USS Cole Families Call on Holder to Start Trial
Ten years after the attack on the USS Cole, family members of victims spoke to FF about attorney general Eric Holder's decision to again delay a trial.
As the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole is approaching on October 12th, family members and the former commander see no closure. They live the nightmare day in and day out. While the ship was refueling in Yemen, suicide bombers approached it and set off explosives which killed seventeen sailors and injured 39 others. There is definite evidence that the attack was planned by the Al Qaeda operative Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Many family members of the crew cannot understand why the Obama administration is backtracking regarding the decision to try al-Nashiri in a military commission. Those interviewed by FrumForum say their sentiments are indicative of all the victim’s families and crew members.
The family members recall Attorney General Holder stating last November that the USS Cole attack “was an attack on a United States warship, and that, I think, is appropriately placed into the military commissions setting.” Yet, the Department of Justice recently filed in the U.S Court of Appeals that “no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future.”
The across the board reaction is anger. Last February, the President met with the family members to let them know they were not forgotten and that he would seek justice in regards to the perpetrators. President Obama also said that he wanted to include the family members in the process by establishing a contact person for them in the White House. John Clodfelter, who lost his son Kenneth, sarcastically noted that:
Obama called a meeting of the Cole families and made us feel comfortable that something would be done. Now I see that it was a political stunt and how disingenuous he was on this issue. Supposedly we had a contact person at the White House. Obama told us we would always have an open phone. After the announced decision I tried calling this guy and am not getting any response at all. It seems this administration does not care.
So why did Attorney General Holder postpone the decision? All agree it was a political decision. According to them, the Obama administration wants to get some convictions of terrorists in the federal court system and then will eliminate military commissions all together. They feel that it is absurd, since the act against the Cole was an act against the military. Kirk Lippold, the commanding officer of the Cole at the time of the attack, wants the military commissions to continue and sees “the administration holding the military commissions’ hostage to force Congress to allow federal trials of the terrorists to be held here in the United States.”
They want Americans to know that they have gone through a gamut of emotions including frustration, anger, and the feeling of abandonment. Albert Ramirez who lost his half brother Timothy feels Americans need to understand that the terrorist act was against the United States, since “the terrorists blew up an American ship in the name of jihad. A lot of people are forgetting how great we are as a nation as reflected by people like my brother who wanted to serve his country.”
Commander Lippold summarized everyone’s feelings when he sadly noted that “the families, myself, and my crew are extremely discouraged and frustrated that the government has failed to take action and hold the terrorists accountable considering the prosecutors are ready to go to trial with enough evidence to convict al- Nashiri.”