An Anniversary Ignored
Tuesday was the 43rd anniversary of an event that many want to see vanish down the Memory Hole. On June 8, 1967, Israeli airmen and sailors killed 33 American sailors and one civilian during their attack on the USS Liberty, and wounded another 171 American sailors. Even though the Secretary of State, the CIA Director, and many at the National Security Agency all believed the Israeli attack on the Liberty was deliberate, not a mistake—a view confirmed, according to a 2007 Chicago Tribune article, by several former American military and intelligence personnel who had access to NSA intercepts of communications to the Israeli pilots attacking the Liberty—Israel paid no political price. Indeed, Washington ordered the recall of planes sent by the USS America to defend the Liberty, and none of the citations awarded the survivors of the Liberty, including the Medal of Honor won by her captain, even mentioned the identity of the nation that attacked the ship. Needless to say, none of the neocon outlets abuzz with outrage over criticism of Israel's interception of the Gaza flotilla mentioned this anniversary. Nor did the mainstream media. It was an anniversary ignored, just as the survivors of the attack have all too often been treated as pariahs by their own government.
This year's anniversary did bring confirmation, though, that it is still considered detrimental to a career in Washington to remember the Liberty.
Political blogger Steve Clemons highlighted a piece by Charles Ebinger, an analyst at the Brookings Institute, that mentioned the Liberty. Clemons also noted the reaction of a friend, "wondering when . . . Ebinger will be spending time with Helen Thomas." The fact that politicians feel the need to suppress any interest in the fate of Americans killed by a foreign power is yet another reminder that the American national interest too often is not the paramount consideration in the setting of American foreign policy.
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Let's also not forget Israel's murder of Rachel Corrie, the young American peace activist intentionally run over by an Israeli Caterpillar D9. Veterans Today has been running articles on the latest Israeli crime against humanity, including photos of some Israeli "commandos" crying like babies for mercy when they were disarmed and captured. The bigger story of the Liberty includes the treasonous cover-up masterminded by McCain's father and his odious son's continuing to hide the truth. Talk about a family of Quislings. A few days ago, that insufferable jackass Sean Hannity was mocking Rachel Corrie as a means of impugning the motives of the activists on board the m/v Rachel Corrie. Has anyone else who listens to Hannity's radio show now and then noticed how he shifts into lascivious questions when a young woman caller gets through? I don't think he's a pervert, but I do think he's a screaming narcissist who can be flattered even into selling genocide.
Credit must be given, however, to the brilliant propaganda of the neoconservatives that has every "conservative" convinced that he must either be pro-Israel or pro-Muslim. Not even left on the table is the option of supporting neither.
But ironically, isn't US both pro-Israel and pro-Muslim?
Does US not fund various Muslim Arab nations with just as much money as it does Israel? You could take total foreign aid to Sudan, Yemen, Jordan, and other such places and it could probably exceed that given to Israel.
Truly, United States has one of the most bizzare foreign policies ever known in this planet. Sure, one government is still thousands of different people making thousands of different decisions, and they need not be compatible or consistent.
But can the American executive answer for the fact that it just installed a pro-Shi'ia, pro-Iran leader in Iraq? Can it explain why it works against Iran, while supporting leaders who will blatantly support Iran in any way possible? Is it not well known that Maliki has been a Hezbollah and Iranian ally throughout his entire life?
Regardless of whether or not the attack on the USS Liberty was a mistake, the failure of the United States government to protect the Liberty when it was under attack was absolutely deliberate. Then, when faced with conflicting testimony between the American survivors of the attack and the foreign country that attacked them, the U.S. government and media sided with the foreign government. No country would treat it ordinary citizens, much less its honorable servicemen, this way.
Mr. Porreca is exactly right.
Mr. Piatak,
Your liable to be put on the ADL and SPLC most wanted list for even mentioning this!
Thank you, Mr. Piatek for reminding us all of this painful tragedy and blot on our national character. You mention that many wish to see this incident disappear - and it appears that except for certain limited circles - of authentic patriots - these people have gotten their wish!
The veritable phalanx of columnists rushing to defend the IDF assault on the ship headed to Gaza were certainly too busy preparing the next tsunami of columns urging war with Iran to do a little research into the history of the USS Liberty.
Mr. Roberts (@2 above) has succinctly described the plight of Americans today with regard to Middle East policy. Despite the many, many issues I have with our current President, he does seem to want a move even-handed policy in the region. (Some might argue he has even a desire to tilt toward the Moslem lands, but for my argument here that point is moot). Any attempts to make any substantive changes, however, have been thwarted and he will remain helpless to do anything other than to make occasional rhetorical noises. Mearsheimer and Walt were correct in their analysis of the power of AIPAC to act without regard to what a president wants - and the treatment these two scholars received after publication of their article and book on the subject only confirms the hypothesis.
The Israelis knew they were attacking an American ship. Phil Tourney, a Liberty survivor, has said the Israelis did it with smiles on their faces. His new book, WHAT I SAW THAT DAY, has just been published and is available through Amazon.
Well, clearly you all are a bunch of anti-Semitic Nazis. No one but anti-Semitic Nazis would EVER, EVER, criticize anything Israel does or has done. And the FORCES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS have risen up and given the just deserts to that closet anti-Semitic Nazi, Helen Thomas. I read recently a book about congressman Hamilton Fish. It says that he often ended a speech by saying, "If there is any country worth fighting and dying for it is the United States." Apparently he should have said Israel.
"Where have you gone Joe Sobran.....?" (apologies to Simon & Garfunkel).
On a recent visit to the National Crypto Museum at Fort Meade, MD they've posted the front page of the Washington Post from that day of infamy. They stated only 10 dead and bumped up the figure later on. Well done, Ms Meyer Graham! Israel is our ally after all.
Any truth to the rumor that Bibi's shrink took his own life?
The saga of the Liberty just grows curiouser and curiouser. It was understandable that the initial disinformation campaign, coming as it did right after Israel had fought the Six Day War, would be given the benefit of the doubt; but I was awake enough that two and a half months later, when a rumor hit our Marine barracks that the Israelis had been given warning the Liberty was American, I became incensed and wanted to attack Israel rather than North Viet Nam. So effective was the ongoing Israeli information war, however, that, little by little, I accepted the rationale that Israel must be forgiven for being hyper-defensive, since, after all, they had just come so close to being wiped out. But I never closed the book on the incident, and after hearing of the NSA intercepts, and in view of so many other examples of Israeli duplicity over the years, I now agree with Mr. Gervaise's characterization of it as another "day of infamy".
Thanks Tom for remembering: The worst thing, among many, was that the survivers are called liars, for telling what happened. The nation owes these people a great apology for all the abuse they have had to suffer. Some years ago 2 business men in Graton Wi. offered to build a new library if it was named for the USS Liberty. They were attacked as antisemites by the usual suspects. The community built the library and told the usual suspects to go to hell. Now we can't even name a building without some people trying to surpress public discussion.