You don't figure firing 50 torpedoes at a single ship- so Admiral/Judge Cristol claimed he was told by an Israeli torpedoman- is a pretty serious attempt?
We know at least one hit.
Posted on 10/23/2003 1:35:15 PM PDT by hanuman
Cover-Up Alleged in Probe of USS Liberty Wed Oct 22, 8:47 PM ET
By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A former Navy attorney who helped lead the military investigation of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 American servicemen says former President Lyndon Johnson and his defense secretary, Robert McNamara, ordered that the inquiry conclude the incident was an accident.
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.
You don't figure firing 50 torpedoes at a single ship- so Admiral/Judge Cristol claimed he was told by an Israeli torpedoman- is a pretty serious attempt?
We know at least one hit.
Perhaps, as with the death of Lincoln, we should not only have some trials but some executions.
Execution of the Lincoln Conspirators; Alexander Gardner American (b. Scotland, 1821-1882)
from album: "THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY", 1865
April, 1865
albumen print
18.4 x 24.5 cm.
That said, let me add that I've seen a videotape on the attack which relies heavily on interviews of Navy commanders, civilian leaders and personnel who were on board the USS Liberty, and it is persuasive.
More information available at: USS Liberty Memorial Website , and USS Liberty Research Website
This is not the first time Johnson has resorted to cover-up. According to the book, The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-1964, by historian Michael R. Beschloss, Johnson also told the late Sen. Richard Russell in 1964 that he did not believe the conclusion of the Warren Commission, of which Russell was a member, that Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman, but he leaned on Russell to join the Commission and to get the investigation shutdown and the findings released as eventually reported.
In an earlier clip, LBJ cuts off Russell's objections to serving on the Commission [with Earl Warren], and tells Russell the "Secretary of State came over this afternoon... he's deeply concerned, Dick, about the idea that they're spreading throughout the Communist world that Khruschev killed Kennedy." LBJ Phone Calls - November 1963
None of this should lead anyone to conclude that I am anti-Texan in order to redirect this discussion away from the topic because I most emphatically am not.
—Sneak Peak at the November 2003 Cover—
ON NEWSSTANDS Soon!
The bold word should be "Wahabbist."
The WRMEA is funded by Osama bin Laden's buddies in Saudi Arabia.
While I repectfully understand your compelling arguements that this appears to be an accident on the part of our ally, alot of compelling evidence has been well presented that there is more here than meets the eye. Should either the US or Israel be involved in a cover-up, the truth should be told. If the US made mistakes, let it be known. If Israel made mistakes, let it be known. If war crimes were committed, let the truth be told.
-archy-/-
Based on the NSA's proven lies regarding the mission of the Liberty at the time of the attack, I find it interesting that (a) there are so many NSA folks vigorously saying that the Israelis deliberately attacked the ship, and (b) so many people are willing to accept these statements at face value.
Is this true? As a Navy Vet, I would find this disturbing, to say the least.
Unlike these attacks, the truth about the Liberty seems to be in doubt. There's no question that these friendly fire accidents you mention were accidental.
Do you know this to be true? Just asking.
No such exhibit. Maybe they burned the lifeboat remains to bake the blood of Gentile children into the matzoh eaten at the Seder meal.
Is this true? As a Navy Vet, I would find this disturbing, to say the least.
Concur. I've not personally seen it, but I know who to ask.
-archy-/-
Yes. If you go to the Liberty website, you can see some outstanding pictures of the ship maneuvering to evade torpedoes with the topside "well involved," to use firefighting vernacular.
poohbah, need your help here: 1) who are the NSA folks on this thread that make these claims 2)) who are the people willing to accept these statements?
Just asking.
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