Remember The USS Cole

[Dos]

Today is the fifth anniversary of the U.S.S. Cole bombing. Please take a moment to note the event on your blogs today if you have a chance. Stars and Stripes pays tribute to the 17 sailors killed in the terrorist attack, the dozens wounded, the survivors, and the families affected. Command Master Chief James Parlier will never forget the decision he was forced to make in leaving a mortally wounded sailor to die:

“That’s the first time in my Navy career that I had to let someone die, so I did,” Parlier said. “I made the call. I said last rites. I said a prayer and then we put him on the side somewhere so he wouldn’t be in a position where he was dying in front of the crew and demoralizing the crew.”
What did demoralize the crew was Yemenis celebrating the attack in view of Cole crewmembers for a couple of nights following the attack, Parlier said. They felt the Cole was their trophy, he said.

“Boy, that sticks [with me], seeing all these guys in white outfits jumping up and down, partying music blaring,” he said.

For the Cole’s sailors, it was tough not to retaliate, he said.

The Cole incident was one of a series of terrorist attacks in the 1990s that were not adequately answered by the United States, said Marc Genest, an associate professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College.

“Measured responses against terrorist organizations are seen as a sign of weakness, not strength,” he said.

Genest said the overall lesson from the Cole is that not responding to terrorists’ attacks only emboldens them.

“The time to attack terrorists is at the very beginning of their strategy,” he said.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?...&article=32172

[boutons]

"at the very beginning of their strategy"

easier said than done. eg: Afghanistan. After 9/11, the US hit the Taliban fast and hard, "un-measured", but the Taliban and jihadis are still running around and killing US + allies in Afghanistan 4 years later. Iran is untouched, Syria is untouched, and both are supporting the Iraqi insurgency. dubya talks tough about countries harboring/supporting terrorists, but he does nothing about them. He's a cheap-talk, loose-lips bull ting faker.

And just who, where was the US supposed to hit "un-measuredly" in the days after the Cole attack? Massacre a bunch of dancing Yemenis? Were they they actual terrorists?

Macho Man Reagan turned and ran after the Marine barracks blast in Lebanon.
Who, where was he supposed to hit?

Clinton didn't respond to Khobar Towers attack.
Who, where was he supposed to hit?

That's why Genest is an academic instead of a combat commander.

[Marcus Bryant]

Oh gee, I don't know, how about the same group that bombed 2 US embassies in 1998?

Clinton was too worried about scoring some trim, I guess.

[Winehole23]

Supreme Court divided over award to USS Cole sailors over the manner of notification:

The dispute centres on Sudan’s contention that it was not properly notified of the lawsuit when the claims were delivered in 2010 to its embassy in Washington rather than to its minister of foreign affairs in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, as required by U.S. and international law.

The administration of President Donald Trump agreed with Sudan, saying the case could impact how the U.S. government is treated by foreign courts since the United States rejects judicial notices delivered to its embassies.

Some justices appeared sensitive to the government’s arguments. Trump’s newest appointee to the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, suggested that a lawyer for the sailors, Kannon Shanmugam, was downplaying the problem despite a major international treaty on diplomatic relations.

“The United States and all the countries in the Vienna Convention all seem to say, actually, it is a big deal,” Kavanaugh said.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-us...-idUKKCN1NC2LY

[boutons_deux]

"in the Vienna Convention all seem to say, actually, it is a big deal,"

intellectual heavy hitter showing the court his gravity

K is a bag bullied onto the oligarchy's SCOTUS which now a total farce.

[Winehole23]

20th anniversary

[Winehole23]

Bomber's confession thrown out as being derived from torture.

[Thread]

Bomber's confession thrown out as being derived from torture.

Yep, this country has nothing on Russia and that's for damn sure: Ruby Ridge, Waco. If McVeigh hadn't a evened those 2 events up I would be flat eared & tight lipped.

[Thread]

I thought I'd check some assholes and found out that when the USS Cole was hit, President Clinton was ing that fat Polish girl like trout meat.

Let us proceed...