The USS COLE (DDG-67) was refueling at port during a short refueling stop in Yemen. Yemen is a stronghold of bin-Laden operatives (bin-Laden's mother is Yemeni). The ship was en route to the Persian Gulf.

Although the Navy Fact Sheets on DEFENSELINK do not mention it, the ship is also equipped with 25mm cannon and .50-cal machine guns alongside, roughly amidships, for close-quarter self defense, specifically designed to repel boarders and engage small craft. There is no evidence reported, thus far, that those guns engaged the enemy.

The ship was approached from the rear where those guns would be less effective and where fewer people would be able to see the approach of the attack boat. A hole 20 x 40 feet was blown in the port (left) side of the hull on the aft section of the ship. If the hole is 40 feet wide, it is an extremely large opening because the total length of the ship is 505 feet.

The ship was reported to be listing 4 degrees to port but flooding is said to be under control with damage control parties working to shore up the ship and stabilize it. The area struck would be near the engine rooms which contain 4 LM2500 gas turbine engines on two shafts. This makes it unlikely that the ship will be able to operate under her own power, which makes her more vulnerable to repeat attacks. The initial attack occurred at 12:15 PM local time

The USS COLE is an ARLEIGH BURKE-class, Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer costing roughly $1 billion per copy. It is the most powerful class of destroyer in any fleet in the world, equipped with Standard SM-2 Surface-to-air missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and a 5-inch main gun mount, as well as 20mm Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) rapid-fire multi-barrel cannons and a limited number of torpedoes.

Some unidentified Yemeni officials are claiming that the ship was not attacked at all but suffered from an internal explosion. Expect to hear more of this. Tensions in the Gulf are rising rapidly and it is likely that US naval forces will have to intervene should Saddam Hussein carry out his threats against Israel. Propaganda which is already beginning to rear its ugly and irrational head may seek to claim that this was a self-inflicted wound by the US government, in order to create a pretext for military action (something akin to what allegedly happened with the USS MAINE in Cuba before the Spanish-American War). The truth is that this does appear to be a terrorist attack and any upcoming claims of US involvement will likely be intended to put us on the defensive for any military movements we make in the Persian Gulf region.

More attacks can be anticipated, not just against naval ships but against military aircraft and even civilian airliners inside the region and worldwide.

The most troubling thing about this episode is why a US ship, particularly one so powerful and valuable, was sitting defenseless in a port of a country so unstable and rife with Islamic extremism. We should be asking where are the underway replenishment ships which can refuel combatants ships at sea and prevent them from being dependent upon fuel from risky countries and their ports. Considering the tensions in the Middle East and the growing anti-US feeling, it probably was not prudent to have such a ship exposed in such a port setting where it would not be free to maneuver and engage threats.

Why are such underway replenishment ships not deployed, or is it because there are too few of them to support both our more important capital ships such as aircraft carriers and smaller ships like the COLE? In the presidential debates on the issue of military readiness, perhaps somebody should be expected to answer questions about why the COLE was in Yemen at a time of such volatility, and why it is that our naval ships are dependent upon fuel from foreign ports in unstable regions during times of crisis.

The COLE was only the first shot in what is likely to become a growing conflict and we would be better if we did not dismiss it as "just" an isolated terrorist attack.