WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While the FBI and Yemeni Authorities Try to Find
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While the FBI and Yemeni authorities try to find out who was behind the attack on the USS Cole, the Pentagon is reviewing the procedures that are supposed to protect U.S. warships from terrorist attack. The attack on the USS Cole See a 3-dimensional image of the USS Cole Get the plugin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animation of a transport ship conducting a recovery procedure at sea Last remains from Cole bombing ready for return to family Defense official resigned after Cole attack, says warnings were ignored Afghanistan fearful of U.S. military strike after warship attack Cole victims remembered at Arlington memorial USS Cole attack The attack on the Cole demonstrated what the U.S. Navy has tried not to publicize: That its warships when operating in commercial waterways at home or abroad are vulnerable to attacks from small boats that give no outward appearance of hostile intent. The Navy is now taking a hard look at its existing security rules, which make no provisions for the approach of small boats unless there is some intelligence warning of a possible threat. Threat condition Bravo When the Cole pulled in for refueling at Aden, Yemen, on October 12, there was a threat -- along with a long list of protective measures that were supposed to be in effect. One such measure drew attention to water taxis, ferries, and other harbor craft "because they can serve as an ideal platform for terrorists," said Sen. Carl Levin (D- Michigan). On the day of the attack, the Cole was under "threat condition Bravo," a state of alert resulting from an increased but nonspecific threat of terrorism. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the standard protective measures for that level of alert stipulate that "unauthorized craft should be kept away from the ship," and that the crew should be on 15 minute alert, "identify and inspect work boats" and prepare fire hoses for repelling boarders, small boats, and ultra-light aircraft. Small "picket boats" should be put in the water if needed to stop and inspect unauthorized small craft. A Pentagon investigation will determine if those procedures were followed. Meanwhile, the Pentagon insists that a CIA report released the day before the Cole attack, and a National Security Agency report 12 hours afterward, provided no information on a specific terrorist threat. "The reports did not provide enough specificity to allow any skipper or military commander to make a decision to change behavior based on these reports," said Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon. Dozens of people questioned Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed and 39 others wounded when a small boat loaded with explosives pulled up next to the Cole while it was docked for refueling and exploded. Yemeni authorities are leading the investigation into the Cole bombers' network and say they have detained and questioned dozens of people, none of whom have been charged. No protective picket boat, seen here after the attack, was in the water when the Cole was most vulnerable Shortly after the attack, bomb-making materials were found in an apartment near the harbor. Authorities found what they believe to be the hideout of conspirators and the car and trailer they believe was used to get the boat in the water. There was even a small metal water tank, presumably used to test the outboard motor. At least three safe houses were used, and up the steps of one apartment, binoculars can provide a view of U.S. warships refueling. Yemeni fishermen may also have served as sources of information on ship movements. A neighbor of the suspected bombers said they spoke like Saudis and that they rented one house for two months. Investigators say the bombers launched their small boat six miles from where the Cole was refueling. The trip across the harbor would have taken 20 minutes. A bin Laden connection? Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that among those who have been detained are senior Yemeni, Algerian and Egyptian members of the Islamic Jihad. A number are Arab veterans of Afghanistan's war against Soviet troops. In an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting Centre, Saleh said Wednesday that an Egyptian -- who is not in custody and may have been killed in the attack -- has emerged as one suspect. A machine gun was mounted on the bow of the USS Cole after the attack But when referring to the Islamic Jihad, the Yemeni president would not clarify whether he was referring to Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which is known to have close ties to Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden, who has been indicted on charges of masterminding the twin 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. In an interview with CNN last week, Saleh had specifically cited Egyptian Islamic Jihad. When asked if he believed bin Laden was responsible for the attack, Saleh said, "Maybe, but we won't know until there is a further investigation." Bin Laden was prominently involved in the Afghan resistance and now lives in Afghanistan, but in the MBC interview, Saleh declined to say whether the attackers or detainees had any connection to bin Laden's Al-Qaida group. A representative of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban in the United States said that "if the U.S. government or any other government provided us evidence, we are willing to take (bin Laden) to trial, according to their desire and their demands." But Abdul Hakim Mujahid -- making a rare public speech at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts on Wednesday -- said he doubted there was any evidence tying bin Laden to the attack. Security Heightened After Threat in Aden E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version By Alan Sipress Washington Post Staff Writer Friday , October 27, 2000 ; Page A30 ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 26 –– A warning of a possible truck bomb attack caused security to be substantially tightened today at the city's premier hotel, where dozens of Americans investigating the bombing of the USS Cole are staying. The warning came around midnight, prompting security officers here to awaken U.S. Ambassador Barbara K. Bodine and to quickly strengthen the already tight cordon around the Aden Hotel. Many of the American officers assigned to the hotel remained awake much of the night as they assessed its security and evaluated what Yemeni officials described as a threat to attack the hotel with a truck filled with explosives. "We got some information; we considered it as serious," said a senior U.S. government official. "We contacted the Yemenis and we immediately took some efforts to sort of go around and make sure our security posture was what it should be." The official said that Americans in the hotel, including soldiers, FBI investigators, State Department officials and journalists, were never in "imminent danger." After the threat was received, a Yemeni army pickup truck with a mounted machine gun was stationed at the entrance to the hotel, blocking the driveway, and a similar vehicle was positioned just outside the grounds on the main street. Yemeni security forces also erected a metal barricade on the street in front of the hotel and kept nearly all vehicles out. At the front gate, visitors were greeted today by a jumble of armed Yemeni and American security officers. Most people entering the grounds had their bags inspected there, rather than on entering the building as before, and officers frisked many Yemenis who tried to pass. `RED FLAGS' RAISED BEFORE COLE BOMBING WARNING LACKED SPECIFIC DETAILS, PENTAGON SAYS By John Diamond, Washington Bureau. Tribune news services contributed to this report. October 26, 2000 WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence warned of a possible terrorist attack against American assets in Yemen 12 hours before the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in a Yemeni port killed 17 sailors and almost sank the $1 billion destroyer, a senior Pentagon official disclosed Wednesday. The warning lacked information specific enough to enable the military to take preventive action, said Walter Slocombe, undersecretary of defense for policy. But its existence raised new questions among lawmakers about whether the Clinton administration was responding adequately to terrorist warnings in the Mideast. It was the second startling disclosure during a day of congressional hearings into the attack. Earlier in the day, lawmakers revealed that a Pentagon intelligence analyst had resigned the day after the bombing, complaining to superiors that his warnings of terrorist threats against U.S. forces in the Mideast dating to June were ignored. The analyst, lawmakers said, warned in his resignation letter that "two or three other major acts of terrorism" could occur in the coming months, based on his assessment of available intelligence. House and Senate committees held public and closed hearings Wednesday into the Cole bombing, in which two men steered a small craft alongside the 505-foot warship, which was refueling in Aden, Yemen, and touched off an estimated 500 pounds of explosives. The blast ripped a 40-foot hole in the steel hull of the ship. Its shockwaves continue to ripple through Washington as lawmakers and senior administration officials consider how to protect the 21,000 U.S. service members deployed in the Persian Gulf region. "The continued forward deployment of our military units in many places around the world remains an absolutely essential part of our national security," said Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "But we must strike, as a nation, the proper balance between the risks that are assumed by our men and women in uniform ... and the requirement for U.S. presence in strategic locations worldwide." The crippled Cole still sits in Aden with its remaining crew of 216 awaiting a floating dry-dock ship that will bring it back to its home port of Norfolk, Va., for an estimated $150 million repair job.