Tonight on Radio FreeRepublic
Unspun with AnnaZ
October 23rd, 2003 -- 10pmE/7pmP
"At least when right-wingers rant, there's a point!"
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.
As far as the Liberty goes, I'd like to see info from an unbaised source. From what I've found on this guy, he's hardly that.
Tonight on Radio FreeRepublic
Unspun with AnnaZ
October 23rd, 2003 -- 10pmE/7pmP
"At least when right-wingers rant, there's a point!"
Thanks for response on number 2, how about your respnse on number 1?
Sorry, but this is garbage.
Hey, you brought up the "Elders of Zion" and the so called "Jewish banking conspiracy", not me. These are anti-semetic.
Secondly, according to the survivors, the Liberty incident WAS NOT a freindly fire attack. If I remember correctly, it happened in daylight, the Liberty was marked as a U.S. ship, the crew tried many time to make contact with the attackers, AND, the attack lasted 6 hours. The attackers tried to sink the ship and kill the survivors.
It just doesn't sound like a "friendly fire" incident to me. It may to you.
On these other incidents you mentioned, the U.S. has admitted their error. In the Liberty incident, nothing but years of official silence and stonewalling by both governments.
I would just like to know the truth.
Hey, you brought up the "Elders of Zion" and the so called "Jewish banking conspiracy", not me. These are anti-semetic. I brought them up to make a point that it's our responsibility what we believe in. This was in response to your "I read.." which implied that you believed something just because it was published.
I did not call your argument anti-Semitic. I called is garbage.
On these other incidents you mentioned, the U.S. has admitted their error. In the Liberty incident, nothing but years of official silence and stonewalling by both governments.
The Israeli government not only acknowledged its mistake, it paid restitution to the families of victims.
I would just like to know the truth.
Naaah, you don't want the truth -- you want "evidence."
I agree. It may have been a case of being someone's high-level military career on the line, or LBJ's call, than some "anti-American Israeli conspiracy". Those who really know are dead by now.
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