Israel attacked U.S. navy ship during the LBJ admin.?

[JoseRizal]

any truth to this here is the link...oops sorry it was on Freerepublic.com I could not find it anymore. The guy name was I think Dr.Vodor of something.

[Renew Deal]

1. Here is a google link

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-l/agtr5-k.htm

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. dont know if it was LBJ admin

but true.

[JoseRizal]

3. If its true then under which Admin. di it occur and why was it allowed

like nothing happened? I do not want to jump to conlcusions, but why did the Israelis did it? if its true at all? I am also puzzled by the inactions of the govt. of U.S. what was it for them..

Certainly, the U.S.A are not yet owned by the neocons or neowhatever is it?

[qwghlmian]

5. It was right in the middle of the Six Day War

and was ruled a "friendly fire incident". Since then it has become the favorite topic of the anti-Israeli lobby.

[leesa]

6. Wasn't Israel yet again trying to start a war and thought they could blame

it on someone else? Their specialty.

[question everything]

7. No. Israel attacked the Egyptians after they blockaded the straits of

Tiran - an internationally recognized an act of war.


The Liberty was a spy ship sent to monitor the communications in the region. The U.S. was not a close ally in those days and the ship was hit by Israeli firefighters in a case that ruled mistaken identity.

Every few years someone is raising this issue and the conclusion is the same.

[theresistance]

8. Wow, that's strong support for attacking a US ship

and killing crewmen. I believe there's more to it than just mistaken identity and dismissing the US navy ship as a "spy ship". Strafing run after strafing run? The North Vietnamese could make the same argument over the USS Maddox and that was the excuse America used to wage a massive war in Vietnam!

I'm not in your camp over this, but all the same I'll respect your views - anything concerning Israeli/Palestinian issue is dynamite on DU.

[question everything]

11. Please read the post to which I replied

the poster wondered why Israel started the 1967 war, obviously not bothering to find the minimum background

[Eloriel]

9. Oh, yeah, it was RULED a case of "mistaken identity" but

not very many people who were there at the time put any credibility in that whatsoever.

U.S.S. Liberty. Google it, there's some very compelling information available, INCLUDING at least one website by the men who served on the Liberty.

[theresistance]

10. Agreed. My take on the incident was

that the official "mistaken" identity finding was just the simple cover up to whitewash the whole thing. Even Iraq attacked the USS Stark in 1987 in the Gulf, but as an ally, a simple apology was okay (http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/ds1.htm).

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Yes, it was during LBJ's administration.

During the Six Day War in June of 1967.

[MADem]

12. READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Assault on the LIBERTY by James Innis. Jim was the OPSO in LIBERTY at the time of the incident. The book is a FANTASTIC read--compelling, detailed, full of astute personal sketches, it tells of the heroism, weakness, strength, and lays out the whole tale as it happened. Your blood will boil; you can't read it without feeling how badly this crew got shafted--by the Israelis, and by our goddamn government. When you give out Medals of Honor, that always happens at the White House...except for the LIBERTY, when the President doesn't even show up, and they do it in the dead of night at the lousy Navy Yard.

Yeah, that's probably the only time US forces got napalmed by another nation's military....to say nothing of the scores of dead and wounded. The whole thing was shoved to the back burner, covered up, and now, as the crew ages, it's looking less and less likely that the story will see the true light of day.

I guarantee you, if you read Jim's book, you will wonder WHY IN HELL this has not been brought to the silver screen. It would be a BLOCKBUSTER, not just because of the subject matter, but because of the personalities of the players embarked in LIBERTY. Any actor worth his salt would be itching to play any role in the film of this event--it's just an astounding tale.

[Tinoire]

13. Ignore the whitewash & apologetics. Go straight to the survivors' web-site

http://www.ussliberty.org/

They're not buying anoy of this accident garbage because the Israelis clearly saw their US flags, saw them, and even strafed their lifeboats.

===
Israel and its supporters insist it was a "tragic case of misidentification" and charge that the survivors are either lying or too emotionally involved to see the truth.

Israel claims they mistook our ship for the out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El Quseir and that we brought the attack upon ourselves by operating in a war zone without displaying a flag. Not so. We were in international waters, far from any fighting, and flew a bright, clean, new American flag. The flag we flew is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland and can be seen there, or in the USS Liberty Images Archive.


There's a lot of good information on the survivors' site and they debunk every lie, every white-wash ever told about the incident. These brave men deserve the truth be widely known.

The Israelis are lying
We prove they fabricated evidence


We respond to a critic


A Published Interview with Survivor Rick Aimetti


The IDF History Department is lying


Review the evidence


Veterans of Foreign Wars
Seeks investigation of USS Liberty attack


Some views of our critics and certain self-hating Americans


Tony Del Vecchio features USS Liberty


Did Liberty fly a flag?
Israel and spokesman A. Jay Cristol
say she did not fly a flag.
Is that true?
Does it matter?
Legal expert James R. Gotcher
resolves this thorny issue.
We invite Cristol or the government of Israel to respond.
We will publish any reply received.


