On 46th Anniversary, Survivors of Israeli Attack on USS Liberty Demand Congressional Inquiry

AntiWar.com

Attack Killed 34 American Crew Members

by Jason Ditz, June 07, 2013

Saturday marks the 46th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, a Naval spy ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The attack killed 34 American crew members and wounded 171 others.

The incident came during the Six-Day War of 1967, during which Israeli occupied large chunks of territory from its Arab neighbors. The attack on the USS Liberty was America’s only involvement in the conflict.

The attack began with two Israeli Mirage III fighter jets attacking the ship, claiming they assumed the antenna was a gun, and began attacking the US ship with rockets. The attacks escalated despite the ship being unable to return fire in any form, with torpedoes hitting the ship and napalm bombs setting it ablaze.

The immediate US response was to deploy warplanes against Egypt on the assumption that they might conceivably have been the attackers. Though never confirmed, some reports have persisted that the planes had nuclear weapons on board, though they were thankfully recalled at the last moment when it was revealed that it was an Israeli attack.

Israel claimed that they assumed the USS Liberty was an Egyptian destroyer, despite it flying a US flag and having clearly identified Latin alphabet letters all over it. The US rejected the claim but accepted an Israeli apology, along with a $6 million payment made in 1980 to cover a fraction of the repair costs for almost destroying the ship.

Israel’s own investigations into the matter throw their own story into doubt, with a 1982 IDF History Department Report (pdf) noting that the Israeli Navy knew hours before the attack that the ship was from the US Navy, and then goes on to speculate that the ground controllers directing the attack were just never told about this.  It then brushed off the whole incident as “an innocent mistake.”

There were some limited US military inquiries into the matter but nothing in the way of Congressional investigations, and 46 years later survivors of the attack are still pressing Congress on the incident, saying it’s high time they got around to actually probing unprovoked attacks on a US Navy ship in international waters.
The survivors noted the incongruence between the treatment of the USS Liberty attack and the September 11, 2012 Benghazi consulate attack, saying it made no sense that Congress has dedicated months to that attack while refusing even nominal hearings on the USS Liberty, an attack which had many, many more casualties.

USS Liberty Veterans Association

USS Liberty Memorial

US government betrayed Americans by covering up USS liberty attack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QziWEoiyekI 

Uploaded by bravehartmman on Jun 10, 2009

 

USS Liberty survivors gathered in Washington on Monday to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the incident and expound on how they were sprayed with bullets by America's "closest ally and beneficiary".

On June 8, 1967, the unarmed spy ship USS Liberty was on duty in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula when it was bombarded by Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats.

The two-hour-long attacks killed at least 34 sailors, wounded 173 others and nearly sunk the ship.
The attack on the Liberty came at a time when Israel had engaged in a brief but intense war with Egypt and its Arab allies, which coincided with the US war on Vietnam.

Although the ship was clearly marked as an American vessel, Israelis declared the attack on Liberty as a simple case of "friendly fire" and "mistaken identity".

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, former US president Lyndon Johnson accepted the Israeli claim and cancelled all investigations into the incident.

"It was a case of mistaken identity I do not care if every man drowned and the ship sank, we will not embarrass an ally," Johnson had told his opponents who demanded an open congressional hearing to address the Israeli claim.

USS Liberty survivor Rick Almett, however, begged to differ.

"There was a conspiracy between our government and Israel. So that's the reason why they didn't pursue it and why the investigations were covered up because of the alliance of Israel and the United States," Almetti told Press TV.

In a separate interview with Press TV, Jim Smith -- another surviving member of the USS Liberty crew -- said the incident was "an intentional act by Israel to sink the ship with all hands and no survivors".

While there are many conspiracy theories as to why Israel attacked a ship of its top ally, Earnie Gallo -- who heads the USS Liberty Veterans Associations -- told Press TV that the attack was in fact designed to pave the way for an Israeli military incursion into the Golan Heights.

In 2003, an independent committee comprised of retired high-ranking military officers and a former US ambassador to the Middle East joined forces to investigate the Liberty attack and the subsequent cover-up.

Their pleas for an investigation, however, have fallen on deaf ears in the Congress as it continues to ignore the facts presented on the Liberty attack.

