Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Ret.) of the USS Cole

I guess others are having trouble, too, because no one is saying anything about the Fox and MSNBC videos.

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There is one person who is saying something not very nice about those considering a run against Reid. From the Las Vegas Tribune:

IS MGM MIRAGE CHIEF THREATENING US?
[link to www.lasvegastribune.com]

We just want to share with our fellow Nevadans comments and opinions of MGM Mirage Chief Jim Murren, published in Norm's column in the Review-Journal of Sunday, February 21, 2010.

According to the article, Mr. Murren said he would not only remain loyal to Harry Reid for his efforts to save MGM Mirage's $8.5 billion project, but he would 'take on those trying to remove Reid from office.' Is that a threat?

Mr. Murren continued along that vein by saying: “I think it's unNevadan, unpatriotic, to go against Senator Reid and I will call out those who try.” What right does Mr. Murren have to intimidate Nevadans that way?



NO KIDDING! What if Americans decide to stay away from the MGM Mirage because of his stupid comments?

YES, I KNOW THIS IS WIKI ... but most of the time they are correct.

Rules of engagement
[link to en.wikipedia.org]

Approximate location of bombing, Aden Harbor, Yemen
The destroyer's rules of engagement, as approved by the Pentagon, kept its guards from firing upon the small boat loaded with explosives as it neared them without first obtaining permission from the Cole's captain or another officer.[18]

Petty Officer John Washak said that right after the blast, a senior chief petty officer ordered him to turn an M-60 machine gun on the Cole's fantail away from a second small boat approaching. "With blood still on my face," he said, he was told: "That's the rules of engagement: no shooting unless we're shot at." He added, "In the military, it's like we're trained to hesitate now. If somebody had seen something wrong and shot, he probably would have been court-martialed." Petty Officer Jennifer Kudrick said that if the sentries had fired on the suicide craft "we would have gotten in more trouble for shooting two foreigners than losing seventeen American sailors."[18]

Consequences and after-effects
President Bill Clinton declared, "If, as it now appears, this was an act of terrorism, it was a despicable and cowardly act. We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable". Some critics have pointed out that, under U.S. law, an attack against a military target does not meet the legal definition of terrorism[19] (see: 22 USC § 2656f(d)(2)).

On 19 January 2001, The U.S. Navy completed and released its Judge Advocate General Manual (JAGMAN) investigation of the incident, concluding that Cole's commanding officer Commander Kirk Lippold "acted reasonably in adjusting his force protection posture based on his assessment of the situation that presented itself" when Cole arrived in Aden to refuel.

The JAGMAN also concluded that "the commanding officer of Cole did not have the specific intelligence, focused training, appropriate equipment or on-scene security support to effectively prevent or deter such a determined, preplanned assault on his ship" and recommended significant changes in Navy procedures. In spite of this finding, Lippold was subsequently denied promotion and retired.

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Well, in my humble peon opinion, someone or somebodies high up in TPTB didn't know what the hell they were doing when it came to rules of engagement and having proper equipment aboard to make crucial decisions at a second's notice. TPTB evidently did not plan ahead for something like this to happen to one of their ships. WHY? I don't know why. You'd think that would be one of the first things running through their little brains. I guess the Commander of a ship can't over rank TPTB when TPTB are the ones at fault. TPTB have to save face, I guess, and look the part. Just say'in ...

All we can do out here is shake our heads ...

So, on 9/11 TPTB, airport control towers and Air Force all knew about the planes heading in the direction of the Twin Towers, BUT NO ONE COULD DO ANYTHING UNTIL SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED? Huh? They all had to stand down until something actually happened? I'M DISGUSTED. There was a way of handling that correctly and no one did anything. Our government should have learned something from the USS Cole incident.

Back to the USS Cole ... If an unidentified boat is approaching one of our ships someone should get on a loud speaker system and warn that boat OR shoot some type of red flag in the water that says STOP in the language of that country. Gees, I'm sitting here in front of my computer and thought of that all by myself. If the boat doesn't stop, THEN SHOOT! PERIOD! What's so hard about that? Where's John Wayne's character when we need him? Did you ever see his character act like a dummy? YOU USE COMMON SENSE ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CONCERNS THE SECURITY OF OUR COUNTRY. You don't invite terrorists over to you house for a nice comfy sleep-over.