Open letter inviting Mr. Cristol to defend his Travesty

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. Then after you finish reading up on the Liberty

you might be interested in reading about the Gander tragedy in 1985. This one happened while Reagan was in charge and Bush Sr. did everything he could to cover up the story. Ollie North is in the middle of this one too. Sad how history keeps repeating itself.


http://www.qmfound.com/gander.html


http://www.sandford.org/gandercrash/investigations/gander_paper/html/_3.shtml

[Englander]

15. BBC Documentary; "Dead In The Water";

"During the Six-Day War, Israel attacked and nearly sank the USS Liberty belonging to its closest ally, the USA. Thirty-four American servicemen were killed in the two-hour assault by Israeli warplanes and torpedo boats. Israel claimed that the whole affair had been a tragic accident based on mistaken identification of the ship. The American government accepted the explanation.

For more than 30 years many people have disbelieved the official explanation but have been unable to rebut it convincingly. Now, Dead in the Water uses startling new evidence to reveal the truth behind the seemingly inexplicable attack. The film combines dramatic reconstruction of the events, with new access to former officers in the US and Israeli armed forces and intelligence services who have decided to give their own version of events.

Interviews include President Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara, former head of the Israeli navy Admiral Shlomo Errell and members of the USS Liberty crew."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/dead_in_the_water.shtml


"Admiral Shlomo Erell was head of Israeli Navy during the Six-Day War. He explains his certainty that the attack on the USS Liberty was a case of mistaken identity.

BBC Four: What is your response to those who don't believe the attack on the Liberty was accidental?
Admiral Shlomo Erell: The notion that it was deliberate and there was knowledge of her identity is simply preposterous and is an insult to common sense. If Israel really wanted to destroy the Liberty it would not have done it in such a clumsy and hesitant manner. It would not have rushed off to offer help as soon as the ship's identity was discovered.

BBC Four: Why do think there are people who don't accept that it was an accident?
SE: I'm convinced that a few are misinformed and there are others who have political interests. I really wonder what is the purpose of digging up this unfortunate accident 30 years after so many investigations have been carried out. I believe that all the facts about the USS Liberty have been amply disclosed and if people think that the attack was deliberate I would question their motives.

BBC Four: What would those motives be?
SE: I have a suspicion that it is all political - that it is aimed at discrediting Israel in its struggle against Palestinian terror."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/shlomo_erell_interview.shtml


John Hrankowski was a fireman on the USS Liberty. He explains why he's convinced the attack was not accidental and how he's trying to persuade the US Congress that he's right.

BBC Four: Why do you maintain that it was a deliberate attack rather than a case of mistaken identity?
John Hrankowski: Accidents usually happen for a few minutes. This lasted for two and half-hours and it's been covered up for 35 years. I can tell you from catching the shrapnel and fighting the fires that this was no accident. It was a well co-ordinated attack.

BBC Four: Isn't it conceivable that the Israelis did think the Liberty was an Egyptian ship?
JH: Not a chance. Mosad and their spying network knew exactly what that horse carrier was, knew its capabilities. They claimed it was the El Quesir. That's not true. It is critical that they maintain it was an accident. After 35 years people are starting to believe it wasn't an accident. They're starting to listen to us.

BBC Four: Admiral Shlomo Erell claims that if it was a deliberate attack then they would have made a much better job of it.
JH: They were just unlucky. They should have sunk the ship. The pictures speak for themselves: they tore that ship open. The napalm just burnt all the way down. They fired torpedoes. Two of them missed and one hit the starboard side. They proved to be terrible shots and only one hit us. It hit us in a very critical point. They even shot the life rafts up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/john_hrankowski_interview.shtml

[RafterMan]

18. Interesting

"If Israel really wanted to destroy the Liberty it would not have done it in such a clumsy and hesitant manner."

So he's saying they attacked it for some other reason than to destroy it? That statement makes absolutely no sense -- it's what you would say if you were asserting someone else's forces attacked the Liberty, but that has never been Israel's claim.

Forget about the "manner", if Israel did *not* wish to destroy the Liberty, why did it attack at all? If they thought it was an Egyptian ship and did wish to destroy it, why attack in a "clumsy and hesitant" manner?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. That Incident Has Been Investigated And Reingestigated..

Every impartial investigator has concluded it was an accident...


Hell, we blew an Iranian civillian airliner right out of the air during the Reagan administration and killed over two hundred Iranians....


I seriously doubt that was not an accident...


During the Iran-Iraq war our former "friend" Iraq used an Exocet missile to blow a hole in a U S aircraft carrier killing 55 American seamen.....


I doubt Saddam wanted to blow up the ships of his new patron...


Who knows what happens in the fog of war...

[Pepperbelly]

16. It is VERY true. U.S.S. Liberty.

Still pisses me off.

[CWebster]

17. Not allowed

to ever be figured into the equation.