Download Front Burner: Al Qaeda’s Attack on the USS Cole AudioBook Free

On Oct 12, 2000, at 11:18 a.m., an 8,400-ton destroyer, the USS Cole, was rocked by an enormous explosion. The ship's commander, Kirk Lippold, viewed as tiles tumbled from the roof, mugs of coffee tumbled to the ground, and everything not bolted down seemed to float in midair. Lippold recognized in a matter of moments that the Cole have been attacked. What he didn't know was how much the entire world was changing around him. Eleven months later, he was debriefed by the CIA and advised about Osama bin Laden. By some amazing coincidence, that conference occurred on the morning hours of Sept 11, 2001. In the scene that seems almost tailor-made for movie treatment, by the end of this morning hours conference about the looming risk of al-Qaeda, Kirk remarked, "I don't think America understands. I believe it is going to have a seminal event, probably in this country, where hundreds, if not hundreds, will have to pass away before Americans recognize that we're at battle with this guy." Mere moments later, the first aircraft struck the planet Trade Middle. The CIA agent who experienced debriefed him said, "Kirk, I can't consider you said what you performed today." The truth is which it wasn't so amazing: Lippold experienced known for 11 months longer than all of those other land that al-Qaeda was at battle with America. His story has remained untold-until now. In such a thrilling first-person narrative, Lippold unveils the details of his harrowing experience leading a staff of valiant sailors through the deadliest harm by using an American vessel since 1987. He also explains how this event was overshadowed by 9/11, swept under the rug by bureaucrats and politics operatives, who eventually attempted to place blame for the harm on Lippold himself, denying him campaign and halting his job. An essential amount that belongs side by side with The Looming Tower, Ghost Wars, and The 9/11 Payment Survey, this publication restores a crucial story that has as yet been lost in the fog of the battle on terror. Commander Kirk S. Lippold, USN (Ret.), was the commanding official of the USS Cole when it was attacked by al Qaeda in the port of Aden, Yemen, in Oct 2000. He and his staff distinguished themselves in the aftermath of that attack by saving the ship, which remains operating today. He received numerous armed service awards and retired from the Navy in 2007.

Category: Biographical