I corresponded with one of the surviving crew members, James Ennis, who wrote a book on the attack indicting Israel. His account was totally credible.
For example, a 5-by-8-foot American flag hoisted on the Liberty was fluttering in the wind on a crystalline summer day. Ennis recalled that before the assault an Israeli pilot overhead was flying so low they even waved to each other. So how could Israeli pilots have missed the flag?
It’s ingenious—or hilarious—how Oren (former Israeli ambassador to the US) explains away this inconvenient fact. He says, “But Israeli pilots were not looking for the Liberty, but rather for Egyptian submarines.” In other words, the pilots didn’t see what was staring them in the face above the water because they were in search of a vessel beneath the water. This explanation must have deeply impressed the Los Angeles Times, which awarded him the newspaper’s annual book prize in history.
North: The reason for the attack?
None of the standard explanations hold up. I have my own hunch but I readily admit it’s highly speculative and unorthodox.
Weiss: The conventional theory is the Liberty had radio surveillance and knocking out the Liberty allowed Israel to continue the war another two days.
It’s alleged that the Liberty had gotten wind of the fact that Israel was going to seize the Golan, so Israel attacked it. But this theory doesn’t hold up on close inspection.
My own hypothesis is, this is Israel’s big moment, the climactic of the Jewish people, a collective paroxysm-cum-orgasm. All the armed services want to get a piece of the action. The air force, the army, the navy.
The navy hadn’t yet seen real combat. As the war was winding down, they were probably anxious to be part of this glorious chapter. To play their part in the Jewish people’s revenge on the goyim.
Remember, the Israelis don’t just hate Arabs. They’re in an eternal war with all the goyim. All the goyim wanted the Jews dead. Just read Daniel Goldhagen if you have any doubts. The Americans are goyim. They refused entry to Jews fleeing the Holocaust; they didn’t bomb the railway tracks to Auschwitz; they, too, wanted all the Jews dead. Now they’re butting into our war, dispatching a spy ship into our waters, trying to restrain us in our moment of glory. Fuck the Americans! Fuck the goyim! Long live the Jews!
Besides the Israeli air assault on the USS Liberty, the Israeli navy torpedoed the vessel. It got to share in the mock heroics and avenge the millennial suffering of the Jews. Everyone got their 15 minutes of drawing blood, in memoriam of the Jewish martyrs.
I am the first to admit gaps in my hypothesis but it probably gets closer to the truth than positing a rational motive.
North: How was the attack suppressed?
Raison d’etat. Of course President Johnson knew what happened. But Israel was now the US’s “strategic asset” in the Middle East, so Johnson gave it a pass.
– See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2017/06/six-day-war-finkelstein/#sthash.3vSNA4W0.dpuf
The secret agreement or plan 615 that was the day that coincided with The real story behind the USS Liberty, is the part played by “our best friends in the Middle East”, and as usual they are the Zionist evil ones.
During President Johnson’s tenure in the White House he appointed a “special advisor for security affairs” by the name of Walt Rostow, an economist by trade from MIT and other prestigious places that were and now occupied by Israeli Zionists of higher learning. Anyway, Rostow was born of Russian Jewish parents(surprise surprise), and became Johnson’s top dog for international security. He had very close ties to the likes of James Jesus Angleton, and the other ranking CIA members.
Rostow was a big supporter of Israel, and was instrumental in obtaining weapons for them prior to the six day war.
