U.S. Blames the Military Chain of Command in Cole Attack

The captain and crew won’t be punished over the bombing of the destroyer Cole because the entire military chain of command was responsible for allowing “clever, committed terrorists” to find weaknesses in U.S. security, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said Friday.

“Navy leaders have concluded that the overall performance of the captain and his crew does not warrant punitive action, and I agree with that conclusion,” Cohen told a news conference, releasing the Navy’s investigation of the bombing that killed 17 sailors.

Under Cohen’s formula, guilt for the Cole’s vulnerability will be shared collectively, and thus anonymously, rather than being placed on individuals. That compromise was reached after intense negotiations involving Cohen’s office and top military officers, senior Pentagon officials said.

It followed the recommendation of Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations, that no one aboard the Cole should be disciplined.

Suicide terrorists in a small boat bombed the Cole while the destroyer was refueling in Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 12. The attack nearly sank the $1-billion ship.

Cohen said he considered the captain and crew’s “heroic actions” to save the ship after the bombing as well as their mistakes, which he said “did not rise to the level that would warrant courts-martial.”

Cohen believes that the entire military chain of command can be faulted for not paying more attention to the vulnerability of ships in areas where the terrorist threat is high.

“We didn’t do all that needed to be done,” he said. “We have learned from this experience that we need to be more vigorous.”