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Anonymous
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8/21/2004 12:59:01
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 Subject: Who attacked USS Liberty?
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During the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab States, the American intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked for 75 minutes in international waters by Israeli aircraft and motor torpedo boats. Thirty-four men died and 172 were wounded.
The attack has been a matter of controversy ever since. Survivors and many key government officials including Secretary of State Dean Rusk and former JCS Chairman Admiral Thomas Moorer say it was no accident. Israel and its supporters insist it was a "tragic case of misidentification" and charge that the survivors are either lying or too emotionally involved to see the truth.
Israel claims they mistook our ship for the out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El Quseir and that we brought the attack upon ourselves by operating in a war zone without displaying a flag. Not so. We were in international waters, far from any fighting, and flew a bright, clean, new American flag. The flag we flew is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland and can be seen there, or in the USS Liberty Images Archive.
Our commanding officer, Captain William Loren McGonagle, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty during the attack. The Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest award our country can bestow. To avoid embarrassing our attackers, Captain McGonagle's Medal of Honor was presented in a quiet ceremony in the Washington Navy Yard instead of in the White House by the President as is customary.
The USS Liberty Web Page presents part of the story along with some historical information and links to other sources.
http://www.ussliberty.org//
 
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ELOHIM
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8/27/2004 16:11:37
| RE: Who attacked USS Liberty?
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Before the 1967 war, Israel claimed that "Arab armies" had been preparing an attack, and Israel was being forced to defend itself. Again, charges provoked counter charges, hostile movements provoked hostile movements. The involved countries remained fearful and on edge. Israel reacted to events with provocative behavior, and initiated the offensive that started the 1967 war.:
• The media didn't accurately portray the hostilities that preceded the war. Reporter, Rami Tal has quoted Moishe Dayan as stating -- "at least 80 percent of two decades of border clashes were initiated by Israel. We would send a tractor to plow some (disputed) area...and we knew in advance that the Syrians would start to shoot. If they didn't shoot, we would tell the tractor to advance further, until in the end the Syrians would get annoyed and shoot. And then we would use artillery and later the air force also, and that's how it was."
• As early as 1964, Israel had diverted the headwaters of the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee to Israel's South. Syria responded by building its own diversions in the Golan. The Israel forces attacked these facilities on several occasions.
• On April 26, 1967, two months before the start of the 6-day war, Israeli jets shot down 6 Syrian planes over Syrian territory in the Golan Heights. Later that day Israeli jets flew over Damascus.
• Israel bombed all Egyptian airfields before any declaration of war. No Egyptian planes bombed Israeli targets.
• Although Israel accused Egypt of preparing for an immediate attack, no Egyptian soldier set foot on Israeli territory. Israel unleashed an offensive that killed 25,000 Egyptian soldiers in only 4 days, one of the greatest slaughters in military history.
• Israel captured and occupied the entire Sinai.
• Israel continued their attacks in the Golan after a truce had been declared, and did not stop the attacks until the entire Golan had been captured.
• Israel occupied the entire West Bank and all of Jerusalem -- and,contrary to international law, transferred an additional 100,000 Palestinians from captured territory.
• Israeli forces attacked the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. The obituary of William McGonagle, Captain of USS Liberty, who died on March 3, 1999, described this aggressive act. Israel attacked the American naval vessel with planes, three torpedo boats and helicopters. They bombed, dropped napalm and shelled the Liberty. Of 294 men aboard the Liberty, 34 were killed, and 171 were wounded.They claimed they mistook the ship for an Egyptian ship. Since they made no attempt to identify the ship, intelligence observers believe they bombed the ship to prevent it from gathering intelligence on Israel's attempts to capture the Golan Heights from Syria.
As in previous engagements, Israel fought a "defensive" war in an offensive manner and seized large amounts of territory. The war created another flood of Palestinian refugees. A total of 300,000 fled the West Bank and Gaza, of which 180,000 were first time refugees and another 120,000 were already refugees from previous actions.
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