[lit-ideas] Re: Vanunu's Secret
- From: "carol kirschenbaum" <cskir@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 23:51:25 -0700
As I said, nobody seems to know *why* this happened, or *why* the US didn't
prosecute, and a lot of whys this author asks but can't answer.
>ck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2004 11:35 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Vanunu's Secret
> Israeli Attack on U.S. Navy Ship Led to Cover-Up
>
> By Admiral Thomas Moorer. Admiral Thomas Moorer, now retired, was chairman
> of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970 to 1974. He is joined in the
> independent commission of inquiry by Gen. Ray Davis (recently deceased);
> Rear Adm. Merlin Staring, former Judge Advocate General of the Navy; and
> Ambassador James Akins. This article is reprinted with permission from the
> Jan. 11 Houston Chronicle.
>
> After State Department officials and historians assembled in Washington,
DC,
> last week to discuss the 1967 war in the Middle East, I am compelled to
> speak out about one of U.S. history?s most shocking cover-ups.
>
> On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked our proud naval ship?the USS
> Liberty?killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 172. Those men were
then
> betrayed and left to die by our own government.
>
> U.S. military rescue aircraft were recalled, not once, but twice, through
> direct intervention by the Johnson administration. Secretary of Defense
> Robert McNamara?s cancellation of the Navy?s attempt to rescue the
Liberty,
> which I personally confirmed from the commanders of the aircraft carriers
> America and Saratoga, was the most disgraceful act I witnessed in my
entire
> military career.
>
> To add insult to injury, Congress, to this day, has failed to hold formal
> hearings on Israel?s attack on this American ship. No official
investigation
> of Israel?s attack has ever permitted the testimony of the surviving crew
> members.
>
> A 1967 investigation by the Navy, upon which all other reports are based,
> has now been fully discredited as a cover-up by its senior attorney [see
box
> on following page]. Capt. Ward Boston, in a sworn affidavit, recently
> revealed that the court was ordered by the White House to cover up the
> incident and find that Israel?s attack was ?a case of mistaken identity.?
>
> Some distinguished colleagues and I formed an independent commission to
> investigate the attack on the USS Liberty. After an exhaustive review of
> previous reports, naval and other military records, including eyewitness
> testimony from survivors, we recently presented our findings on Capitol
> Hill. They include:
>
> Israeli reconnaissance aircraft closely studied the Liberty during an
> eight-hour period prior to the attack, one flying within 200 feet of the
> ship. Weather reports confirm the day was clear with unlimited visibility.
> The Liberty was a clearly marked American ship in international waters,
> flying an American flag and carrying large U.S. Navy hull letters and
> numbers on its bow.
>
> Despite claims by Israeli intelligence that they confused the Liberty with
a
> small Egyptian transport, the Liberty was conspicuously different from any
> vessel in the Egyptian navy. It was the most sophisticated intelligence
ship
> in the world in 1967. With its massive radio antennae, including a large
> satellite dish, it looked like a large lobster and was one of the most
> easily identifiable ships afloat.
>
> Israel attempted to prevent the Liberty?s radio operators from sending a
> call for help by jamming American emergency radio channels.
>
> Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned lifeboats at close range that had
been
> lowered to rescue the most seriously wounded.
> As a result, our commission concluded that:
>
> There is compelling evidence that Israel?s attack was a deliberate attempt
> to destroy an American ship and kill her entire crew.
>
> In attacking the USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder against U.S.
> servicemen and an act of war against the United States.
>
> The White House knowingly covered up the facts of this attack from the
> American people.
>
> The truth continues to be concealed to the present day in what can only be
> termed a national disgrace.
>
> What was Israel?s motive in launching this attack? Congress must address
> this question with full cooperation from the National Security Agency, the
> Central Intelligence Agency and the military intelligence services.
>
> The men of the USS Liberty represented the United States. They were
attacked
> for two hours, causing 70 percent American casualties, and the eventual
loss
> of our best intelligence ship.
>
> These sailors and Marines were entitled to our best defense. We gave them
no
> defense.
>
> Did our government put Israel?s interests ahead of our own? If so, why?
Does
> our government continue to subordinate American interests to Israeli
> interests? These are important questions that should be investigated by an
> independent, fully empowered commission of the American government.
>
> The American people deserve to know the truth about this attack. We must
> finally shed some light on one of the blackest pages in American naval
> history. It is a duty we owe not only to the brave men of the USS Liberty,
> but to every man and woman who is asked to wear the uniform of the United
> States.
>
>
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