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Standing Guard With No Ammunition?

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 25, 2000 / 11:57 AM EDT / CBS

The Navy is refusing comment on a report that the sailors on sentry duty aboard the USS Cole when it was bombed last month did not have ammunition in their guns and were not authorized to shoot unless fired upon.

That report comes from a Washington Post story based on interviews with 20 members of the ship's crew.

The paper says that even if the sentries had recognized the threat from the small boat which approached the Cole in Aden, Yemen, on October 12, the ship's "rules of engagement" would have prevented them from firing without first obtaining permission from the Cole's captain or another officer.

At a Tuesday afternoon briefing, Pentagon spokesman Kevin Bacon said he had "nothing to say" about the report and furthermore does not intend to "comment on various slices" of the several Cole bombing investigations which are underway.

"We should respect the process," said Bacon. "We all want the most complete picture of what happened."

Bacon similarly declined to comment on the specific rules of engagement applying to the Cole, saying only that the rules of engagement are determined by each commander and depend on each individual situation.

Seventeen sailors were killed and the Cole was severely damaged when a small boat laden with explosives blew up alongside the guided missile destroyer while it was refueling in the southern Yemeni port of Aden.

Witnesses had said two men were aboard the boat when it exploded and ripped a huge hole in the Cole's side.

"If we had shot those people, we'd have gotten in trouble for it," said Petty Officer Jennifer Kudrick, a sonar technician, in an interview with the Post. "That's what's frustrating about it. We would have gotten in more trouble for shooting two foreigners than losing 17 American sailors."

Petty Officer John Washak told the Post said he was manning an M-60 machine gun shortly after the Cole was hit. Washak said he waved the weapon at a second small boat that was approaching, but a senior chief petty officer ordered him to turn the gun away.

Washak said he protested, fearing that the ship was still under attack. But even in the aftermath of the bombing, "with blood still on my face," he said he was told: "That's the rules of engagement, no shooting unless we're shot at."

The Post quotes a Pentagon official as saying crew members were ordered to fire only warning shots because many boats approaching the ship after the blast came to offer help.

The Post reports crew members said they have been told by FBI investigators that the ship may have been boarded and surreptitiously surveyed by Islamic militants, possibly including one of the suicide bombers, as it passed through the Suez Canal a few days before the attack.

The FBI also has been questioning crew members about the reportedly "agitated" behavior of a Yemeni pilot who guided the Cole into port. Some cew members also believe other Yemeni harbor workers acted suspiciously.

The boat that exploded may first have attempted to tie up to the Cole's stern, then moved around to the side of the ship after being ordered away.

One Year Of Sanctions

November 14 marks one year of United Nations-imposed sanctions on Afghanistan. The sanctions are intended to force that country to hand over Osama bin Laden, who the U.S. has accused of masterminding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

Bin Laden's name has also come up as a target of investigation in connection with the Cole attack, although no authorities so far have made public any evidence directly linking bin Laden to the blast.

When it sailed into Aden, the ship was operating under "Threat Condition Bravo," the second-lowest on a scale of four threat conditions. Under this moderate posture, crew members said, the ship had a few guards on deck, but no one was posted on big machine guns near the bow and stern.

The Cole is continuing its voyage home to the U.S., aboard a Norwegian heavy lift transport vessel.

Sources say some 60 suspects remain in custody in Yemen, with another 20 having been released. One of the suspects in custody is said to be an Islamic Jihad member who escaped from jail in 1993 after being convicted of blowing up two Aden hotels frequented by foreigners.

A source close to the probe reported on Sunday that the Cole attack was masterminded by a man who gave his orders by telephone from the United Arab Emirates. Investigators were told of the man behind the scenes by another man, now in custody, who has admitted being the one to purchase the attack boat.

Debris from the bombing, along with the car which pulled the boat to port, were shipped to the U.S. Sunday for further forensic tests.

U.S. forces remain on high alert, in reaction to recent evidence of terrorist plots, and the Pentagon Monday put a lid on discussion of the itinerary of Defense Secretary William Cohen. He was supposed to have left Monday for the Persian Gulf and the Mideast, but that was put off, and it's not clear now when he might leave. He had planned to visit Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Israel.

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