USS Cole Attack

USS Cole Attack

USS Cole Attack
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 9 to 12
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	9.3

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		al-Badawi, al-Harithi, al-Nashiri, al-Rahim, guided-missile, moored, water-borne, despicable, analysis, prior, formula, standoff, cowardly, refueling, accomplice, investigation
	content words:		USS Cole, President Clinton, Aden Yemen, Vietnam War, Abu Ali, Predator UAV, Ahmed Hijazi, Osama Bin, United States, M/V Blue Marlin

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USS Cole Attack
By Phyllis Naegeli

¹     Late in the morning on October 12, 2000, an inflatable raft carrying explosives blew a forty foot by forty foot hole in the side of the USS Cole, a guided-missile destroyer. Seventeen sailors were killed in the attack. Forty-two others were injured. President Clinton called the attack an "act of terrorism" and a "despicable and cowardly act." How could one of our ships that housed the latest technology be attacked so easily?

²     On the morning of October 12, the USS Cole entered the port of Aden Yemen. The arrangements had been made about ten days prior, and the Cole was expected. It moored to a water-borne platform called a dolphin and began the four to five hour refueling process. Lookouts were stationed along the port side during refueling. A small craft approached the port side of the ship. Reportedly, the two men aboard the small boat stood at attention and saluted. The sailors on lookout believed the boat was a part of the refueling team. Seconds later, the USS Cole was rocked by an explosion. It is estimated that the bomb contained between 400 and 700 pounds of explosive.

³     Analysis of the explosion showed the attackers used C-4, a military grade plastic explosive. C-4 was developed during the Vietnam War, and its formula is not confidential. Many countries have this explosive. Because it does not deteriorate over time, the attackers could have stolen it from many different places at any time since the war in Vietnam.

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