USS COLE: Al Qaeda's Strike Before 9/11

Before the explosion came the warnings—dozens of them. Intelligence flagged al-Qaeda’s plans, but Washington downplayed the threat, distracted by politics and unwilling to act. As USS Cole steamed toward Yemen, her crew believed they were on a routine mission. In reality, they were heading straight into a trap that America had been told was coming.

At 11:18 a.m., a small boat pulled alongside USS Cole—and vanished in a fireball. Seventeen sailors were killed instantly, dozens more wounded, and the destroyer itself nearly lost. In the chaos, the crew fought to save their ship with nothing but grit, training, and defiance. As allies rushed in and bodies were carried out under flags, Washington insisted it was a “criminal act,” not the act of war it clearly was.

The attack on the USS Cole should have been the final alarm. The investigation traced the plot directly to al-Qaeda’s network, exposing links to the failed USS Sullivans attack and the terror summits that laid the groundwork for September 11. But instead of striking back, politicians pointed fingers, the Navy searched for scapegoats, and the warning went unheeded. Less than a year later, America would pay the price in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.