Ask the citizens of America ... we will tell you what to do in no uncertain terms.

I hope someone asks him why Barabara Bodine (and others) would interfere with a thorough investigation of the attack on his ship:


October 14-Late November, 2000: Investigation Into USS Cole Bombing Is Thwarted

The first FBI agents enter Yemen two days after the bombing of the USS Cole in an attempt to discover who was responsible. However, the main part of the team initially gets stuck in Germany because they do not have permission to enter Yemen and they are then unable to accomplish much due to restrictions placed on them and tensions between lead investigator John O’Neill and US Ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine. All but about 50 investigators are forced to leave by the end of October. O’Neill’s boss Barry Mawn visits to assess the situation. [Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp. 237; New Yorker, 1/14/2002; Sunday Times (London), 2/3/2002; New Yorker, 7/10/2006 pdf file]

Mawn will later comment, “It became clear [Bodine] simply hated his guts.” After a ten day investigation, he concludes O’Neill is doing a fine job, tells Bodine that she is O’Neill’s “only detractor,” and refuses her request to recall him. [Wright, 2006, pp. 32] But O’Neill and much of his team are pressured to leave by late November and Bodine will not give him permission to return any time after that. The investigation stalls without his personal relationships to top Yemeni officials. [Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp. 237; New Yorker, 1/14/2002; Sunday Times (London), 2/3/2002]

Increased security threats force the reduced FBI team still in Yemen to withdraw altogether in June 2001. [PBS Frontline, 10/3/2002] The prime minister of Yemen at the time later claims (see Early October 2001) that hijacker “Khalid Almihdhar was one of the Cole perpetrators, involved in preparations. He was in Yemen at the time and stayed after the Cole bombing for a while, then he left.” The Sunday Times later notes, “The failure in Yemen may have blocked off lines of investigation that could have led directly to the terrorists preparing for September 11.” [Sunday Times (London), 2/3/2002]
[link to www.historycommons.org]

who put a hole in the uss cole?


US officials originally stated that on October 13th, 2000, the tiny manned boatbomb mingled with other tiny boats that were assisting the mooring operation in Aden Harbor, Yemen, as the USS Cole, an Aegis-class guided missile destroyer, was too large to manoeuver without guides. The US Navy admitted on October 20th, 2000, that the USS Cole had already been moored for two hours before the bombers approached. Why did they lie about this? Perhaps it is simply a machismo thing - not wanting to admit that a big, bad US warship was taken by surprise. But this isn�t the only unanswered question regarding the USS Cole bombing. Where did the terrorists get their C-4? Why have no credible claims of responsibility been called in?

According to a London Times report by Ian Brodie (October 23rd, 2000), the bombers used up to 500 pounds of C-4 in their white, fiberglass skiff/bomb. Another mystery, which Brodie notes, is why the Cole, part of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington Battle Group, had to stop for refueling in the dangerous Aden port, when its oil tanks were allegedly still half-full, leaving enough fuel to reach its planned destination, the port of Bahrain?

Brodie points out that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have denounced military spending cuts, that left only eight tankers available for refueling US warships outside of port. Which begs the question: if the US military is in such dire financial straits, why are the Joint Chiefs calling for future assembly line projects such as the multi-billion dollar F-22 Stealth plane?

Brodie also reveals that US sailors stationed on the USS Cole's deck may have been relieved of their duty. They were no longer on armed watch when they may have done some good. Why would these sailors be dismissed when the ship was operating on "Threat Condition Bravo," the second-highest state of four US Navy alert/security modes?

The Washington Post (November 3rd, 2000) speculated that because such large amounts of C-4 was used, a government hostile to America may have been involved and/or responsible. US officials now speculate that rogue Yemeni military and law enforcement officials may have colluded with the bombers, helping them obtain false papers, use government cars and safe houses, and providing information-in-advance about the USS Cole's movements. Suspected Yemenis may have been in combat, like the bombers with Afghanistan Muhajedeen, veterans of the Afghan/Soviet war.

