Reply #157: The DoD USS Cole Commission Report [View All]

[Truth2Tell]

found that the Standing Rules of Engagement (SROE) were adequate to have protected the Cole had they been followed: http://www.terrorisminfo.mipt.org/pdf/usscolecommission01092001.pdf

The actual current SROE are classified (as they were then) so we don't exactly know what they are, but they are very unlikely to include allowances for small craft coming alongside a Destroyer unmolested.

Even Stratfor, who is shilling for the Bush admin on the Hormuz incident, acknowledges that the SROE allow for engagement of approaching vessels: http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:nEY18nPIoy0J:www.stratfor.com/analysis/iran_u_s_unusual_details_about_strait_hormuz_incident+naval+rules+of+engagement&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=47&gl=us

...Based on standing rules of engagement, the U.S. surface combatants likely already had the authority to fire at the Iranian boats in self-defense, but the Iranian boats sped away before any shots were fired.

If the Iranian gunboats indeed made it within 600 feet of the U.S. vessels, as reports claim, the latter were in an extremely troubling position...

Well before that distance, standing U.S. Navy rules of engagement probably authorize the use of deadly force. Four 5-inch guns and probably a dozen .50-caliber heavy machine guns were in a position to engage these ships.

A U.S. ship captain, confronted with a threat to his ship, is authorized — and obligated — at all times to act to protect it. In this case, no such action took place. This means one of three things: that the rules of engagement suspended this standing order, that the commanders of the ships involved failed to act in accordance with standing orders or that the incident never rose to the level of threat. (The final scenario is the most likely.)

The only place I ever saw this "inadequate rules of engagement" business regarding the Cole was by the neo-con tabloid disinformation rag Washington Times. Sadly, Wikipedia and others continue to quote a ludicrous and unsubstantiated W. Times anecdote allegedly from a Cole crew member regarding events on the day of the attack. This account was never confirmed by the formal investigations of the Cole bombing and doesn't jibe with any common sense understanding of Rules of Engagement after an attack. In other words, it's total bullshit.