Rostow along with the deputy director of the CIA and the director of the state department another Israeli firster had formed a secret committee called the 303 Committee to handle international security affairs, to cover for Johnson. They met in top secret in 1966, and drafted a secret agreement between the USA and Israel to eliminate Nasser of Egypt because he had Russian support and this threatened Israel’s expansion at that time. They agreed to stage a plan called the “frontlet 615” plan(otherwise known as the Cyanide plan) to start a war between the USA and Russia using the USS liberty as a False Flag. During that time Israel was threatening to take the Golan Heights in Syria. This the USA objected to on paper but it reality we were helping Israel in this regard. Angleton was the inside CIA man(another Zionist Lover), that they used to obtain the secret radio transmission codes that the USS liberty was using to allow Israel to jam radio transmissions on that fateful day (the Six Day War), that included Israel’s attack on the Golan Heights. Not know to Israel the USA had a communication plane in the area and had become aware of Israel’s intention to take the Golan Heights. This plan 615 included the need to completely destroy the USS liberty to remove any trace of Israeli/USA collaboration and to blame Egypt for the attack and to use USA soldiers blood to fight another war with Russia. They ran cover for LBJ, the Zionist lover. So again, ANOTHER, Zionist Jew Rostow and his buddies at the CIA were involved in destroying our country. Sound familiar 911??. Just like today, those rat bastards are scurrying all over the CIA, the defense department and the government. Shades of 1917 in Russia. Scary indeed. When will the people wake up?
Israel said it was a case of “misidentification” ( a bald-faced LIE). Both Lyndon Johnson and the Israelis were “in on it”. The intent was for Israel to destroy the ship with “all hands” lost. Israel wanted to hide evidence of a massacre (Deir Yassin) as well as draw the USA into war with Egypt (by blaming the attack on Egypt).. As it turned out, our brave sailors defended the ship and repelled the attackers after HOURS of being attacked, both by planes and by boats. Even the lifeboats were strafed and attacked by Israeli forces. Initially Lyndon Johnson denied help for the stricken ship–he wanted to see all hands murdered…so that he could complete his “plan” with the Israelis. After the attack, Lyndon Johnson was FORCED to send help, as the brave sailors refused to “die on command” and reestablished communications with the fleet, thereby thwarting Johnson’s “plan”….After the attack, the survivors were dispersed throughout the Navy and were warned not to discuss the “incident” with anyone under pain of courts-martial. The “investigation” was a whitewash that was convened and headed by no other than John McCain’s admiral “daddy”, who proceeded to hide evidence and absolve the Israelis of any wrongdoing. It is only in later years that the truth finally came out–Another fact about the Israeli “six-day-war” is that it was a pre-emptive “strike” by Israel–NOT a response to an attack by Arab forces.
I will NEVER support Israel for murdering Americans…
There is much material available on this attack…
Anarchyst.
I agree with everything you are saying except the part about LBJ wanting a war with the Soviets.
He was kneedeep in Nam and had just completed a Coup in Indonesia and we were already stretched thin troop wise. We were also pretty much even on forces and equipment then, while the Soviets had most of the Arab world as allies. If that is true then I think he would have sent a WWII cruiser or destroyer as escort to be sacrificed instead because the Liberty was no ordinary ship and would not be expendable at that time much less in a war with the Soviets. I’m open to evidence but until then I’m skeptical.
Israel (Mossad) has been holding American politicians and “movers and shakers” hostage for decades, if not generations. You see, all American telephone billing records go through an Israeli company–Amdocs. Israel has one of the most effective spy networks on the planet and has “dirt” on just about anyone who has political influence.
In addition, there are THOUSANDS of jewish hasbara–high level policy wonks with influence in the State department who have dual Israel-American citizenship, along with over 40 Congressmen and Senators. Our American government has been co-opted by Israeli interests and now does Israel’s bidding. The threat of blackmail keeps our politicians in line. AIPAC has purchased “the best politicians that money can buy”.
Well, you got one thing right. There is a lot of material available on this attack, including an excellent book by A. Jay Cristol, who gives the most well-researched and authoritative account to date – and from the look of it you haven’t glanced at a whit of it.
To start with, the notion that this attack lasted for “hours” is a complete falsehood. In fact, and according to the sworn testimony of the sailors who were on board, the first shots were fired about 1400 hours local time. By about 1500, the Israelis were signaling offers of assistance, having by then figured out that the ship in front of them was other than Egyptian. Also, the image of helpless Liberty sailors bobbing along in the sea aboard flimsy rubber boats while the IDF torpedo boats mercilessly cut them to pieces with a barrage of machine-gun fire is a complete and totally-fabricated myth. In truth, none of the ship’s sailors ever put to sea in a life raft, and the order to abandon ship was never given.
