Operation Goldenrod and the USS Cole

On October 12 of this year will mark eight years since the bombing of the USS Cole and full justice has yet to come. Several of the perpetrators have been killed or incarcerated and yet the ‘mastermind’ of the attack has not served his prison sentence imposed by the Yemeni government. After reading the excellent post by Douglas Farah in response to a Washington Post article I was reminded about a little known rendition operation run by the FBI in the late 1980’s – Operation Goldenrod. Rendition operations are controversial and are rarely carried out without the host countries consent; however, as Goldenrod demonstrates, other methods are available to the military and law enforcement that have been upheld by the Supreme Court.

USS Cole bombing: the aftermath

The FBI and NCIS agents involved in the investigation were constantly frustrated by the Yemeni government. Both agencies frequently reported the suspects being moved or hidden prior to scheduled questioning – questioning that had been scheduled by the Yemeni government for the benefit of U.S. law enforcement. Yemen also declined to extradite the suspects to the U.S. for trial because it violated their constitution. While this explanation is satisfactory the Yemeni government, who practically begged the U.S. Navy to use Aden as a refueling stop to help bolster the local economy, did little to accommodate U.S. requests for interrogation or to monitor the perpetrators in prison. The Yemeni government does deserve some credit however for allowing the CIA to use an unmanned Predator to strike a vehicle carrying some of the Cole bombing suspects (and other al-Qaeda operatives) with a hellfire missile. Unfortunately not all suspects have been arrested or executed such as two that went to Iraq to carry out suicide attacks against the U.S.

Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi

On May 15th, 2003 the U.S. indicted al-Badawi for the attack on the Cole and was later captured by the Yemeni government on September 29, 2004. Yemen would find al-Badawi guilty and sentence him to death, but his sentence would never be carried out – because he would escape from prison twice. After Al-Badawi managed to escape from prison the second time he was subsequently granted a pardon for the Cole conviction after turning himself in to authorities. According to Farah’s article, al-Badawi is now aiding the Yemeni government in exposing other al-Qaeda operations – which is obviously not going according to plan as witnessed by the recent spike in violence against foreigners in Yemen by an al-Qaeda affiliate. While the lead FBI agent on the case states that he is ‘back to square one’ he should not abandon hope as his predecessors have faced similar situations.

Fawaz Younis and Operation Goldenrod

At the Beirut Airport on June 11, 1985, five terrorists charged up the stairs of Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 402 as it was boarding passengers and promptly took control of the aircraft. The Jordanian sky marshals providing security were tortured until they revealed the hiding places for their weapons. As was customary of hijackings at the time, the plane was flown to several locations where the terrorists would stop for fuel and hold press conferences detailing their demands (in this case it was for the expulsion of all Palestinians out of Lebanon). After the aircraft returned to Beirut for the final time all passengers were released shortly before the plane was blown up. A man who only identified himself as Nazeeh held a final press conference were the terrorists demands were reiterated. Nazeeh, as it would turn out, was in fact a man named Fawaz Younis, a member of the Lebanese Amal.

In the time following the hijacking Younis had been looking for a means to make money. U.S. intelligence operatives, who had made contact with Younis posing as drug runners, made him an offer and gave him a meeting place – in international waters off the coast of Cyprus. The FBI rented a yacht for the meeting to add legitimacy to the drug dealer façade. Once Younis set foot on the yacht he was promptly arrested and moved to the USS Butte, next the USS Saratoga, and finally flown back to the U.S. where he was charged under the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. This act gave the FBI jurisdiction over terrorist acts in which Americans were taken hostage – no matter where the acts occurred. That authority was expanded in 1986 with the passage of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act. Younis was eventually convicted, despite several setbacks and appeals, of conspiracy, aircraft piracy, and hostage-taking. He would get thirty years.

Operation Goldenrod should be studied by all FBI agents investigating terrorist acts upon Americans. The operation was successful in capturing a wanted terrorist and several federal courts upheld the method by which the operation was run. If the FBI wants to apprehend al-Badawi, Operation Goldenrod provides and excellent example of how it could be done.

Sidebar: The presence of two U.S. citizens aboard Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 402 brought the investigation under the jurisdiction of the FBI. Those two citizens were Thomas Landry Slade, the vice president of the American University in Beirut, and William, his 16-year-old son. Both Americans were released with the other hostages in Beirut only to be hijacked again the next day attempting to fly back to the U.S.