Cole Inquiry Finds Security Lapses

WASHINGTON —  A Navy investigation has found that the crew of the destroyer Cole failed to follow several security procedures on the day the warship was bombed by terrorists in Aden, Yemen, defense officials said Friday.

Officials declined to provide details of the lapses. But the acknowledgment raises the possibility that the ship’s skipper, Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, and his officers would be disciplined for failing to observe portions of a written security plan the ship had filed with fleet commanders before stopping in Aden harbor Oct. 12 for refueling.

The Cole was bombed by a small boat, packed with plastic explosives, that motored up to the midship section and blew a 40-by-40-foot hole in the ship’s hull, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39.

Navy officials have defended the Cole’s senior officers against any suggestion that they might have been guilty of lapses. Some officials have pointed out that the security precautions they followed were, in some cases, limited by instructions from superiors. They were barred from firing warning shots, for example, for fear of causing a diplomatic incident.

A senior Pentagon official said that while the draft report has been circulated to Atlantic Fleet headquarters in Norfolk, Va., it could still be revised by senior Navy officials and may be weeks from release.

No final judgment has been made about whether the shortcomings were major lapses or small oversights that, even if corrected, would not have saved the ship, he said.

Security reviews “always find a few problems,” the Pentagon official said. “The question is whether they made any difference.”

In today’s military, officers can be forced into retirement by even small blemishes on their performance evaluations.

This investigation is focusing on the performance of the ship’s company. A separate inquiry, overseen by a retired general and a retired admiral, is taking a broader look at security procedures designed to protect U.S. troops in transit.

Officials in Yemen said this week that at least three Yemenis suspected of belonging to an international terrorist network will go on trial next month in connection with the deadly attack. Yemeni officials initially rejected suggestions that their own citizens could have been involved in an attack on an ally.