In fact, had it been the intention of the Israelis to destroy the USS Liberty with no survivors, then none would be alive today, and the ship would have been sent to the bottom on 8 June 1967. By all accounts, the Israelis had plenty of time and ammunition remaining with which to finish off the ship and her crew. As it happens, however, the Israelis did eventually realize their mistake, and today there are survivors’ groups, members of whom are currently making the rounds among various podcasts hosted by hardcore White Nationalists and other virulent Jew haters who have co-opted this issue for their own nefarious ends.
So I’d advise a little more research. Perhaps a trip to the library is in order.
I am sort of glad I never “found” my tape of myself and Captain McGonagle when he visited the ROTC detachment at OU. I was such a rube I never even realized how freaking volatile his discussion about that day really was. He told me about them hoisting the flag and waving to the pilots to try and stop the “mistake.” As commander of the USS Liberty, he spent the entire time on deck (according to him and his men) trying to direct help for the wounded and getting signals out for assistance.
Then he told me about getting his Medal of Honor presented in a way that wouldn’t embarrass the country. I didn’t understand what that meant at the time. I thought I’d saved the article and the tape all these years, but I’ve not come across it. (I was out of the Air Force taking journalism classes and since I was former military, I got assigned to the ROTC detachment for my “beat.”) What is really hilarious is that the 20-year old editor of the campus paper wouldn’t publish the article because she didn’t feel a story about an old guy who got a medal for something that happened in the 1960s was “newsworthy.”
And, since I didn’t really understand the TRUTH about the attack in 1994/95? I didn’t argue with her. I got credit for the story and that was that.
I just read anarchist posts above… I wish I’d known THEN what I know now. I’d just gotten out of the service and hadn’t ever heard a single WORD about the Liberty attack until I met the Captain with his pretty blue medal which I recognized immediately.
I’m going to go clean out my storage room. There is ONE big box I’ve not opened.
Happy hunting, Maggie! Good Luck. I would love to see that stuff.
Don’t hold your breath. I looked for it a couple years ago and found a few notes, but not the main cache of articles I’d collected in those days. I would LOVE to have that tape now that McGonagle’s comments would make more sense.
Maggie.
Maybe you could just wing it from memory as best as you can. If you post it with that disclaimer some of us will defend your right to post it.
I tried to compose something a couple of years ago, but my memory of the discussion is just not good. I was a bit in awe of meeting a real live Medal of Honor winner, having just gotten out of the service myself. Since my own father was a WWII POW from Japan with a couple of nice medals himself, I simply walked up to the old gentleman at the ROTC banquet room and introduced myself as if he were one of my father’s POW pals I’d known all my life. I asked a few questions and let him talk to my little tape player, awe inspired at having “met” a real hero I’d never heard about. (Which was NUTS because in the service we had to practically memorize all the Medal of Honor winners for silly reasons, but I’d never heard of this guy!) It was a 60 minute tape and it was more than half full. I remember just prompting him to continue a few times because I didn’t know anything about the event. I was a good listener then and since I was in my mid-thirties, the old guy was more than happy to chat and flirt with me a bit.
The unopened box contained our old medical records and a bunch of crap I don’t even care about.
I won’t try to compose any of it from memory, since my memory of it is very sketchy. I listened to the tape only once, trying to garner a couple of quotes to make my “story” for the campus paper good enough for class credit. I always thought I’d do something with it “someday” and now that someday has arrived, the materials are lost.
The USS Liberty has always been an uncomfortable truth for me to absorb, my background as a Christian and bible student and the prevailing views of like minded Christians, goes against the reports of the atrocities alleged against the Israeli army. A prophesy in the New Testament indicates that the reformation of Israel and eventually the temple, will need to be in place prior to Christ’s return. How to reconcile the two; is Israel ‘ s return as a nation God ordained? Or is the nation’s re emergence apart from God’s hand and subject to evil intentions? My conclusions have allowed me to see God’s hand as well as Accept the evil intent in the attack of the USS Liberty. I can finish my thought in a later post when my thoughts are more clear.
