Published June 3, 2001
June 8, 1967, is a day that really ought to live in infamy. On that day,
Israeli jets and torpedo boats attacked the U.S. Navy intelligence ship, the
Liberty, in international waters. Thirty-four Americans were killed and 171
wounded.
The attack, beyond doubt deliberate, is bad enough, but the real infamy is that
on that very day, the U.S. government conspired with the Israeli government to
cover up the truth. Before any American had talked to the ship, U.S. politicians
were rushing to the press to peddle the Israeli claim that the attack was a
mistake. They claim they thought it was an Arab ship.
This cover-up continues. Alone among all the maritime disasters and attacks, the
attack on the USS Liberty, clearly marked and sailing in calm seas under clear
skies, is the only one that Congress has never made the subject of a public
inquiry. At the time of the attack, the survivors were ordered never to speak of
it. After they retired, however, they gathered and for decades have been
collecting information and asking for a public inquiry. All of their requests
are stonewalled.
The standard government boilerplate sent to people is that these are old charges
and there is no evidence to back them. That is a bald-faced lie.
There are several sources of information: One is the USS Liberty Homepage:
http://www.uss liberty.org/jim/ussliberty. Another is the book Assault on the
Liberty by Jim Ennes, the officer on deck at the time of the attack. A third
is another excellent book, The USS Liberty, Dissenting History vs. Official
History, by Dr. John E. Borne.
History Undercover on the History Channel is scheduled to air a documentary
about the attack and cover-up on Aug 9. Even though this program is completed
and scheduled, I am skeptical that it will be aired. Those who support Israel
have proven in the past to be effective in censoring negative information about
Israel. After all, it is they who have frightened Congress into abandoning its
duty.
The cover-up itself is full of mysteries and questions that need to be answered.
Survivors have from separate sources information that a U.S. submarine was
present during the attack and photographed it through its periscope. The U.S.
government continues to deny this, though the sources claim to have been crew
members of the sub.
Why is this denied? Why, if the sub were present, did it not surface and offer
assistance to the USS Liberty, in grave danger of sinking from a large hole
blasted in its side by an Israeli torpedo?
The ship would have sunk but for the heroic efforts of her officers and the
surviving crew members.
The Israelis used machine guns, cannon fire, rockets, napalm and torpedoes in an
attack that lasted more than an hour, crew members say. They also deliberately
destroyed the ship's life rafts. Clearly, they intended to sink the ship with
all hands lost. Their apology and compensation do not change the facts.
The Liberty didn't sink, and the Israelis abruptly ended the attack. Survivors
believe they did so because they had learned that the jets had been launched
from a U.S. aircraft carrier 300 miles away.
But those jets were recalled by a direct order from Washington. Why? If they had
been allowed to proceed, the attack by torpedo boats could have been prevented.
Why are more than 6,000 pages of documents still classified?
Survivors and the American people deserve to know the answers.
Reach Charley Reese at 407-420-5315 or [email protected]