The Washington Post (November 17th, 2000) reported that Yemen's Prime Minister, Abdel-Karim Ali Iryani, claimed there was no evidence linking the most infamous Afghani war veteran and Yemeni citizen, Osama Bin Laden, to the Aden bombing, although you can find Bin Laden's biography at most of the Web sites reporting on the bombing attack.

Bob Blitzer, former head of the FBI's counter-terrorism efforts told the Washington Post (November 3rd, 2000) that it was difficult to track down C-4, even though it is manufactured with a chemical tracer to help track the trail of the plastic explosives in these very circumstances. Blitzer said that, "it requires a lot of shoe leather to [find out] where it was made, when it was made and who it was sold to . . .Was it something that went to Russia and wound up in Afghanistan? You don't know. There are a thousand scenarios."

If the C-4 explosives ended up with Afghanistan's extremists and terrorists, perhaps it was given to Afghan fighters by the Central Intelligence Agency, as they helped arm the Muhajedeen against their Soviet invaders. This scenario would explain why, almost six weeks after the USS Cole bombing, there was still no explanation on where the C-4 was manufactured. We wouldn't want to embarrass the CIA, would we? The bomb was a shaped charge, meaning that it was designed and built by someone who knew what they were doing, not by a weekend warrior.

Who else could have profited from an attack upon a US warship? Thomas Mountain, a private researcher in Hawaii, speculates that Israel may have engineered the incident. While there is no proof of Israeli involvement, any more than Bin Laden, they were facing a drastic drop in US public support, due to growing perceptions that Israel is savagely repressing the Palestinian people. What better way to distract America's public than with pictures of dead and wounded US sailors, killed in a sneak attack by alleged Palestinian supporters? This hypothesis may be propaganda, but Israel does possess the capability to carry out such bloodthirsty tricks, has killed enemies using C-4, and has previously attacked a US warship with no provocation, when it served their purpose.

Mainstream news reports never mentioned that in previous terrorist attacks on US targets in which C-4 was used, such as the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia (1996), where 19 US servicemen were killed, is that in 1977 CIA agent Edwin Wilson sold 42,000 pounds of C-4 Libyan dictator Muammar Quaddaffi. Green Beret soldiers were hired to train the Libyans in how to make bombs.

Was the USS Cole bombed simply by terrorists? Or was there some nefarious plot to draw the US into some conflict, as historians insist the USS Maine, which was blown up in Havana Harbor in 1898, was used to bring the US into war with Spain over Cuba? Are the culprits possibly even US allies, rather than an enemy? Do we rely on the US military and government to tell us the whole truth about this case?
[link to old.disinfo.com]

Bin Laden 'denies' Yemen blast [link to news.bbc.co.uk]

903650, thank you so much for this information. I will be reading all of that several times over and over again. I imagine some of GLP's readers are saying the same thing. This wasn't just a simple? terrorist bombing. It's plot was apparently more complicated than we will ever know ... and the Cole was a sitting duck MAYBE ON PURPOSE. I certainly hope not.

I see in (Ret.) Commander Lippold a strong American leader not only because of all his training and knowledge, but because of his experiences with the Cole incident and dealing with the negligence of the American government/military in protecting one of our ships.

Mr Lippold is an excellent motivational speaker. If you have listened to his videos, you already know that.

I found some additional information that I certainly didn't know about. IT'S VERY INTERESTING READING.

MAYBE A STRAGETIC PRIZE CALLED “SOCOTRA” had something to do with the Cole bombing???????? I hope all the Bible/geography teachers out there are taking a good look at this island.

[link to www.darkroastedblend.com]
SOCOTRA ISLAND …

[link to matadortrips.com]
MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON SOCOTRA …

INFO FROM GOOGLE … How to Travel to Socotra Island, Yemen
Jul 27, 2009 ... Socotra is “an island full of blond people who are descendants of ... where weeks earlier the USS Cole had docked to a warm welcome of Al ...
matadortrips.com/how-to-travel-to-socotra-island-yemen/

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[link to www.hinduonnet.com]
A COUPLE OF PARAGRAPHS FROM THIS LINK EXPLAIN A LOT (read the whole story at the link).

