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Clinton Vows to Hunt Down Attackers of Cole
President Bill Clinton on Wednesday attended a memorial service in Norfolk, Virginia, for the 17 victims of last week's bombing attack on the USS Cole warship in Yemen, vowing to hunt down those who were responsible for the bombing.
"To those who attacked them we say: You will not find a safe harbor. We will find you, and justice will prevail," Clinton said in a speech as he led the memorial service for the victims in Norfolk, which serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
About 5,000 people attended the service, which included family members of the 17 killed in the blast, and a number of sailors injured aboard the Cole, some lying in hospital stretchers.
Clinton described the unidentified attackers as people who allowed their religion, political, racial or ethnic views to warp their view of the world.
The president said such people "can never heal or build harmony or bring people together."
Defense Secretary William Cohen, who accompanied President Clinton for the service, called the explosion an act of "pure evil."
"America will not rest until we find you (attackers) and the long arm of justice reaches out, however long, however far, and makes you pay for this crime," he said.
At least two Muslim groups have claimed responsibility for the blast, but US intelligence officials were skeptical.
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