U.S.

Chilling Anniversary For USS Cole

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 12, 2001 / 8:31 AM EDT / CBS

A memorial to 17 sailors killed in last year's attack on the USS Cole was dedicated
Friday at the guided missile destroyer's home port in Virginia, as the U.S. military waged war on groups believed responsible for the attack.

Rear Adm. John Foley, commander of Naval surface forces, said the destroyer, since repaired, would join other ships sent from Norfolk, Virginia, to wage the U.S.-led war on terrorism and avenge a bombing believed linked to the Sept. 11 attacks on
New York and Washington.

"May God keep safe the families of our fallen shipmates, and the crew now in USS Cole, for they have their ship back afloat, and the 'Determined Warrior' will soon join the fight in our continuing war on terrorism," he said.

"The terrorist attacks will never be forgotten, nor will they deter us," Foley said.

A year ago to the day, two men in a small craft laden with about 500 pounds of explosives blew a hole in the side of the Cole as it was refueling in port in Aden, Yemen, nearly sinking one of the U.S. Navy's most sophisticated warships.

Six suspects await trial for their alleged roles in the bombing, although the suspected mastermind -- Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden -- remains on a U.S. most-wanted fugitive list.

In memory of sailors lost in the attack, the Navy dedicated a memorial of 17 evenly spaced rectangular stones arrayed like a sundial. Japanese black pine trees were planted for each of the sailors and the 11 children they left behind. The monument also pays tribute to the 37 sailors injured in the attack and the crew members who saved the Norfolk-based destroyer from sinking.

During the dedication ceremony, honor guards placed wreaths at the memorial for each of the fallen shipmates as their names were read out. A ship's bell was rung once for each sailor.

Relatives of sailors killed in the attack said they could not be certain about links between the Cole bombing and suicide attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, but supported military action in the U.S. war on terrorism.

"Whoever did this ought to pay for it," said Sherman Saunders, an Army veteran from Danville, Virginia, whose cousin died on the Cole. "Justice needs to reign here. Justice needs to prevail here. We need to make sure that these types of acts never happen again."

The hunt for the mastermind has found new urgency as the United States cranks up its war on terrorism.

Six suspects in the attack on the USS Cole in Aden harbor are awaiting trial, but the one man that U.S. officials see as a key culprit — Osama bin Laden — remains as elusive as ever.

Five days of fierce bombing of Afghanistan have yet to smoke out the Saudi-born militant who has now come back to haunt the United States as the prime suspect in the September 11 suicide plane attacks on New York and Washington.

Sanaa is eager to close the Cole case but has agreed to a U.S. request to delay the start of the trial in a bid to get more infrmation and net more suspects, Yemeni officials said.

"The file is almost closed. There are some names of people who are not in Yemen. We and the Americans are trying to find information on them," Yemen's Prime Minister Abdul Qader Bajammal told Reuters in a recent interview.

Finding information in Yemen, seen in the West as a haven for Muslim militants, will not be easy because the government does not have control over all areas of the country.

One day after last month's attacks on the United States, 12 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents probing the Cole attack left Yemen, apparently fearing fresh violence.

There have also been reports of friction between Yemeni and U.S. officials investigating the Cole attack, although Sanaa insists there are no problems.

Closer cooperation with Washington is more important than ever now that President Bush has warned nations they are either with or against America in its war on terrorism.

"The Yemenis are working more closely now with the Americans after Bush's statements," said a senior Western diplomat.

But the two sides do not seem to agree on bin Laden's alleged involvement in the Cole incident.

While U.S. officials believe he played a role, some Yemeni officials are not so sure.

"Neither Yemen nor the Americans came to a firm conclusion that there is a connection between bin Laden and this group," Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister Abdullah al-Saidi told Reuters.

But one thing is clear — bringing the perpetrators of the Cole attack to justice will require patience.

"This is going to take a long time," said another Western diplomat in Sanaa.

With one of the world's lowest per capita incomes, Yemen is eager to lure foreign cash and help its fragile economy, especially after the Cole blast dealt a blow to tourism, a leading income earner.

Yemeni authorities have moved swiftly to tighten security hoping to prevent further violence against foreigners amid fears that the U.S. air strikes on Afghanistan could spark retaliation here against U.S. and European interests.