Former US military and political officials said they had been ordered to put the lid on the controversy surrounding the USS Liberty attack. "We were never to speak of it and we were to caution everyone else involved that they could never speak of it again," said former court Adm. Isaac C. Kidd.

Documentary on the USS Liberty: Dead in the Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va0sHuZyJwU 

Uploaded by MrLimeyBob on Jul 11, 2011

 

A Documentary on the shelling of the USS Liberty in 1967 during the six day war. This documentary has been titled: 'Dead in the Water.'

USS Liberty: Government Betrayal and Cover-up Finally Exposed

Global Research

Author's Note:

This article was written by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts in 2008. It was published in July 2008, and is based entirely on documented sources and on interviews with the survivors. Today marks 44 years since this heinous war crime was not only committed but has been covered up -- by all succeeding administrations and mainstream media. It is a "must read" for those concerned about an attack on America; the needless slaughter of American citizens.

June 8, 1967 -- the fourth day of the Six Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan -- was a beautiful day in the Mediterranean. The USS Liberty was in international waters off the coast of Egypt. Israeli aircraft had flown over the USS Liberty in the morning and had reported that the ship was American. The crew, in close proximity to the war zone, was reassured by the presence of Israeli aircraft. But at 2:00 p.m. sailors sunbathing on the deck saw fighter jets coming at them in attack formation. Red flashes from the wings of the fighters were followed by explosions, blood and death. A beautiful afternoon suddenly became a nightmare. Who was attacking the USS Liberty and why? The attack on the Liberty was an attack on America.

The Liberty was an intelligence ship. Its purpose was to monitor Soviet and Arab communications in order to warn both Israel and Washington should the Soviets enter the war on behalf of its Arab allies. The Liberty was armed only with four machine guns to repel boarders. Its request for a destroyer escort had been denied.

The assault on the Liberty is well documented. With no warning, the Liberty was attacked by successive waves of unmarked jets using cannon, rockets and napalm. The attacking jets jammed all of the US communications frequencies, an indication they knew the Liberty was an American ship.

The air attack failed to sink the Liberty. About 30 minutes into the attack three torpedo boats appeared flying the Star of David. The Israeli boats were not on a rescue mission. They attacked the Liberty with cannon, machine guns and torpedoes. One torpedo struck the Liberty mid-ship, instantly killing 25 Americans while flooding the lower decks. The Israeli torpedo boats destroyed the life rafts the Liberty launched when the crew prepared to abandon ship, sending the message there'd be no survivors.

At approximately 3:15 two French-built Israeli helicopters carrying armed Israeli troops appeared over the Liberty. Phil Tourney could see their faces only 50/60 feet away. He gave them the finger. Surviving crew members are convinced the Israelis were sent to board and kill all survivors.

The Israeli jets destroyed the Liberty's communication antennas. While under attack from the jets, crew members strung lines that permitted the ship to send a call for help. The USS Saratoga and the USS America launched fighters to drive off the attacking aircraft, but the rescue mission was aborted by direct orders from Washington.

When the Liberty notified the Sixth Fleet it was again under attack, this time from surface ships, the Fleet commander ordered the carriers America and Saratoga to launch fighters to destroy or drive off the attackers. The order was unencrypted and picked up by Israel, which immediately called off its attack. The torpedo boats and the hovering helicopters sped away. Israel quickly notified Washington that it had mistakenly attacked an American ship, and the US fighters were recalled a second time.

The USS Liberty suffered 70% casualties, with 34 killed and 174 wounded. Although the expensive state of the art ship was kept afloat by the heroic crew, it later proved unsalvageable and was sold as scrap...[Full Article]

Israeli attack on USS Liberty (US Navy ship)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRZSzdQuOqM

Uploaded by truthseeker911 on Mar 24, 2007

http://www.ussliberty.org/
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a U.S. Navy intelligence ship, USS Liberty, in international waters about 12.5 nautical miles (23 km) from the coast of the Sinai Peninsula, north of El Arish, by Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats on June 8, 1967.

