October 12, 2000 :: The U.S.S. Cole Incident
Five years ago today, the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole was the watershed event that never was.
But because 2000 is an election year. An incident, on the other side of the world, with less than 100 total causalties does not rate as a news item.
I’d argue that this pre-strike in the then-undeclared War on Terror was the first al-Qaeda attack on the United States. It was easily the first time we heard of the name Osama Bin Laden.
Looking at a Timeline of Terror, the Cole incident was a major event.
But history now shows that this incident was not enough to wake the sleeping lion of the United States. (Or at least the major media, as Malkin suggests) It took a larger, more deadly event to wake up a sleeping America.
One peice of inspiring news from this event was the fact that after such a cripling attack, the U.S.S. Cole was repaired and put back in service in the U.S. Navy as a destroyer.
One peice of depressing news, is the United States falling asleep again?
See Also: Michelle Malkin
I would argue that a significant portion of the country never woke up in the first place.
First, there is a (thankfully) small group that just doesn’t give a damn about anything but themselves. I remember sitting next to two women at a restaurant on 9-11 as they complained about how the local mall closing (remember most public gathering places briefly closed followig the attacks) interfered with their shopping plans. This, as we wondered if tens of thousands of people had just been killed.
Next there is a sizeable group that believed only in retribution against the immediate attackers, i.e. al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Supporting this was a no-brainer, which is why it got broad support. For someone with neither the time nor the interest in looking at the big picture this was as far as the WOT needed to go.
Lastly, we have the group that looks at the broader picture. They know that it isn’t enough to stop the men that attacked us, but all the others now emboldened to do so. It isn’t enough to make life hard for terrorists in Afghanistan – life needs to be hard for terrorists across the globe. It isn’t enough to kill a terrorist – we need to discredit the very idea of enforcing strict Islamist rule across the world.
Sadly, the non-stop barrage of stories about how the US is the source of all evil have diminished the ranks of the third group. In the face of constant ridicule and an occasionally incompetent enemy some people’s resolve weakens. “Maybe I *am* overreacting,” they think. The most damaging blow was the WMD fiasco in Iraq. By building the WMD threat up to an absurd level just to get UN “approval”, it made it all the more damaging when they weren’t found. Not stating plainly the *real* reasons to go into Iraq makes justifying the war and our continued presence even more difficult. Even I, a supporter of OIF, can’t deny that the public was mislead.
I don’t know the right answer. If there’s one thing I think the government has fallen short on it’s working to engage the citizenry. They may be doing the right things, but sometimes that isn’t enough. They need to communicate more and establish realistic expectations for the ongoing conflict.
There, you asked for $.02 and you got a dollar;)
Comment by Neil — October 12, 2005 @ 7:18:40 PM
Excellent insight Neil.
The curious part of me is always asking myself “Why do the people fall into the groups that they do?”
We all have the same access to information.
Granted some are more curious than others.
But what makes people in the first group come to the conclusion that there is no threat (or no threat to them) and what makes people in your third group perceive a threat?
Or is it something more fundamental than that?
Comment by Jeremy — October 13, 2005 @ 4:58:56 AM
We all have access to the same info on brain surgery too, but that doesn’t mean we can sort through it, comprehend it, and act on it.
Comment by Cisco — October 13, 2005 @ 11:41:38 AM
But we don’t have a segment of the population saying that brain surgery is only done by cooks and witch doctors. Nor do we have a segment which beleives that brain surgery is the end all to be all of medicine, ie. brain surgery can cure a kidney stone.
Comment by Jeremy — October 14, 2005 @ 8:20:10 AM
Wha? In this regard I really do equate government to doctors, lawyers, etc (and to many people auto mechanics fall in the same boat). They are all dealing in something that most people cannot or don’t want to fathom. And then when we need them, we are suspicious of them because they are in a position of power. “Doctor” probably weren’t the best example, because they actually tend to help people in fairly obvious ways. But there’s not a lot of love for lawyers and auto mechanics out there. And they only affect our lives when something goes wrong. Politicians are constantly trying to make change or stop change which affects our lives every day. This is why they are seen as either devils or saviours by segments of the population. When in truth they are usually neither.
