Reply #15: Was is the 7th-month anniversary of BushCo finding out... [View All]

[krispos42]

... that Osama Bin Laden (where is he, anyway) and Al-Qaeda blew up the USS Cole? You know, when 17 sailors were killed on and 38 wounded on October 12, 2000?


Oh, wait... silly me. Vice-President Cheney was briefed that is was definately Al-Qaeda on Febuary 9th, 2001, not Febuary 11th, 2001.

Oh, and who can forget this?

According to Dr. Rice, the decision not to respond militarily to the Cole bombing was President Bush's. She said he "made clear to us that he did not want to respond to al Qaeda one attack at a time. He told me he was 'tired of swatting flies.'" The administration instead began work on a new strategy to eliminate al-Qaeda.

Both the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration have been criticized for failing to respond militarily to the attack on the USS Cole before September 11, 2001. The 9-11 Commission Report cites one source who said in February 2001, " complained frequently that the United States had not yet attacked ... Bin Ladin wanted the United States to attack, and if it did not he would launch something bigger."

On February 3, 2006, 23 suspected or convicted Al-Qaeda members escaped from jail in Yemen. This number included 13 who were convicted of the USS Cole bombings and the bombing of the French tanker Limburg in 2002. Among those who reportedly escaped was Al-Badawi. Al-Qaeda's Yemeni number two Abu Assem al-Ahdal may also be among those now on the loose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing