Posted on 10/22/2003 5:25:49 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
Former Chief Navy Counsel Alleges Cover-Up by LBJ of 1967 Israeli Attack on U.S. Ship
Published: Oct 22, 2003
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In a signed affidavit released at a Capitol Hill news conference, retired Capt. Ward Boston said Johnson and McNamara told those heading the Navy's inquiry to "conclude that the attack was a case of 'mistaken identity' despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary."
Boston was senior legal counsel to the Navy's original 1967 review of the attack. He said in the sworn statement that he stayed silent for years because he's a military man, and "when orders come ... I follow them."
He said he felt compelled to "share the truth" following the publication of a recent book, "The Liberty Incident," which concluded the attack was unintentional.
The USS Liberty was an electronic intelligence-gathering ship that was cruising international waters off the Egyptian coast on June 8, 1967. Israeli planes and torpedo boats opened fire on the Liberty at what became known as the outbreak of the Israeli-Egyptian Six-Day War.
In addition to the 34 Americans killed, more than 170 were wounded.
Israel has long maintained that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, an explanation that the Johnson administration did not formally challenge. Israel claimed its forces thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel and apologized to the United States.
After the attack, a Navy court of inquiry concluded there was insufficient information to make a judgment about why Israel attacked the ship, stopping short of assigning blame or determining whether it was an accident.
It was "one of the classic all-American cover-ups," said Ret. Adm. Thomas Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who spent a year investigating the attack as part of an independent panel he formed with other former military officials. The panel also included a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, James Akins.
"Why would our government put Israel's interests ahead of our own?" Moorer asked from his wheelchair at the news conference. He was chief of naval operations at the time of the attack.
Moorer, who has long held that the attack was a deliberate act, wants Congress to investigate.
Israeli Embassy spokesman Mark Regev disputed any notion that Israel knowingly went after American sailors.
"I can say unequivocally that the Liberty tragedy was a terrible accident, that the Israeli pilots involved believed they were attacking an enemy ship," Regev said. "This was in the middle of a war. This is something that we are not proud of."
Calls to the Navy seeking comment were not immediately returned.
In Boston's statement, he does not say why Johnson would have ordered a cover-up. Attempts were made to reach Boston at his home in Coronado, Calif., but he did not return calls seeking comment.
Moorer's panel suggested several possible reasons Israel might have wanted to attack a U.S. ship. Among them: Israel intended to sink the ship and blame Egypt because it might have brought the United States into the 1967 war.
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On the Net:
USS Liberty Memorial Web site: http://www.ussliberty.org
AP-ES-10-22-03 1943EDT
For what it's worth, it's not a "late statement", rather a filler by AP. Ward Boston has been saying this for about a year, since the Kristol book came out.
Were the jets that dropped napalm (curious ordnance to attack a ship with) flying very low and slow to ensure that they knew the identity of their target?
Were the topside fires on the Liberty completely smokeless?
Yes.
Moreover, given your knowledge of the working of the Israeli military and government, could you tell me if you know of any instance, where Israel has ever done something, anything, that is morally unjustifiable? I'm just trying to understand whom I'm listening to. Thanks.
Of course. The fact the Israeli government refuses to defy the US and the world, and go out and kill the terrorist leader Arafat who has been responsible for hundreds of Israeli murders, is morally unjustifiable from the side of the Israeli government because of the millions of Israeli civilians who have to continue to live in fear of more terror coming from Arafat.
Israel was not receiving any aid from the US during 1967. Aid started after 1973. The aid every year is around $3 billion. Mostly in the form of loans. What does this, if I may ask, have to do with this thread?
Here is the take on aid:
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
Again, let me ask, tell me how this relates to whether or not Israel attacked the Liberty on purpose, as you say?
The Mystere drivers were going much faster than that.
And what flag the ship flies is the last thing you look at when “rigging a ship”
The US Navy maritime patrol community is better-trained at this thing than Israeli fast-movers are.
FOI P-3s when on station fly at 200 ft. 200 Kts
Mysteres scrambled on a panic call fly 500 knots and 1,000 feet.
You look at the ship construction and configuration. And then see if that matches the name and flag that should go to it.
Sure.
Do that in a single-seat fast-mover under wartime conditions. Do it reliably, while knowing that getting too low and slow next to a hostile ship is a great way to get shot down.
So even if it hadn’t been identified by a flying boxcar earlier.
And you're going to tell me that there's never been a breakdown in communications between a maritime patrol outfit, the Israeli Army, and a bunch of fast-movers?
And the first attacking aircraft didn’t get a good look before it started it’s run. The following flights have plenty of time to get a good look.
After the damn ship's on fire?
One thing is for sure! The attack was no accident!
OK. Please tell that to the crew of the USCGC Point Welcome (attacked by the USAF off Vietnam, 1966) and the crew of the USS Nautilus (attacked by US Army Air Force bombers during the Battle of Midway, 1942).
The only ones who believe this attack was an "accident" are idiots who believe whatever the government says or shills of Israel.
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