Nearly 20 years after USS Cole attack, commanding officer and Gold Star mother frustrated with slow pace of justice

“ Before 9/11, there was 10/12.”

That's a mantra repeated by former USS Cole shipmates and family members in recalling the 17 sailors killed in the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing of the Navy destroyer in Yemen’s Aden harbor. The waterborne suicide attack by al Qaeda proved a morbid warning of the terror group's potency, less than a year before it hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, all on American soil.

Many issues related to the attack remain unresolved. The suspected mastermind, Saudi-born Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, 54, still hasn’t been tried for his role. Former crew members and victims' families are frustrated with the slow pace of justice in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, where he has been held for over a decade.

The USS Cole's commanding officer the day of the attack, Kirk Lippold, 60, said it was “absolutely inexcusable” that the legal process had been allowed to be dragged out by defense attorneys.

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