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An Israeli pilot who mistakenly attacked the American intelligence ship USS Liberty during the 1967 Six Day War said they were lucky he had no bombs – otherwise he would have sunk her. "There was a mistake. Mistakes happen. As far as I know, the mistake was of the USS Liberty being there in the first place," said Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yiftah Spector. After 36 years Spector, who this week was dismissed by the IAF for signing the pilots' refusal letter protesting the policy of targeted killings, agreed to speak to a reporter for the first time on his role in...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. God Bless America...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members...

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics...

NSA tapes offer clues in '67 attack on U.S. spy ship 34 crewmen died, 171 hurt in 'mistaken' Israeli strike By Scott Shane Sun Staff July 16, 2003 For 36 years, the fate of the Navy spy ship USS Liberty, attacked by Israeli fighters and torpedo boats during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, has been a painful question mark in the history of U.S.-Israeli relations. Was the attack a tragic mistake, as Israel has always contended, resulting from the attackers' belief that the ship in their sights was Egyptian, despite its U.S. flag, U.S. markings and odd array of antennas? Or...

On June 8, 1967, Israeli warplanes and gunboats almost destroyed but did not sink the USS Liberty. Even after 35 years, it seems nothing can douse the smoldering dispute about that attack on the nearly defenseless U.S. intelligence-gathering vessel. In fact, The Liberty Incident, by A. Jay Cristol, will probably fan the flames of controversy. Thirty-four Americans were killed and 172 wounded in the attack. At 69 percent of the crew, it was one of the highest casualty rates ever suffered by a U.S. Navy vessel. The focus of the dispute is: Was the attack accidental or intentional? Israel claimed...

Another Anti-Semitic Canard DiesBy Nathan GuttmanHa'aretz | July 10, 2003 New documents released this week by America's National Security Agency support Israel's version of a long-festering controversy between the two countries: Israel's sinking of an American spy ship, the USS Liberty, off the coast of Gaza during the1967 Six-Day War. Israel has always said it had no idea the ship was American, but conspiracy theorists and anti-Israel propagandists still claim Israel sank the ship in the full knowledge that it was American. The documents, originally defined as top secret, were made public by Florida Judge Jay Cristol, who has been...

Much propaganda is thrown against Israel in the "information war" but no subject is highlighted more than a tragic friendly-fire incident which occurred between Israel and the US almost 40 years ago. US Florida Judge Jay Cristol was responsible for having successfully petitioned the NSA to release US data confirming the accident. Cristol believes that Israel's enemies have tried to use this incident for decades to create a wedge between Washington and Jerusalem. Judge Cristol, in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post explains what happened to the USS Liberty and discusses the relevance of the new information released by...

New documents released this week by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) prove that Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty was accidental. The Israeli attack on the American surveillance ship during the Six Day War, which killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded 172, has been a controversial and disputed chapter in Israel's relations with the United States. Last week, the NSA released additional information relative to the June 8, 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty. The information included three audio recordings, transcripts (in English), three follow-up reports, and a U.S. Cryptologic History Report entitled "Attack on a Sigint Collector,...

JERUSALEM -- Newly declassified transcripts back up Israel's claim that its sinking of a U.S. spy ship during the 1967 Middle East war was an accident, a Florida judge who has been investigating the case for 16 years said Wednesday. Israel has always maintained it thought the USS Liberty was an Egyptian military supply ship when it ordered its forces to attack on June 8, 1967, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171. But critics charge Israel knew the ship was American. Questions about the case have long dogged U.S.-Israel relations.

Transcripts of tapes released by the US National Security Agency appear to confirm Israel's contention once and for all that the sinking of the USS Liberty off the coast of the Gaza Strip by Israeli jets in June 1967 was an accident. Thirty-four Americans were killed and 171 injured in the attack on the US naval ship. Israel has always said it attacked what it thought was an Egyptian supply ship bringing supplies to Egyptian troops that Israel was battling. But Israel's detractors have continued to insist over the years that Israel deliberately targeted the ship, fearing the Americans were...

On 02 July 2003, the National Security Agency (NSA) released additional information relative to the 08 June 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty. This release includes three audio recordings, transcripts (in English), three follow-up reports, and a U.S. Cryptologic History Report entitled "Attack on a Sigint Collector, the U.S.S. Liberty." The recordings are in Hebrew and contain time counts in English that were added by the intercept operator. The follow-up reports are summaries of the three transcripts with non-substantive chatter omitted and a compiled report that summarizes the activity and contains the text of the transcripts. The U.S. Cryptologic History...