In the end, the electorate can’t realistically know enough to make an informed decision. The best we can do is pick a person we trust to represent us in the way we think we might represent ourselves. And how do we know who to pick? Well we don’t do we? We listen, read the record, and take a stab. None of us have met these people. None of us have grown up with these people. In this way, the electorate’s decisions are a lot like the Miers confirmation, eh?
Now I’m depressed. Politics always sounds so hopeless when I start to think about it this way.
Comment by Cisco — October 14, 2005 @ 9:44:51 AM
Ah, I think I see. You are suggesting there is some level of innocent paranoia in effect. Though, paranoia is probably a poor term, but for lack of a better one, I’ll continue using it:
That could explain the segmentation of Neil’s observation above.
In Neil’s case, the less paranoid are the ones who felt put off with all the inconvenience, while the more paranoid see terrorism as a global threat that needs to be extinguished.
In the mechanic model, the more paranoid would distrust the mechanic/lawyer/politican model, while the less paranoid would be more trusting. (both profiles might have more or less knowledge about Zen and the art of Motorcycle Repair, but for each that trait might either fuel or deter that trust.)
I think I answered my own question.
Comment by Jeremy — October 14, 2005 @ 10:26:19 AM
I humbly submit the following:
America Wake Up!America WAKE UP!
03/26/03
U.S. Navy Capt Dan Ouimette
XO of NAS, Pensacola
This Speech Originally Published in Pensacola Civitan – February 2002
America WAKE UP! That’s what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001,
and maybe it was, but I think it should have been “Get Out of Bed!” In fact, I
think the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit
the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since
then.
It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious
and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the
American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American
soil; it was an attack that held the world’s most powerful country hostage and
paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign US embassy set the stage
for the events to follow for the next 23 years. America was still reeling from
the aftermath of the Viet Nam experience and had a serious threat from the
Soviet Union when then, President Carter, had to do something. He chose to
conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin,
but stood as a symbol of America’s inability to deal with terrorism. America’s
military had been decimated and downsized / right sized since the end of the
Viet Nam war. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military
was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.
Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed
throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens
living and working abroad.
The attacks against US soil continued. In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed
with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut. When it
explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm went off again and America hit the
Snooze Button once more.
Then just six short months later a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500
pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters
in Beirut. 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead and hit the
Snooze Button once more.
Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is
driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.
The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gates of
the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.
Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a
restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.
Then in August a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate
of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the Snooze Alarm is
buzzing louder and louder as US soil is continually attacked.
Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we
watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and
executed.
The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they
bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4, and the most tragic bombing,
Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259.
America wants to treat these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still
trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war…the Wake Up
alarm is louder and louder.
The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA
agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a
rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking garage
of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and over 1000
are injured.
Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is depressed
again.
Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.
A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards
from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar
Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500.
The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not
respond decisively.
They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. These attacks were planned with precision;
they kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to
sleep.
The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October
2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US
Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the FBI to
investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think
this was the first attack against US soil or in America. How wrong they are.
America has been under a constant attack since 1979 and we chose to hit the
snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.
In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official
in government over what they knew and what they didn’t know. But if you’ve read
the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly that they
knew. You don’t have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security
Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979.
The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a war. I think we have
been in a war for the past 23 years and it will continue until we as a people
decide enough is enough. America has to “Get out of Bed” and act decisively
now. America has changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and
make the
sacrifice to ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to hit the
Snooze Button again and roll over and go back to sleep.
We have to make the terrorists know that in the words of Admiral Yamamoto after
the attack on Pearl Harbor “that all they have done is to awaken a sleeping
giant.”
Thank you very much.
Comment by Condor — October 26, 2005 @ 10:37:47 PM