It occurred during the Six-Day War, a conflict between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The Israeli attack killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded at least 173. The attack was the second deadliest against a U.S. Naval vessel since the end of World War II, surpassed only by the Iraqi Exocet missile attack on the USS Stark on May 17, 1987, and marked the single greatest loss of life by the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Remember the USS Liberty

Israel's attack last year on a convoy bringing humanitarian aid to Palestinians, and the formation of another convoy this spring, brings to mind another tragic event in recent history: Israel's attack on the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967.

The Liberty was a U.S. Navy intelligence ship that was suddenly and brutally attacked by the air and naval forces of Israel while sailing in international waters. Israeli reconnaissance aircraft identified the Liberty as a U.S. naval ship nine hours before the attack.

Sailing in international waters at less than 5 knots, with no offensive armament, the Liberty was not a military threat to anyone. In the attack, Israel dropped napalm on the Liberty, torpedoed it, and then, in violation of the Geneva Convention, machine-gunned U.S. sailors in life rafts as they fought for their lives. Israeli air and naval forces intended to inflict maximum damage and kill as many sailors as they could. What stymied their plans was the courage and heroism of the men on board. Cmdr. William McGonagle, captain of the USS Liberty, won the Medal of Honor for his heroism that fateful day.

Every survivor, as well as then-Secretary of State Dean Rusk, is certain Israel made a deliberate attack against the Liberty. Thirty-four Americans died and 173 were wounded that day. The ship, a $40 million state-of-the-art signals intelligence platform, was declared unsalvageable and sold for scrap.

Tragically, the U.S. government has not given in to the demand of survivors for an official inquiry. Survivors of the attack on the Liberty have been forbidden for 40 years to tell their story...[Full Article]

Re-open the USS Liberty Case: 44 years after attack, US Politicians still cover for Israel

Salem-News

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - A year after the bloody Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish humanitarian aid ship bound for Gaza, I am reminded of an earlier Israeli attack on another ship that took place several decades ago.

The 8th of June marks a little noticed anniversary date that should live in infamy in the annals of modern US history. It was the day, during the 1967 war, that the Israel attacked the US spy ship, the USS Liberty, off the coast of Egypt. Thirty four US servicemen were killed and one hundred seventy two were wounded in this well documented, unprovoked attack.

“Accidental” is what Israel, and her defenders proclaim. It was an Egyptian ship, they “mistakenly” thought. Specifically, an out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier, the Israeli government later explained, with the most ‘heartfelt regret.’ It’s their story and they’re sticking to it. How many Egyptian vessels were flying an oversized US flag (riddled with bullet holes from Israeli weapons fire) the Israelis are at a loss for words.

According to the ‘Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on the USS Liberty’, this accidental air and naval attack lasted two hours “during which time unmarked Israeli aircraft dropped napalm canisters on the Liberty’s bridge, and fired 30mm cannons and rockets, causing 821 holes, more than 100 of which were rocket size; survivors estimate 30 or more sorties were flown over the ship by a minimum of 12 attacking Israeli planes which were jamming all five American emergency radio channels.”

This ‘accident’ happened after only eight, yes eight, hours of aerial surveillance, on the Liberty, which had unmistakable American markings...[Full Article]

USS Liberty Dead in the Water (Full Movie) Americans Murdered by Israel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8b0bnX3fc8

ALAN HART: “TELL THAT TO THE USS LIBERTY’S SURVIVORS, Mr. Lieberman”

VeteransToday.com

December 21, 2010 posted by Alan Hart

USS LIBERTY, ATTACK IN ISRAEL'S UNDECLARED WAR ON AMERICA

By Alan Hart, STAFF WRITER

Question: Why is it that in this Christian season of “Peace on Earth and good will to all men (and women)” the name of Israel’s Soviet-born foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, described by some as Israel’s “Hitler in-the-making”, should enter my mind?

Answer: Because I’ve been thinking about a most extraordinary statement (extraordinary even by his own standards) he made on a recent visit to Australia.

His Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd, had apparently asked him if Israel would sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to assist the cause of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.

Liberman said “No” because “Israel does not pose a threat to peace in the world.” (My emphasis added).

The problem, Liberman asserted, “is not focused on the issue of the deployment of nuclear weapons itself” but on “the responsibility of the states which possess weapons of this kind.”

So according to Lieberman, the nuclear-armed Zionist state is a responsible state. There’s no need for the world to be concerned about its refusal to sign the NPT.