Nothing to reconcile. Israel’s return as a nation as a precondition to Christ’s return need not be interpreted as Israel being beloved by God. When Christ returns all Jews, by definition, will burn in hell for eternity. Maybe the USS Liberty is God’s way of saying they will deserve it. Throw in the Lavon Affair, Neocons traitors, Jew banksters, the JFK assassination and 9/11 while you’re at it. Hmm, maybe I should convert to Christianity myself…
“God” is not a real estate agent…
Well to start, there were two temples in the Old Testament, the first in Solomon ‘ s time and the second after Israel ‘ s turning away from from God and started through the minor prophets. In my opinion, the first temple was an answer to prayer from King David (father of King Solomon) to live in God’s presence, but the second was not based on a repentance of the people, but only a small remnant who were inspired to build the second temple. So the second temple was not based on Israel merits, but on the need to present a Savior to the world. The New Testament is pretty clear on the hypocrisy of the Jewish religion so even at that time, there was an evil heart. Why is this important? Because it rhymes with the current times, in that the Jewish leaders hearts still can pursue evil, yet God may still have His hand in the creation of the third Temple. I think the problem with Christian bible students is when the land of Israel was re established, they refer back to Moses and Abraham and assign a Godliness to the Jewish people; not considering that the most recent evidence of the Jewish nation is one of corruption and graft, as evidenced in the New Testament. So can I accept the truth of the murdering of US servicemen at the hands of the Israeli army? Sadly yes, but I can also see the Hand of God in preparing the way for the Lord’s Second return; not because of any goodness from the Jews today, but because of God’s promise to His followers.
The second temple was commissioned by Shah Cyrus of Persia and completed by Darius 1, both Zoroastrians. Make of that what you will.
Must not forget the Magi, also.
That’s because as a Protestant you misinterpret the Bible. The Temple will NEVER be rebuilt. The Romans under Julian the Apostate, along with Jesus hating Jews, attempted to rebuild the Temple. They were LITERALLY turned into human torches. After this , Julian thought he could restore his “poll numbers” with a war. His army was slaughtered; and Julian was put to the sword by the ancestors of…the IRANIANS. So please, ship all Christian Zionists to Israel and encourage them to rebuild the Temple. You will only need one-way tickets…
The Persians specialized in kicking Roman ass. Marcus Tullius Crassus lost his life attempting to invade Persia as well.
Not Sure.
The modern day restoration of a jewish homeland is not biblical.
Hey Fleabaggs, my understanding refers to Luke 21:24 as a sign of Jerusalem no longer being under gentile rule. It’s just my interpretation and I do not pretend to be the final word of any teaching, but thank you for your perspective!
Stuck can only long int TBP for an hour a week? WTF.. I’ve been out of touch for a month or so — so clue me in guys.
Muck – Stuck has either no or limited internet access. Last time he posted was from a library.
For a while, I’ve suspected that Finkelstein was somewhat of a pompous ass, and this article more-or-less confirms it.
This notion that this incident was anything other than a case of friendly fire is inconsistent with sworn testimony and Naval logs submitted to the US Navy Court in 1967. According to the documents and testimony submitted to the Court, the Israelis signaled offers of assistance about an hour after the first shots were fired, and the total duration of time that the Liberty was taken under fire was about 30-40 minutes – not “hours” as some have posted in comments heretofore.
There’s been quite a bit of speculation as to Israel’s possible motives in attacking the USS Liberty, including the idea that the purpose was to somehow frame the Egyptians and thereby draw the United States into the conflict. This hypothesis conveniently leaves out the fact that the Egyptian Air Force had already been decimated by that point in the 6-Day-War, and so the only forces with the means to launch an air attack were Israeli. It does also (and once again) ignore the sworn testimony given at the Navy Inquiry, whereby William McGonagle, the Liberty’s CO, describes how the boats were displaying Israeli insignia.
