42 YEARS AGO – ISRAELI ATTACK ON USS LIBERTY
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a U.S. Navy signals intelligence ship, USS Liberty, in international waters about 12.5 nautical miles (23 km) from the coast of the Sinai Peninsula, north of the Egyptian town 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, Syria and Iraq. The Israeli attack killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded at least 173. The attack was the second-deadliest against a U.S. warship 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.
The Israeli and American governments conducted multiple inquiries into the incident, and issued reports concluding that the attack was the result of a mistake, caused by confusion among the Israeli attackers about the precise identity of the USS Liberty and the fact that the United States Ambassador to the United Nations had publicly announced to the world at the U.N. that the United States had no ships within 350 miles of Israel and the battle.
Israel's official position is that the attack was not the result of an intentional targeting of an American ship. Israeli officials say they were assured by the United States that no U.S. ships were in the area, and that its air and naval forces mistakenly identified Liberty as the Egyptian vessel El Quseir. Supporters of this position say Israel had no motive for a surprise attack on an important ally. They also note that the tense atmosphere of the Six-Day War created the possibility of such mistakes, and point out that the U.S. government, concerned about such dangers, ordered the Liberty further away from shore the night before the attack (bureaucratic and communications problems kept the order from arriving in time). Finally, they note that the United States has several times mistakenly attacked its own and allied forces in so-called friendly fire incidents
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Others believe that the attack was deliberate and premeditated. They note that the Liberty was more than twice as large as the El Quseir, and was clearly designated with Latin rather than Arabic letters and numbers, rejecting claims that Egyptians could have intentionally mimicked a US ship as deception in war. Proponents include some of the surviving Liberty crewmen, and some former U.S. government officials, including then-CIA director Richard Helms and then-Secretary of State Dean Rusk as well as Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer, former Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Israel concedes that the Israeli Air Force deliberately attacked what Israel believed to be an Egyptian ship.
Others believe that the attack was deliberate and premeditated. They note that the Liberty was more than twice as large as the El Quseir, and was clearly designated with Latin rather than Arabic letters and numbers, rejecting claims that Egyptians could have intentionally mimicked a US ship as deception in war. Proponents include some of the surviving Liberty crewmen, and some former U.S. government officials, including then-CIA director Richard Helms and then-Secretary of State Dean Rusk as well as Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer, former Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Israel concedes that the Israeli Air Force deliberately attacked what Israel believed to be an Egyptian ship.
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, on December 17, 1987, the issue was officially closed by the two governments through an exchange of diplomatic notes. Israel also eventually paid nearly $13 million in humanitarian reparations to the United States and in compensation to the families of the victims.
According to the book "The Puzzle Palace" (a history of the NSA written by James Bamford), the issue was closed by President Jimmy Carter accepting an Israeli government offer of $6 million in damages for destruction of the vessel; this book also indicates that the surviving family members of crewman affected by the incident had to work out a civil settlement of approximately $3.6 million with lawyers hired by the Israeli government.
For more information on this see: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/USS+Liberty+incident#endnote_rf-15
3 comments:
Many lies here! Americans should investigate this incident. It was a deliberate attack authorized by our President as a pretext to entering the 6-day war. Obviously the hopes were to make that war much more than a 6-day war. Hopes were high for a checkmate of the entire Islamic World.
Re: 3:16
Unfortunately, sometimes things like this happen in times of war.
After living on this planet and witnessing all that has transpired during my 52 years . . .I can see why Israel justified the attack. Afterall, our Government has not got the best reputation for being truthful . . .yes even to its own citizenry. I would not have put it past the US Government to have been selling arms to Isreal while also selling arms to its enemies Syria and Eqypt.
This brings me to an interesting conclusion. Remember during the first gulf war when we were organizing the attack to liberate Kuwait. Well I volunteered my services - (pilot) - to the US Government in hopes that maybe I would lead the encounter. But the Defense Department informed me that they didn't care that I was a pilot and instead wanted me to be trained ' the military way' with no guarantee of ever flying a plane.
So I instead offered my services to Isreal. I was on stand-by for more than a year in the event the situation required my personal attention in which I dare say might have resulted in an even quicker victory.
I've got a huge heavy wooden hatch door from one of those old Liberty ships.
When I found it, it was sun bleached and ugly so I stained it. After staining it, like a ghost the number 4 appeared on the door where the stain didn't take because the number 4 which was gone was painted with oil paint.
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