When Lieberman joined Ehud Olmert’s coalition government as minister in charge of strategic threats, Ha’aretz’s editorial writers commented as follows: “The choice of the most unrestrained and irresponsible man around for this job constitutes a strategic threat in its own right. Lieberman’s lack of restraint and his unbridled tongue, comparable only to those of Iran’s president, are liable to bring disaster down upon the entire region.”

Back in November 2003, the findings of an unpublished but leaked poll for the European Commission in 15 EU member states found that Israel was regarded as the “top threat to world peace” – ahead of North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran – by 59% of the 7,500 Europeans interviewed. Seven years and two Israeli wars (acts of state terrorism) later, that finding can only have been re-enforced.

If Lieberman really believes there is a plausible case for Israel as a “responsible” state, he could test it by making it to the Liberty’s survivors – those who survived Israel’s attack on America’s most advanced and sophisticated spy ship, an assault by air and sea including torpedoes that killed 37 Americans and wounded 174, 90 of them seriously. If on the fourth day of the 1967 war things had gone according to the plan of the man who ordered the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, the Liberty would have been sunk with all American hands on board, leaving nobody to tell the story of what really happened.

For those who are not aware of the truth of what happened, the Liberty was on station off the coast of Gaza as the Johnson administration’s insurance policy. Listening to Israeli military communications, its main mission was to prevent Israel going to war with Syria and possibly provoking a U.S-Soviet confrontation. President Johnson had given Israel a greenlight to attack Eygpt but only Eygpt. Dayan ordered the attack on the Liberty to prevent it giving the Johnson administration early warning of his intentions to extend the war to Syria after he had taken the West Bank of Jordan. As it happened, Israel’s last land grab of the war – the taking for keeping of the Syrian Golan Heights – did provoke the threat of Soviet military intervention. For some hours there was the prospect of a superpower confrontation and possibly World War III. But at the brink, catastrophe was averted by use of the White House-Kremlin hot line.

Israel’s attack on the Liberty ought to have been a sensational, headline-grabbing news story, but beyond the fact that an “accident” had happened and that Israel had apologized, it did not get reported by America’s news organisations. It was too hot an issue for them to handle. If it had been an Arab or other Muslim attack on an American vessel, it’s reasonable to speculate that America would have resorted to a military strike, if not war, on the country it held responsible. What did President Johnson do? Out of fear of offending the Zionist lobby and its stooges in Congress, he ordered and led a cover-up which remains in force to this day. And the mainstream media went along with it. As it still does.

The lesson of the cold-blooded attack on the Liberty was that there is nothing the Zionist state might not do, to its friends as well as its enemies, in order to get its own way.

The job Mr. Lieberman wants most of all is Netanyahu’s. The way things are in Israel and look like going, it’s not impossible that he will get it. If he does become prime minister, I imagine that would signal a move from rhetoric to action as in the chants of his supporters – “Death to the Arabs!”

USS Liberty Survivor Threatened by Unknown Israeli

A face-to-face threat against the life of a decorated American war hero by someone claiming to be an agent for a Middle Eastern country tied to previous acts of terrorism against the U.S. should spark concern. That is, of course, unless the country from which this foreign agent hails is Israel, and the war hero is a survivor of the USS Liberty, the naval vessel attacked by the Middle East state in 1967, causing the deaths of 34 American servicemen.

This is what happened to Phillip F. Tourney, decorated war hero and survivor of Israel’s premeditated attack on the USS Liberty 43 years ago. On the evening of Aug. 6, Tourney was verbally threatened by a foreign national claiming to work for the government of Israel.

Despite being subjected to threats over the years, Tourney has refused to remain silent concerning the attack on his ship and the subsequent cover-up. These threats have included middle-of-the-night phone calls where the names of his children and grandchildren have been read aloud. He has heard what sounded like guns being fired a few inches from the phone’s receiver. More recently, Tourney says there were two occasions when the lug nuts on both his trucks were loosened, resulting in both vehicles being totaled in crashes.

What makes this most recent threat more ominous is that it was “up close and personal,” in the lounge of a Holiday Inn in southern California.