Despite these threats, the US authorities have been developing close relations with the Yemeni Government. Last year, the Yemeni authorities arrested Mr Abdul-Latif Omar, Editor of the weekly Al Haq and Assistant Secretary-General of the Opposition Sons of Yemen League, after he published an article alleging that the US had been secretly provided military base facilities on the Socotra Island. The Government strongly denied this, but, released Mr Omar after some time.

The Times of London reported on June 1, 1999, that the Pentagon planned to use Aden to bunker 600,000 barrels of marine diesel and aviation fuel to service its naval operations in the Gulf against the Iraqi President, Mr Saddam Hussein, and that the first US warship under this secret deal docked in Aden in May 1999.

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AS USUAL NO ONE IS TOLD THE TRUTH, and we all have to guess at the rest of the story.

Remember this happened before 9/11, in fact it was a little too close for comfort to the 9/11 incident.

OKAY, I'M DONE TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT ... the experts can take over now.

INTERESTING HISTORY & TIMELINE OF EVENTS

[link to www.freerepublic.com]

from 1991 to 1999
PRE-BUSH timeline/list of Iraq's Ties To Al Queda
Sam Pender-author of Iraq's Smoking Gun and other books on the matter | 6/12/04 | Sam Pender


The SS Cole was bombed 10/12/2000

Twin Towers 9/11/2001

It is now March 11 ...

While wondering if Mr. Kirk Lippold is going to throw his hat in the ring and run for Senator of Nevada against Harry Reid, I STARTED THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE for some strange reason. Maybe it's the Holy Spirit talking. I always wonder about that when something comes into my head out of the blue and I don't know why,

DIDN’T THE WORLD TRADE CENTER STAND FOR “CAPITALISM”? So the Marxists or Progressives brought it down to signal that their new Progressive ideas were about to take over America and the world? … ONLY NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? The blame instead was going to go to Saddam and Al Queda who had been mouthing their hatred for America, etc. for years? ( [link to www.freerepublic.com]

If this is true, only the organized Progressive Marxists were meant to know the truth about 911 and no one else. … And the USS Cole, a set up, was meant to dump the blame on Sadaam and Al Quada??? And, a reason to “point the finger at them” for 911? Just wondering out loud.

The Progressive Marxists hate capitalism. I mean, just look at today’s Progressives in our government. The World Trade Center stood for capitalism.

I hope the retired commander of the USS Cole throws his hat in the ring.

903650, wasn't Bodine under the Clinton PROGRESSIVE liberal administration ... enough said.

I have heard that Bin Laden once worked for our CIA. His American name was Timothy something or other. When Clinton had the chance to capture Osama or take him out, the mission was aborted. The Progressives were probably afraid Osama would spill the beans.

I think the Progressive Marxists in this country were responsible for the USS Cole and the Twin Towers. Remember 2001 was the beginning of a new century and the bozo Marxists intended to make a statement about capitalism ending in this new century. What was Mr. Streisand Brolin's reaction about the Twin Towers? The Socialist Streisand Brolin husband LAUGHED.

This current Progressive government is trying to tear down America and our Constitution.

We need men and women with integrity running for political office.

Well, it looks like Mr. Lippold did not toss his hat in the ring to run for Senator from Nevada. He is still an honorable young man with a future to continue serving this great free country if he so desires.

Briefly, some 30 years ago or more we lost track of relation from my dad’s side of the family. His first cousin was a captain in the Navy and a dentist. They lived in Virginia and later moved to Carson City, Nevada. Maybe one day we will find out if the Carson City family is indeed related to us.

Before this thread is closed, I’m finishing it off with a link that is most interesting. How in the world would you know if one of those barges was carrying explosives? More importantly, why did our government allow this ship to go into harm’s way without informing Cmdr. Lippold of the possible danger ahead? An innocent screw-up or a deliberate screw-up?????

[link to armiesofliberation.com]


The End.