A Hole at the Water Line
These and other questions may lead to a broader inquiry. One key question: Should a U.S. Navy ship have been in Yemen in the first place? Despite warming ties with Washington, Yemen is still viewed by the State Department as a haven for terrorists. But that didn't stop the Pentagon from cutting a deal with Yemen 15 months ago to conduct refuelings in the Aden harbor. "When Aden opened up," says one Navy officer who was in the region at the time, "we were all on pins and needles." But Navy ships have refueled there about a dozen times since last year. Such partnerships are part of the Clinton administration's "engagement" policy, which includes military ties with dozens of countries that are something less than thriving democracies. "The question is, why are we doing port calls in places like this?" wonders another defense official who has traveled throughout the region. As with other matters in the Middle East, the answers may be about as evanescent as the region's shifting sands.
Anatomy of an attack
A small boat packed with explosives blew a hole in the USS Cole on October 12. The blast ripped through an engine room and an auxiliary machine room.
The USS Cole
Guided-missile destroyer
Commissioned: June 8, 1996
Length: 505 feet
Crew capacity: 325
Armament: Tomahawk missiles, antiaircraft and antiship missiles, aegis air-defense system, Phalanx close-in weapon system for self-defense.
[Graphic labels:]
Missile launch tubes; Engine room; Auxiliary machine room; Missile launch tubes
Sources: U.S. Navy; Federation of American Scientists
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