Vacationing with his wife of 30 years, Tourney was sitting in the lounge when the seat to his right was taken by a well-dressed man speaking with an Israeli accent who wanted to strike up a conversation about—of all things—the USS Liberty. According to Tourney and his wife, the man, in his mid-40s, carried himself in a “professional” way. Within seconds of striking up a discussion, the Israeli national referred to the Liberty as “that horse transport” (the lame excuse Israel has maintained these last 43 years is “mistaking” the USS Liberty for the El Quesir, an Egyptian horse ferry one-quarter the Liberty’s size).

This suggested to Tourney that his newfound “friend” was likely an official or hireling from the Israeli government.

Tourney asked the man what he did, only to be told that he was a “doctor.” When Tourney challenged him to produce a business card, the smirking “doctor” said he didn’t carry them. Obviously trying to get Tourney unhinged, the Israeli then discussed the June 8, 1967 butchering of 34 Americans by the government of Israel in mocking, taunting tones.

Tourney said the man—wearing an oversized watch—repeatedly put the watch directly in Tourney’s face. Tourney indicated he knew that he was being taped and told the man to get the watch out of his face.

After telling Tourney that the men of the USS Liberty “got what they deserved that day,” the man with the Israeli accent admitted he was not a doctor but rather an employee of the state which orchestrated the murder of the men aboard the Liberty. Tourney asked the man what he did specifically. He responded, “many things,” and “I do whatever my government asks of me.”

The Israeli stressed that his bosses were “not happy” with some of Tourney’s recent “activities.” He mentioned specifically the radio programs Tourney has either hosted or appeared on in recent years as well as the book he recently co-authored, What I Saw That Day: Israel’s 1967 Holocaust of American Servicemen Aboard the USS Liberty.*

The man warned that Israel planned on putting a stop to all of this sooner rather than later. Tourney asked the man when the next war was going to start. The smirking foreign agent replied, “Soon. . . .My sources tell me, between 30 and 60 days.”

Tourney then asked, “And what about me? The man responded: “You are on the same list as the Iranians.”

Hearing what was taking place and experiencing for the first time the kind of threats that her husband has endured for decades, Tourney’s wife decided she had heard enough.

She got up from her seat, went around her husband so she could stare eye-to-eye with her husband’s would-be assailant and let loose in the way any devoted wife would. She referred to the man as the devil and told him he had no right to do what he was doing.

At this point, the discussion was attracting the attention of other patrons. As if on cue, the Israeli feigned surprise and contrition, loudly protesting with apologies, to make Tourney and his wife appear irrational and out of control. Shortly afterward, hotel security showed up, and the Tourneys left the lounge.

The FBI was contacted at two different locations, but as of this writing, no follow-up calls have been made by either FBI office.
——
*What I Saw That Day: Israel’s 1967 Holocaust of American Servicemen Aboard the USS Liberty—written by Mark Glenn and Phil Tourney—is $20 for the softcover book plus $5 S&H ($25 ppd.). For $35 you can get the book and an audio CD of the book read by a professional narrator. Add $5 S&H ($40 ppd.) Order from Liberty Publications, Box 27, Careywood, ID 83809. PayPal customers: http://whatisawthatday.wordpress.com.

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(Issue # 36, September 7, 2010)

US Media Terrified Of Mentioning USS Liberty

YOUR NEW REALITY
June 9, 2010

Never heard of the USS Liberty?

Do you know that an American naval vessel was attacked by Israel in international waters, 43 years ago today, resulting in the deaths of dozens of American sailors, seriously wounding more than 170?

If you haven’t, don’t feel bad. Most Americans under the age of 40 haven’t heard of it either. It has been all but written out of official American history.

This American veteran has now survived TWO attacks in international waters by Israel. And the US government has been all but silent, both times.

“Machine-gunning of life rafts.”

If you’re an American,, why don’t you call your local radio station or TV station right now, ask for a news producer, and ask them why they aren’t talking about this important anniversary.

Don’t be surprised if, like you, they’d never heard of the USS Liberty, either.

It’s been written out of American history. Like it never happened.

Like they wish it never happened.

But it did.

UPDATE : I just Google News-checked “USS Liberty”. Outside of bloggers and veterans’ news sites, there was barely four mentions of this anniversary, small mentions, On This Day In History type mentions, nothing substantial.

Like it never happened.