October 21, 2000
Radford sailors sent on bus tour in dangerous Algerian port
By JACK DORSEY The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK -- The ill-fated refueling of the destroyer Cole in terrorist-prone Yemen was not the first time a Navy ship had been sent into dangerous areas to help promote political policy.
Last spring, sailors aboard the Norfolk-based destroyer Arthur W. Radford were told to participate in sight-seeing bus tours in terrorist-prone Algeria.
The port visit and sightseeing opportunity were arranged by the U.S. Embassy in Algeria, presumably to help build ties with Algeria's military, despite State Department warnings to the American public that the country was dangerous.
On May 3, just before the Radford sailors were taken on the bus tours, 19 people were killed in a bus attack less than 50 miles from where the Radford eventually was moored, according to Reuters.
The Radford returned to Norfolk Oct. 1, without incident.
Some Radford crew members, writing home before the visit, said they were concerned about the police-escorted tours and quietly protested, but still followed what they considered orders requiring them to participate in the tours.
``If anything happens to me, I want it to be released that the majority of the crew, including myself, would rather remain on the inside of the ship for the entire port visit,'' one crew member wrote in an e-mail to a family member two days before the ship entered the capital city of Algiers in early May.
Master Chief Petty Officer Kevin J. Lavin, command master chief for the Radford, said Friday that the majority of the crew did not express concern. Nor was anyone ordered to go on the tours, he said.
``There was a requirement placed on the command to provide personnel to attend a couple of official functions out in town,'' he said. ``I believe it was 50 for each event.''
Because the number was so high, Lavin said, he tasked each department to provide sailors. It was up to the department to determine who would attend, he said.
While some sailors expressed concerns, which Lavin said he brought to the captain's attention, ``we went to great lengths talking to sailors individually and as a group, reassuring them that the security measures are in place and threat level is not where they think it is and that it was perfectly safe for them to go attend these functions.''
However, that is not what some crew members said.
``Pretty much everyone is sending home an e-mail similar to this one, to let the families know that we don't want to go out in town, especially in our whites. . . Talk about targets,'' the crew member wrote.
Their complaints surfaced this week, prompted by the destroyer Cole explosion in which 17 sailors were killed and another 39 wounded when a small boat loaded with explosives rammed the destroyer, which was moored at a refueling station in the port city of Aden, Yemen.
The Navy began refueling in Aden in 1997, at least in part to improve relations with the country.
Like Yemen, Algeria is considered a dangerous port, especially to Americans. Travel warnings are issued by the U.S. State Department to Americans visiting such countries.
Yemen's warning actually is somewhat less severe than that issued for Algeria. And American sailors from the Cole were never planning to go ashore in Yemen.
The Radford docked at a pier in Algiers following a naval exercise with Algerian naval vessels. It remained two nights, returned to sea, then visited a second time for one night, according to crew members.
The State Department warns U.S. citizens heading to Algeria to ``evaluate carefully'' their security and safety before traveling to the country. Although it notes that the number of terrorists incidents in Algeria has fallen considerably over the past two years, ``there are still unpredictable attacks at night, in rural villages and roadsides and on public transport,'' the State Department said in a message issued March 31, a month before the Radford arrived.
``Visitors to the capital of Algiers should stay only in the large, internationally-recognized hotels where security is provided,'' the State Department's warning said.
While Navy ships sail to dangerous ports frequently -- including those in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea -- there are generally restrictions imposed.
Rarely are sailors allowed to wear their uniforms. They are told, instead, to go in less noticeable civilian clothing. Small groups are encouraged, not large bus loads of sailors.
Navy officials in Norfolk were reluctant to discuss the visit, saying 6th Fleet officials in the Mediterranean would be better able to discuss who may have ordered the tours, or whether they were arranged by embassy personnel acting for the State Department.
A State Department spokesman in Washington declined to comment, referring questions to the Pentagon. The Pentagon did not respond by late Friday evening.
Since September 1993, terrorist actions in Algeria have resulted in the deaths of more than 120 foreigners, the State Department has said.
Car bombings, shootouts between government forces and armed groups, armed men posing as police officers, and gunpoint robberies are common.
In response, the U.S. substantially reduced the number of government employees in the country and prohibits dependents from accompanying employees to Algeria.
The Radford tours took place over two days and included about 100 crew members, both officers and enlisted. The sailors wore dress white uniforms and traveled in three armored buses, with Algerian guards providing escort protection.
One crew member described the buses being escorted through the city streets at high speed, with police escorts forcing other motorists off the road and raising weapons at drivers who were slow to obey.
``I was shaking,'' said one crew member.
``Yeah, I was scared,'' another said.
``Our ship took photos of each group of us as we left on the bus so they would know who was missing if something happened to that bus,'' a crew member said.
Lavin, the ship's master chief, denied such photos were taken.
Extra precautions taken aboard the Radford during the port visit -- including additional roving patrols of armed sailors, added lighting and a single exit and entrance to the inside of the ship -- heightened the anxiety of the port visit, some crew members said.
The crew felt pressure to go on the tours and believed they would face discipline if they refused.
``There was a muster, and we were told to go,'' a crew member said.
``Either the CO or XO got on the (public address system) and said all the security measures were in place, and while our concerns were valid, that we shouldn't worry,'' said one crew member.
``They said don't worry they are going to take care of us and everything will be very secure and very protected, and you have nothing to worry about, and just go out there and be the American ambassadors that you are.''
A de facto civil war between Islamic radicals and Algeria's military-controlled government has raged since 1992, and has led to the deaths of roughly 50,000 Algerians. U.S. facilities have been attacked, and American forces could be imperiled if an evacuation becomes necessary, the State Department has warned.
The United States held its first bilateral military exercise with Algeria in 1998, part of a quiet effort to build ties. But, some U.S. diplomats and human rights activists fear the U.S. may be sending the wrong message to a regime Washington has accused of widespread rights abuses during a seven-year war against Islamic extremists.
The military overture ended a hands-off policy pursued by the Clinton administration toward Algeria. It follows an assessment by U.S. defense and intelligence agencies that the military-controlled government has gained the advantage against extremists, according to published accounts. U.S. officials described the moves as a reward for several recent decisions by Algeria to allow foreign groups to investigate human rights allegations and press censorship.
The Clinton administration has turned increasingly to the U.S. military to initiate or lead its diplomacy in areas where the civilian foreign policy apparatus lacks access or resources.
In the case of Algeria, the Navy is repeating a role it has played in improving bilateral relations in such places as China, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Chile and Bulgaria.
Retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni said that when he headed the U.S.
Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, he made the decision to use Aden after several personal visits convinced him that it was safer than some alternatives in the region.
Zinni in testimony before the Senate Thursday said he believed Yemen's strategic location at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula made it important for U.S. forces to encourage better relations with the Yemeni leaders.
He contended, however, that nowhere in Yemen or elsewhere in the Middle East have American military personnel been deployed solely to foster improved ties with the host country.