U.S. agency confirms sinking of USS Liberty was accident By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent WASHINGTON - New documents released this week by America's National Security Agency support Israel's version of a long-festering controversy between the two countries: Israel's sinking of an American spy ship, the USS Liberty, off the coast of Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel has always said it had no idea the ship was American, but conspiracy theorists and anti-Israel propagandists still claim Israel sank the ship in the full knowledge that it was American. The documents, originally defined as top secret, were made public by...

Home Free Stuff Members Only Donate Now Institute News Proceedings Books Naval History Contests Upcoming Seminars & Expositions Gift Items Certificates Oral History ProgramMembership Benefits Membership Renewal Address Change Gift Membership High School Gift Subscription Nominate a Friend for Membership Organizational Subscriptions Contact Us FAQ        Friendless Fire?By David C. WalshProceedings, June 2003Discuss this article in the eForum. COURTESY OF LIBERTY VETERANS' ASSOCIATION Did Israel know the ship it was firing on 36 years ago—here, after the attack, listing from a deadly torpedo hit—was the USS Liberty? Today, top former U.S. intelligence officials are saying "Yes." On 8 June...

1967 Medal of Honor William L. McGONAGLE. Rank and organization: Captain (then Comdr.) U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Liberty (AGTR-5). Place and date: International waters, Eastern Mediterranean, 8-9 June 1967. Entered service at: Thermal, Calif. Born: 19 November 1925, Wichita, Kans. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sailing in international waters, the Liberty was attacked without warning by jet fighter aircraft and motor torpedo boats which inflicted many casualties among the crew and caused extreme damage to the ship. Although severely wounded during the first air attack, Capt. McGonagle...

White Supremacist Pleads Guilty to 1999 Slaying of Gay Couple in CaliforniaThe Associated PressPublished: Feb 28, 2003 REDDING, Calif. (AP) - A white supremacist who admitted fire bombing three synagogues and a building housing an abortion clinic pleaded guilty Friday to killing a gay couple about two weeks after the arsons. Under a plea agreement, James Tyler Williams, 32, will be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the shooting deaths of Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder in their Happy Valley home in 1999. He could have received the death penalty had the case gone to trial....

It was the USS Liberty controversy that introduced me to the brusque art of Israel-bashing. More than a decade ago, at the height of the conflict during Yitzhak Shamir’s tenure as prime minister, I was at a laundromat in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, when a young and rather strange city councilman approached me. I knew him through my job as a reporter at the local newspaper in this small central Pennsylvania city. He abruptly launched into a screed against Israel. He opened by recalling how the Israeli military attacked an American ship, the USS Liberty, in 1967 and then proclaimed that the...

Conal Urquhart in Jerusalem Friday February 14, 2003 The Guardian Israel accused Belgium of anti-semitism yesterday following a court decision which could lead to the prosecution of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. The Belgian supreme court ruled on Wednesday that Israeli military commanders could be prosecuted for complicity in the massacre of 800 Palestinians in Lebanon in 1982. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's foreign minister, summoned the Belgian ambassador yesterday and told him that the action of the court was equivalent to a "blood libel" against the Jewish people. He also asked the Israeli ambassador to Belgium to return for consultations....

BARBARA POWELL, Associated Press WriterThursday, February 6, 2003 ©2003 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/02/06/financial0034EST0009.DTL (02-06) 21:34 PST CANTON, Miss. (AP) -- All things being equal, the odds of Eric Gilkey landing a job at Nissan's sprawling new assembly plant are a slim 1-in-15. That's no knock against Gilkey, a 36-year-old state employee. It's just that Gilkey must compete with the 61,000 others who have applied for one of 4,000 well-paying positions the plant must fill by the end of the year. Nissan North America will open the first phase of its $1.5 billion assembly plant in May. The plant will make...

<p>United Nations, Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- France, Russia and other members of the United Nations Security Council said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's outline of evidence against Iraq made the case for strengthening UN weapons inspections.</p> <p>French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the use of inspections to disarm Iraq ``has not been completely explored,'' and he proposed doubling or tripling the number of inspectors and adding French Mirage IV surveillance aircraft to scout suspicious activity in Iraq.</p>

The Truth about the USS Liberty By Yoni Freeman In response to the presentation on Tuesday October 30th 2002 of the documentary “The Loss of Liberty” by the Council for the National Interest Connecticut, it is my duty to present the real facts concerning the Liberty incident. The first question one should ask is who exactly are these documentary sponsors? Well after researching the organization on their website (http://www.cnionline.org/) I concluded that the Council for the National Interest is nothing more than an anti-Israeli organization which also shows tendencies of being anti-Semitic. Here are some excerpts from different Middle East...