Lastly, the degree to which the Israelis identified the flag at any time before or during the attack is not readily apparent. On that score, there has been a lot of supposition as to what the Israelis saw or didn’t see, or heard or didn’t hear, and so on. At the end of the day, however, the truth is that no one can speak intelligently as to what the Israelis were actually thinking at the time, other than the Israelis themselves.
I would implore people to research this matter on their own and not rely upon selective information being passed around by others who, rather than acting in service to USS Liberty’s survivors, may very well be following altogether different and decidedly murkier agendas of their own. I, for one, would be less inclined to ascribe their intentions toward anti-Semitism if they would stick to the facts of the case and refrain from sensational accounts which have been debunked many times over the past four decades.
A bigger crock of shit I have yet to encounter.
Falcon.
researching govt. documents?
Try the govt. documents on the phoenix program and compare it to what is known today as just one example of those times.
I knew nothing about the USS LIBERTY until 13 October 2007 while in California, when President of the USS LIBERTY Veterans Association, Philip F. Tourney announced to the crowd: “IT WAS GOD THAT KEPT THE USS LIBERTY AFLOAT.”
I knew in a flash I would do more than just listen to him.
The crew of the USS Liberty is the most decorated crew since World War II, but very few Americans know what happened on 8 June 1967 as she navigated in international waters during the Six Day War.
The USS Liberty was America’s premier surveillance [spy] ship during the Six Day War.
Virtually unarmed and having been refused an escort, the US Navy ship was attacked by Israeli planes and torpedo boats.
Thirty-four US Sailors and Marines were killed and 174 more wounded.
The attack on the USS Liberty has never received a full investigation, as required by law.
In October of 2003, an Independent Commission of Inquiry convened including Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, United States Navy, (Ret.), Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Raymond G. Davis, United States Marine Corps, (MOH), Former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps; Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, United States Navy, (Ret.), Former Judge Advocate General of the Navy; and Ambassador James Akins, (Ret.), Former United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
The Independent Commission of Inquiry, having undertaken an independent investigation of Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty, including eyewitness testimony from surviving crewmembers a review of naval and other official records, an examination of official statements by the Israeli and American governments, a study of the conclusions of all previous official inquiries, and a consideration of important new evidence and recent statements from individuals having direct knowledge of the attack or the cover up, concluded that there was compelling evidence that Israel’s attack was deliberate and ‘Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States.’
The Independent Commission of Inquiry called upon the Department of the Navy, the Congress of the United States and the American people to immediately take the following actions:
FIRST: That a new Court of Inquiry be convened by the Department of the Navy, operating with Congressional oversight, to take public testimony from surviving crew-members; and to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the attack on the USS Liberty, with full cooperation from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and the military intelligence services, and to determine Israel’s possible motive in launching said attack on a U.S. naval vessel;
SECOND: That every appropriate committee of the Congress of the United States investigate the actions of the White House and Defense Department that prevented the rescue of the USS Liberty, thereafter threatened her surviving officers and men if they exposed the truth, and covered up the true circumstances of the attack from the American people; and
THIRD: That the eighth day of June of every year be proclaimed to be hereafter known as “USS LIBERTY REMEMBRANCE DAY, in order to commemorate the Liberty’s heroic crew and to educate the American people of the danger to our national security inherent in any passionate attachment of our elected officials for any foreign nation.” – PETITION to CONGRESS
Ernest Gallo of Florida is the current President of the USS Liberty Veterans Association. Gallo has invited President Trump and Senators Nelson, Rubio and other high ranking officials to attend this June 8th Arlington Cemetery USS Liberty graveside memorial service.
I am not a veteran and will never be a politician, but I will attend the USS Liberty Remembrance Day graveside memorial service at Arlington Cemetery because I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave; so I vocally denounce war yet support American troops by listening to them.