On the 12th, a U.S. Burke class destroyer (the USS Cole), refueling in Aden, Yemen, had a 20 by 40 foot hole blasted in it's hull by a half ton bomb going off in a small Yemeni boat assisting in the refueling operation. There were over 40 dead and injured. Yemen, the most populous part of Arabia, has been a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism. The government is decidedly not fundamentalist. After years of civil war, most Yemenis was some peace and prosperity. But the nation has a gun culture and it's difficult to root out all crazies with guns and a grudge. This is particularly true in the interior, where independent minded tribes still use armed resistance against government control. In the Summer of 1999, eight British Moslems were tried and convicted to attempted terrorism. These lads, one of whom has a father back in Britain who is a known follower of Osama Bin Laden, were easy to pick out. But Bin Laden, who's family has roots in Yemen, is thought to have active followers in Yemen. The United States has established good relations with Yemen. There are also many Yemeni immigrants in the United States. Earlier this year, a U.S. admiral presided over the opening of a demining center. Yemen has thousands of mines and unexploded shells littering the countryside and the U.S. trained deminers are popular. The Aden bombing is a reminder that America is a large target. If our ships and troops were not all over the world, American business interests are. The U.S. is the largest exporter in the world and there is no shortage of "American" targets for
