Karim al-Iriyani told CNN that one of the bombers had been identified as a Saudi citizen with Yemeni family ties who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He said both suicide bombers were from Yemeni families from the province of Hadhramaut, which borders Saudi Arabia.

The province is also the home of the family of fugitive Saudi Osama bin Laden, an accused terrorist suspected by U.S. officials to have ordered the bombing of the Cole. Officials admit, however, they have no proof of a bin Laden connection to the bombing.

Yemen Times - Nov 20 2000 - A USS Cole Suspect Involved in US Embassy Blast In Nairobi

CNN - DEC 7 2000 - U.S. finds link between bin Laden and Cole bombing
Since the October bombing in the port of Aden, U.S. and Yemeni investigators have said they suspect the attack might have been orchestrated by Al Qaeda, the organization headed by bin Laden dedicated to driving Americans and other Westerners out of the Persian Gulf region.

NYTimes - NOV 23 2000 - 2 Saudis, With Ties to bin Laden, Linked to Cole Attack
Yemen's prime minister said today that the investigation into the attack on the American destroyer last month had identified the bombers as two Saudi citizens with Yemeni family roots who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

The two men have personal profiles so closely parallel to that of Osama bin Laden, whom the Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking on terror charges, that Yemeni investigators have concluded that Mr. bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian whose family also hails from Yemen, was at least indirectly involved in the attack. So far, though, they have no proof.

Mr. bin Laden has been in hiding in Afghanistan for several years. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Manhattan for his role in the embassy bombings, and the United States has offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

Yemeni officials and West European diplomats say that Mr. bin Laden was spotted in Sana in April 1998, two years after he had fled Saudi Arabia for Sudan and, later, Afghanistan.

The report of Mr. bin Laden's trip to Sana could not be confirmed with F.B.I. officials, and Clinton administration officials have denied it. But if the trip occurred, it appears that Mr. bin Laden traveled about 1,350 miles to Yemen from his hiding place in Afghanistan without stumbling on any of the international tripwires set up to apprehend him.

Washington Post, Dec 24 2000, Planned Jan. 2000 Attacks Failed or Were Thwarted Plot Targeted U.S., Jordan, American Warship, Official -- Richard Clarke interview

http://tinyurl.com/bzngq

Yemen Gateway - DEC 12, 2001 - Bin Laden planned attacking ships since 1997
According to the New York Times, the letter, written in late 1997, is not addressed to anyone by name, but includes general instructions for an attack on American ships off the coast of Aden. Its existence and contents have not been confirmed by the FBI.

The 1997 date suggests that Bin Laden had been planning an attack before American warships began visiting Aden and before the US switched its refuelling from Djibouti to Aden. If true, this would suggest that the bombing of USS Cole was not motivated specifically by the American military presence in Yemen (see Yemen and the US).

Washington Times - SEP 2 2003 - Richard Miniter is the author of "Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror." The excerpts are from that book
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was also against a counterstrike; but for diplomatic reasons. "We're desperately trying to halt the fighting that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinians," Albright said. [Richard] Clarke recalls her saying, "Bombing Muslims wouldn't be helpful at this time." Some two weeks earlier, Ariel Sharon had visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which touched off a wave of violence known as the "second Intifada" and threatened to completely destroy the Clinton Administration's hopes for Middle East peace settlement.

In the end, for a variety of reasons, the principals were against Mr. Clarke's retaliation plan by a margin of seven to one against. Mr. Clarke was the sole one in favor. Bin Laden would get away, again.