An event shrouded in mystery in 1967 left more than three dozen American sailors dead and many unanswered questions.
(SALEM) - An amazingly large number of educated and intelligent people that I converse with have never heard of the Israeli attack on the U.S.S. Liberty that caused the deaths of 34 men and injuries to 171.
They are shocked to learn that in 1967, during Israel's Six-Day War with Egypt, Israeli fighters repeatedly attacked a U.S. Navy ship from the air for 25 minutes and then by torpedo boats for 40 minutes. That, after circling the ship 13 times in daylight over a nine hour period to establish her identity.
For years, hundreds of Americans knew about the attack and they knew that it was kept under wraps until more recent years. And as I said, most people still don't know about it.
Why the secrecy? How and why could this have happened? We are after all, allies. It isn't like it was a random shot, it was friendly fire on steroids.
This is the ship the U.S.S. Liberty was mistaken for; an Egyptian horse carrier named El Quseir, The Liberty is shown at right, her crews said the ship's American flag was flying high when the Israeli jet attacked
Emblem of the U.S.S. LibertyThis incident has remained a matter of controversy ever since that fateful day. The Israel government insists the attack was a tragic accident while survivors and many top US officials say it was planned and deliberate.
Officially, the United States says only that Israel's motive for attack could not be determined. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, in office at the time, called the attack deliberate.
The official excuse is still withheld from the American public at the request of the Government of Israel. That sounds sneaky, and we fight fire with fire around here. While we can't bring you the report in it's entirety, this is an official U.S. synopsis called the Salans Report: www.ussliberty.org/salans.htm
I have no problem with the bully state of Israel on most days, well, maybe that isn't true. OK, it isn't... I can't stand to think of the history of the occupation of the place. It isn't so much what happened, but it is the obvious ignorance that goes with it. History is a sad thing when the oppressed become the oppressor.
In 1947, with the help of the British Secret Service and other western government sponsored groups, the founder of the Jewish state forced the Palestinians from their homes, places where they were born.
Then twenty years later, they blasted the heck out of a U.S. Navy ship and killed a lot of the guys who were aboard, while injuring scores of others. We should have this in the back of our minds as we go through our lives here in the states, and things need to be laid out the way they really happened.
I can not do this story any real justice, anyone who is interested should visit this site where you can spend hours reading about the attack on the U.S.S. Liberty: www.ussliberty.org/
The Day Israel Attacked the United StatesSalem-News.com