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Attack on the United States Ship
Liberty |
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On June 8, 1967, US Navy
intelligence ship USS Liberty was suddenly and brutally attacked on the
high seas in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel.
The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that this was an
American ship and lied about it. Survivors have been forbidden for 40
years to tell their story, under oath, to the American public |
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During the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attack
the USS Liberty in international waters off Egypt's Gaza Strip. The
intelligence ship, well-marked as an American vessel and only lightly
armed, was attacked first by Israeli aircraft that fired napalm and
rockets at the ship. The Liberty attempted to radio for assistance, but
the Israeli aircraft blocked the transmissions. Eventually, the ship was
able to make contact with the U.S. carrier Saratoga, and 12 fighter jets
and four tanker planes were dispatched to defend the Liberty. When word
of their deployment reached Washington, however, Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara ordered them recalled to the carrier, and they never
reached the Liberty.
The attack 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 organizations.
It was too hot an issue for them to handle and pursue. If it had been an
Arab attack on an American vessel it would have been an entirely
different matter, of course. In that event there would have been
saturation coverage with demands for retaliation, with Zionist and other
pro-Israeli columnists and commentators setting the pace and tone. |
The US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ordered jets that had been
dispatched to assist the Liberty turned around. US Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara said “President [Lyndon] Johnson is not going to go to
war or embarrass an American ally over a few sailors.”
The Chief Attorney to the original 1967 Navy Court of Inquiry has stated
in a sworn affidavit that President Johnson and Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara ordered the Court of Inquiry to cover up the attack by
presenting it as a mistake.
Despite a near universal consensus that the Israeli attack was made with
full knowledge that the USS Liberty was a US Navy ship, the Johnson
administration began an immediate cover-up of this fact. Though
administration officers continued individually to characterize the
attack as deliberate, the Johnson administration never sought the
prosecution of the guilty parties or otherwise attempted to seek justice
for the victims.
They simply allowed those responsible literally to get away with murder.
Forty seven years on, thanks to the complicity of the mainstream media,
the cover-up ordered by President Johnson is still in place.
If the attack had gone completely according to the plan of the man who
ordered it, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, none of the Liberty
crew would have survived. |
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USS Liberty was a Naval Intelligence Ship |
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Moshe Dayan . . . circa 1953 |
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The 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.
Israeli planes and torpedo boats attacked the unarmed US Navy
intelligence ship USS Liberty (GTR5). 34 American sailors were murdered
and 172 wounded that day, a casualty rate of 70%. This is among the
highest casualty rates ever inflicted upon a US naval vessel.
According to the senior Israeli lead pilot, he recognized the Liberty as
American immediately, so informed his headquarters, and was told to
ignore the American flag and continue his attack. He refused to do so
and returned to base, where he was arrested. The two Israeli pilots who
refused to attack the Liberty were jailed for many years. |
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USS Liberty . . . October 1966 |
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The Liberty was
an Intelligence Ship
Israel was doing something that they did not want
the US to know about |
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.
At 1424 hrs, three Israeli torpedo boats attacked, raking the burning
Liberty with 20mm and 40mm shells. At 1431hrs an Israeli torpedo hit the
Liberty midship, precisely where the signals intelligence systems were
located. Twenty-five more Americans died.Israeli gunboats circled the
wounded Liberty, firing at crewmen trying to fight the fires. At 1515,
the crew were ordered to abandon ship. |
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The Israeli warships closed and poured machine gun fire
into the crowded life rafts, sinking two. As American sailors were being
massacred in cold blood, a rescue mission by US Sixth Fleet carrier
aircraft was mysteriously aborted on orders from the White House.
An hour after the attack, Israeli warships and planes returned.
Commander McGonagle gave the order. ‘prepare to repel borders.’ But the
Israelis, probably fearful of intervention by the US Sixth Fleet,
departed. The Liberty was left shattered but still defiant, her flag
flying.
The Israeli attacks killed 34 US seamen and wounded 171 out of a crew of
297, the worst loss of American naval personnel from hostile action
since World War II.
Israel later paid a token reparation of US $6 million. |
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The attack was deliberate, staged to conceal Israel's pending
seizure of Syria's Golan Heights, which occurred the next day. The
ship's listening devices would likely have overheard Israeli military
communications planning this controversial operation. Captain McGonagle
was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic
command of the Liberty during and after the attack. In 2003, an
independent commission of highly regarded experts was created to look
into the matter; the Moorer Commission, named after its chairman, Adm.
Thomas H. Moorer. On October 22nd, 2003, the Independent Commission of
Inquiry released a report by former officials from the highest level of
the military and government, which reveals that Israel “committed acts
of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the
United States”, when it deliberately attacked the USS Liberty and killed
34 American crewmembers in 1967. |
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Captain McGonagle - Awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honor |
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 Israel's
Ancient Rebel Caves
Cavern hideouts that dot the cliff side of Mount Arbel
overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Roman historian Josephus described in
his writings how King Herod lowered his men in chests from the cliff to
the cave openings and, using fire, overtook the rebels.
The Jewish rebels lived and
fought during two revolts against the Romans -- the first around the
time the great temple was destroyed in Jerusalem in 70 AD, and one
decades later under legendary leader Bar Kochba.
The foothills of Jerusalem around the ancient city of Beit Guvrin are
like an ant farm and best tell the story of the guerilla tactics used in
the Bar Kochba rebellion. The rebel strategy worked for a while, but the
Romans eventually defeated them.
An expansive ancient tunnel systems dug by Jewish rebels
to fight the Roman empire. The hundreds of hideouts, ranging from just a
few metres deep to seemingly unending labyrinths, are subterranean
mazes, which date back as early as the first century BC, and are
virtually unknown, and even if you go looking for them, as designed,
they are easy to miss.
The systems were often reached through trap doors in
Jewish villages, some of which are now archaeological sites, others have
been completely destroyed. Today, they may be no more than an
indistinct, shoulder-width opening in the ground or hillside. You may
have to crawl, even slither, for a few minutes through a pitch-black
burrow -- too cramped for a fully armed Roman legionary. Turns can be so
tight you may have to back up to a spot where you can flip from head to
feet first in order to continue. |
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Gold Coins Unearthed At Israel
Crusades Site
HERZLIYA, Israel - A 1,000-year-old hoard of gold
coins has been unearthed at a famous Crusader battleground where
Christian and Muslim forces once fought for control of the Holy Land.
The treasure was dug up from the ruins of a castle in
Arsuf, a strategic
stronghold during the religious conflict waged in the 12th and 13th
centuries.
The 108 coins - one of the biggest collections of ancient coins
discovered in Israel - were found hidden in a ceramic jug beneath a tile
floor at the cliff-top coastal ruins, 15 km (9 miles) from Tel Aviv.
"It is a rare find. We don't have a lot of gold that had been circulated
by the Crusaders," said Oren Tal, a professor at Tel Aviv University who
leads the dig.
Arsuf, which overlooks the Mediterranean sea, was the site of a famous
12th century victory for England's King Richard I - known as Lionheart -
over Muslim leader Saladin (Salah ad Din).
About 80 years later, in 1265, the Muslim army returned under a
different general, and lay siege to the city for 40 days. When the outer
walls fell, the knights retreated to the castle, which was eventually
destroyed.
The stash, Tal believes, belonged to the Knights Hospitaller who
inhabited the castle. It may have been payment they were due to pay for
leasing the land, or perhaps profits from industrial activities, he
said.
The gold coins weigh about 400 grams (14 ounces) in total. Some were
minted two centuries earlier in Egypt, and they will be studied over the
next six months, Tal said. |
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