Some history.

On October 12, 2000, the USS COLE was attacked by terrorists in Yemen.

Jamal al-Badawi, who is wanted by the FBI, was convicted in 2004 of plotting, preparing and helping carry out the USS Cole bombing and received a death sentence that was commuted to 15 years in prison.

Yemeni authorities free al-Badawi, on October 12, 2007, the seventh anniversary of the attack on the Cole.

What Happened in the Strait of Hormuz?

Where is al-Badawi these days and what is he doing? He would be a prominent pundit in our world, speaking, teaching, and writing. He would be the resident expert on how to take out a warship with a small boat, an American warship at that.

Would Iran like to tap into that experience?

Think of a basketball coach, drawing plays and ploys on a clipboard, laying out strategy to discern whether the other team is playing zone or man to man. That radio message wouldn’t have to come from the ships. It could have come from the coach on shore, watching GPS images of his team on a laptop and calling the plays “to see what they’ve got.”