Most americans do not know....

'The USS Liberty': America's Most Shameful Secret

by Eric S. Margolis

NEW YORK – On the fourth day of the 1967 Arab Israeli War, the
intelligence ship 'USS Liberty' was steaming slowly in international
waters, 14 miles off the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli armored forces were
racing deep into Sinai in hot pursuit of the retreating Egyptian army.

'Liberty,' a World War II freighter, had been converted into an
intelligence vessel by the top-secret US National Security Agency, and
packed with the latest signals and electronic interception equipment.
The ship bristled with antennas and electronic 'ears' including
TRSSCOMM, a system that delivered real-time intercepts to Washington by
bouncing a stream of microwaves off the moon.

'Liberty' had been rushed to Sinai to monitor communications of the
belligerents in the Third Arab Israeli War: Israel and her foes, Egypt,
Syria, and Jordan.

At 0800 hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon flights flew over
'Liberty,' which was flying a large American flag. At 1400 hrs, waves of
low-flying Israeli Mystere and Mirage-III fighter-bombers repeatedly
attacked the American vessel with rockets, napalm, and cannon. The air
attacks lasted 20 minutes, concentrating on the ship's electronic
antennas and dishes. The 'Liberty' was left afire, listing sharply.
Eight of her crew lay dead, a hundred seriously wounded, including the
captain, Commander William McGonagle.

the rest is here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html

_____________________
why do we continue to send $$$$$$$$ to Israel w/o debate and
why do all candidates (except Ron Paul) kneel at the feet of
the AIPAC lobby...do we need new policy in the Mid East...Yeah I would
think...

Davinci has it ever occured to you to wonder what the liberty was
monitoring? Or who we were sending that data to?

Perhaps we wern't so one sided at that point as you think?

Isn't that a simple question to answer davinci?

Who is producing the most weapons in the US?

Who has the most money and therefore control?

Hi, AB!

The US has the right to send our ships anywhere we want in international
waters.

We have radio intercepts of the leisurely talk between the Israeli
pilots and their HQ: the Israelis knew that the ship was American
(though they later said that they got it confused with an Egyptian ship
that was in Alexandria harbor). The attack was entirely deliberate.
Under massive pressure from Congress, the Israelis eventually paid some
token sums to the dead on the USS Liberty, but then pro-Israeli
congressmen increased the grants the US gives to Israel by enough money
to cover those sums.

No punishment was ever inflicted on Israel for its blatant attack on
Americans.

Oceans

yeah invisible...I was being coy...personally I dont like the Israeli
influence that is bought thru our representatives in wash...they have it
is rumored upwards of 400 nukes in their arsenal and the idea that they
need us to defend themselves seems silly with that in mind...we are
nothing more than the personal attack dog for their administration...we
should be alarmed that our blood is being spilled in this way...
not to sound like a broken record..but if we had a president and
government that followed constitutional outlines we wouldnt be in half
the messes we are in..

why I support Ron Paul...voice of reason..

AB...Oceans layed out the answer specifically...would only add that
there are unsettling reports the LBJ & McNamara may have been aware at
the time & involved thru their non action.

When people question 911 these are the types of incidents that have me
nodding my head in agreement. Governments can act as rogue agents for
agendas of politcal nature.

Let me ask this in a different way.

What could that ship possibly have picked up that made it not only
necessary for Israel to attack it but for our high level officals to
condone the attack and cover it up afterwards.

It was a listening ship. With the full compliment of abilities
available at the time. It must have picked up a transmission that not
only Israel did not want recorded but that our Administration at the
time did not want recorded.

There are reports that we not only covered it up but that our president
himself withdrew that ships protection and ordered the Navy to not
respond to its distress calls.

So I have to ask again what did they learn that was so important.

Well, couldn't you let your imagination play on that one until the cows
come home?
It would keep me occupied at least........ if not longer.

Idon't think that LBJ/Rusk encouraged the Israelis in any way to attack
Egypt, Syria and Jordan on June 5, 1967. I've looked into this as have
a number of other very careful researchers.

This is what is known:

Rusk completely opposed the Israelis when they asked the US what our
response would be if they attacked. LBJ thought a lot about it, and
ended up in effect saying to the Israelis, "You (Israel) will not be
alone, unless you go alone." meaning, if you attack, don't count on us
to help you. This was not the forceful communication that Eisenhower
gave the Israelis in 1956 whent he Israelis, French and British attacked
Rgypt. Eisenhower told them via telephone to get out, and they did. Of
course, John Foster Dulles was not the namby-pamby that Rusk was.

The Israelis were not quite sure that this meant, so before leaving
Washington, the head of Israeli Mossad stopped by Abe Fortas, a close
crony of LBJ, to ask him what LBJ meant. Fortas, prop-Israeli and
probably acting on his own, said that the US would not stand in the way
of an Israeli attack. Unfortunately, all parties to this conversation
are dead.

Upon his return to Israel, the Israeli cabinet met and decided to attack
on June 6, 1967.

Both Israeli and US iuntelligence had concluded that the Arab armies
were no match for the Israelis, and at least the latter predicted that
if the Israelis attacked it would be over 'in a week.' They were right.

