The Bombing of the USS Cole: How U.S. Foreign and Military Policy Led to 9/11

Abstract

On October 12, 2000, al-Qaeda suicide bombers attempted to sink the USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer that was refueling in Aden, Yemen. They almost succeeded, and seventeen sailors lost their lives. Less than a year later, nearly 3,000 American civilians would be dead and the United States would be at war, not with a nation-state, but with a transnational organization known as al-Qaeda. The devastating impact of 9/11 left millions of Americans pondering how such a horror could befall their country. This work contends that ineffective foreign and military policies enabled this attack to transpire. Often overlooked in the larger narrative, the bombing of the USS Cole signified a missed opportunity for the United States government. As the final attack before 9/11, the months after the USS Cole represented America’s last chance to avert disaster.