“It is time for the voices of the Liberty’s dead to be heard.”
Cooper: US, Israel shove USS Liberty under rug
by Dan Copper, June 5, 2011
USS Liberty after Attack photo, charred superstructure
Forty-four years ago this month, scores of American sailors were killed and wounded in an unprovoked attack on their vessel sailing in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. But unlike a generation earlier, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 as a “date, which will live in infamy,” President Lyndon Johnson was largely silent about the June 8, 1967, attack on the USS Liberty.
Although the United States was the victim of sneak attacks on both days, there was a major difference. The Japanese were expanding the boundaries of their empire throughout Asia and there were indications their forces were going to attack American interests somewhere. But the sneak attack on the USS Liberty was not launched by a hostile power; it was carried out by Israel, the nation that is called America’s closest ally in the Middle East and it claimed the lives of 34 U.S. sailors and left another 171 wounded.
The events of June 8, 1967 have never been the subject of a congressional investigation and a series of presidential administrations have continued to cover up the deliberate attack of a U.S. naval vessel operating in international waters. On the fourth day of the Middle East war, the Liberty, a highly sophisticated intelligence-gathering ship, was in international waters off the Gaza Strip. It had been rushed to the region to monitor the communications of Israel and its foes, Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
At the time of the attack, the Liberty was flying the U.S. flag. The day was sunny and clear, with unlimited visibility, and the ship had been seen by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft.
Then, Israeli fighter planes suddenly attacked the ship. The Liberty radioed for help and two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean responded by launching fighters. But before U.S. warplanes could reach the area, they were recalled on orders from the White House.
Rear Adm. Lawrence Geis, then commanding the Sixth Fleet’s carriers, called Washington for confirmation and was told by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara to recall the planes. President Johnson came on the line and said the planes were to be recalled because he would not have an ally embarrassed. Judging by his response, President Johnson wasn’t as concerned that the ally killed and wounded U.S. sailors.
After their attacks, the Israeli aircraft left and Israeli torpedo boats came in to mop up, firing five torpedoes at the Liberty and racking the burning vessel with 20mm and 40mm shells. Israeli gunboats also circled the Liberty, firing at crewmen who were fighting the fires and at U.S. sailors who were trying to abandon ship.
Johnson later appeared on U.S. television and said 10 sailors were killed in an accidental attack. Members of the Liberty crew were ordered to remain silent about the events. The Israeli government would say the attack was a case of misidentification and that the Liberty wasn’t flying the U.S. flag.
The Israelis stated it was thought the Liberty was an Egyptian ship El Qusier, although the Egyptian vessel was only about one-fourth the size of the Liberty. Years later, the Israeli government would reluctantly pay a pittance to the families of the dead sailors.
But the U.S. government has allowed the coverup of Israeli actions to be perpetuated. For 40 years, the U.S. government has remained silent about what took place on June 8, 1967, and the facts that have slowly trickled out have been despite our government, not because of it.
All of the facts about the attack on the USS Liberty need to be aired in public before a congressional panel. It is astounding that Congress has found time to conduct hearings into just about everything under the sun but our elected representatives have not been able to delve into the sneak attack on a U.S. naval vessel.
“It is time for the voices of the Liberty’s dead to be heard.”
Don Cooper is a retired journalist and author. He lives near Shamrock.
The USS Liberty Memorial Website
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