Theer has been speculation, to which AB refers, that the USS Liberty had
gathered information that indicated that the Israelis had attacked
first, not as they claimed for a while that they had been attacked, and
that it was this reason that led the Israelis to attack the USS Liberty.

But I don't think this explanation holds water:
1. The Israelis had already attacked Egypt BEFORE the USS Liberty was
attacked.
2. We had many other intelligence assets in the area that were reporting
back exactly what the Israelis were doing
3. Destroying the USS Liberty partially would nto stop the sailors who
survived from reporting on the signals that they had already received,
showing that the Israelis were the aggressors...

To me, the Israeli attack, blatant and deadly, remains a mystery. Was
it simply to show the Amwericans that they had enough friends in
Congress that they could get away with an attack on America? Was it to
cover up some darker secret that the Israelis had?

Whatever the reason, it is appropriate for us to pause today to remember
the lives of the sailors of the USS Liberty, who lost their lives trying
to protect us from the acts of a country that so many Americans
considered their ally.

RIP, guys.

Oceans

Davinci, this has nothing to do with your post but when I was in the
Navy, on mediterranean cruises, we used to run up to the flight deck to
see the Russian fishing trawlers and as soon as they were close enough
the antenna's would pop out all over the place and the sailors would run
on deck snapping pictures like nobody's business as we dropped trou and
mooned them. Cheap fun. They would ALWAYS cut in frot of the bow so
close that we thought we would bury them. CRAZY! It took three miles to
bring that pig to a halt if need be. Sorry, just wanted to share
that.

When they were debriefed,I'm sure they didn't find the pics of our butts
as funny as we did.

Great story, Zap!

have no doubts Zap...bet it still happens

Thanks for posting this. Good point! My father was in the State Dept
that day overseeing the secure-communications channels and watched them
light up like christmas lights... he remembers the incident clearly.

Unfortunately, there is yet to be presented any proof that the attack
was conducted with prior knowledge that the ship was a US ship. This
story is great in that it purpetuates speculation as fact, as is with
most anti-Israeli propoganda. The story relies on a single thread, that
the ship was flying a US flag. Unfortunately the flag may not have been
seen for various reasons, such as wind direction vs flight direction of
recon and fighters/bombers.
What was convieniently left out of the story is that the Israeli
military immediately began rescue operations as soon as they realized
they had mistaken the ship for being Egytian.
Also what is now also missing is the story of an Israeli commander that
does not exist. I guess those that have propogated this myth over time,
have realized they cannot use an imaginary person as a key witness to
Israeli command operations controlling the mission.
Of the know facts and lack of evidence of intent, this is nothing more
than a tragic friendly-fire incident.
Let's not forget that Israel was engaged in a war at the time.

tragic friendly fire incident?...not likely...

The American government inquiries concluded that the Israelis knew
beforehand that the ship was American.

The Israelis have several times admitted that they attacked the ship,
and that their pilots knew beforehand that the ship was American.

The listening posts in Tunisia and Egypt picked up the signals
indicating that the Israelis knew beforehand that the ship was American.

Every analyst who has studied the incident knows that the Israelis did
it knowing that the ship was American.

But not our Xootbx.

That the USS Liberty flew a huge American flag, that it radioed its
identity to the Israelis long before the attack, that the Israelis
surveyed the ship hours before the attack, and that the attack lasted a
long time with continual strafing runs by the Israelis....none of that
matters to our Xootbx.

Yup, the Israelis were at war alright.

Oceans,
You are quite funny, considering nothing you posted has ever been
admitted to.

The American inquires did not conclude the Israelies knew before hand,
please show evidence of this.

The Israelis have never admitted that either.

I would hardly believe anything coming from Tunisia or Egypt since they
would say anything to support anti-Israeli rhetoric.

I doubt every enalyst that studied the incident know that. I would say
some may beleive that, but hardly all, and to know beyond doubt is
unbelievable.
But not our Xootbx.

All the specutaion of the flag, again is speculation, just because a
flag was present does not mean it was visibly a US flag. Kind of funny
how nothing was recorded by the USS Liberty regarding the Israeli
transmissions between pilots and command. Hmmm.


"none of that matters to our Xootbx."
Actually it all matter, I have yet to see definitive proof of this, this
story has been propogated as a way to demonize Jews and nothing more.
Until definitive proof is present, what is known is all that matters,
everything else is speculation.

I think the survivors of the attack have the story straight..
the Israeli's knew...it was deliberate.....not something to be contested
anymore...the story has evolved over the years..

Hi, MikeM!

Interesting that your father was part of the event. Has he ever told you
more about what happened? I can well imagine that State got immediately
and deeply involved! I can well imagine that Rusk was not a happy
camper.


Oceans

You are right, deVinci. People in the Pentagon/NSA knew immediately that
it was a deliberate attack via the two listening posts I mentioned. I
don't think the ship itself monitored the Israeli ****pit frequencies.

The survivor stories amply confirm it of course. A fascinating account
was written from the ship and ship's crew point of view, ASSAULT ON THE
LIBERTY. I found it to be the best. There are dozens of other studies
on various aspects of the incident.

I'm hoping MikeM might throw some light on the State Dertment's take, as
I haven't seen anything from INR.


Oceans