Not all Attended the Meeting with President Obama

The family of Fireman Gary G. Swenchonis, Jr., who was one othe 17 Navy officers that lost their lives in the USS Cole bombing in Yemen did not attend the meeting with president Obama.

Gary Swenchonis Sr writes on his blog, " Why attend a meeting when you already know the inevitable outcome. And President Obama has already signed the order to close Gitmo, and a request to stop the trials. Which they did. With only one judge who had the strength, courage and conviction to stand up for the murdered sailors and say that al-nashiri's arraignment would go forward. So anyway I asked the aide if he would please get my letter to Obama instead. He said he would if I faxed it. I had wrote Obama a letter the previous week pleading with him to change his mind. I faxed the letter later that same day. I knew that I would have to tell my wife later on when we got home that our murdered son's trail had become a victim of petty politics. And that she would be upset and hurt yet again". This brave father's blog is, Terrorism: Politicians and Victims

As reported by FoxNews, "Kenneth Clodfelter, a 21-year-old with a young wife and child, was another sailor who lost his life on 10/12/2000. Clodfelter's mother, Gloria, says that when her son had been born -- a day after Christmas -- the family saw him as a gift from God to ease their loss after one of their children died in a freak accident. "He was my Christmas baby. He was our gift from God for Christmas and for our family."

It was Clodfelter who took the brunt of the blast in the Cole's hull, his parents said. With the force of the blast, "he became a part of the ship. That's the way they (the Navy) explained it to us," Gloria told FOX News.Cole Case

Former USS Cole Commander Lippold said, "The biggest thing people fail to realize is they look at 9/11 as the start on the War on Terror," said Kirk Lippold, former commander of the Cole. "The reality is that the war on terrorism started not on 9/11, but 10/12."

Now retired from the Navy, Lippold spoke exclusively with FOX News about those dark moments after the attack.

• Click here to see an exclusive interview with Commander Lippold.

Charges dropped against USS Cole bombing suspect

The attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 killed 17 US sailors. They have yet to receive justice.

Article by By Arthur Bright

The Pentagon has dismissed charges against a suspect being held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Saudi Arabia.

Reuters reports that the dismissal brings the Pentagon fully into compliance with President Barack Obama's request for a 120-day stay of all military tribunals of terrorism suspects.

The move avoided a showdown between the U.S. military and President Barack Obama. It canceled a hearing that had been set for Monday in the Guantánamo war crimes court, despite the fact Obama had ordered a freeze in proceedings there.

Susan Crawford, the retired judge who oversees the commissions, issued a ruling dismissing without prejudice all charges against Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, said Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander J.D. Gordon.

Nashiri is accused of plotting the attack on the Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000.

The BBC writes that the attack in 2000 occurred when two militants blew up a small boat loaded with explosives next to the anchored Cole. The attack killed 17 US sailors. Mr. Nashiri was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2002 on charges of conspiring with the militants, and was later transferred to Guantánamo.

The Washington Post writes that the Judge Crawford's decision to dismiss charges without prejudice means that the Obama administration could reinstate charges against Nashiri at a later date. Had the trial continued in defiance of Mr. Obama's request, reinstatement of charges may not have been possible. Read full story here.