Twelve years ago today, on October 12, 2000, al Qaeda terrorists on a suicide mission drove a small boat filled with explosives into the hull of the USS Cole while the Navy destroyer was docked at the port of Aden in Yemen. The attack killed 17 American sailors and wounded 39 others. The attack came nearly a year before al Qaeda would murder nearly 3,000 Americans in the attacks on September 11, 2001.

In the October 30, 2000, issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Reuel Marc Gerecht wrote about the need for a “serious anti-terrorism policy.” Here’s an excerpt: