Defense says Cole attack mimicked a US ruse

Defense says Cole attack mimicked a US ruse

By DAVID DISHNEAU, Associated Press : August 6, 2014 : Updated: August 6, 2014 1:57pm

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — The sneaky tactics used to attack the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 were similar to a ruse the United States considered acceptable during World War II, a lawyer said Wednesday in seeking dismissal of six of the 11 charges facing the Guantanamo detainee accused of orchestrating the bombing that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Lawyers for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri backed up their argument at a pretrial hearing in Cuba by showing a military judge about 22 minutes of a black-and-white film produced in 1944 by the Office of Strategic Services, predecessor to the CIA. The film documented a plan to attack German and Japanese naval ships with a remote-controlled speedboat disguised as a Danish fishing vessel and packed with up to 5,000 pounds of explosives.

Although the plan wasn't carried out, it was considered an acceptable form of naval warfare, said Air Force Capt. Daphne Jackson, a member of al-Nashiri's defense team. Therefore, she said, government prosecutors shouldn't be allowed to charge al-Nashiri with war crimes for allegedly using a similar tactic.

"The conduct they're attempting to criminalize is not a war crime that is firmly grounded in international law," Jackson said.

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