Ex-Navy Official: 1967 Israeli Attack on U.S. Ship Was Deliberate

Thursday, October 23, 2003



WASHINGTON — A former Navy attorney who helped lead the military investigation of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty (search) that killed 34 American servicemen says former President Lyndon Johnson (search) and his defense secretary, Robert McNamara (search), ordered that the inquiry conclude the incident was an accident.

In a signed affidavit released at a Capitol Hill news conference, retired Capt. Ward Boston (search) said Johnson and McNamara told those heading the Navy's inquiry to "conclude that the attack was a case of 'mistaken identity' despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary."

Boston was senior legal counsel to the Navy's original 1967 review of the attack. He said in the sworn statement that he stayed silent for years because he's a military man, and "when orders come ... I follow them."

He said he felt compelled to "share the truth" following the publication of a recent book, "The Liberty Incident," which concluded the attack was unintentional.

The USS Liberty was an electronic intelligence-gathering ship that was cruising international waters off the Egyptian coast on June 8, 1967. Israeli planes and torpedo boats opened fire on the Liberty in the midst of what became known as the Israeli-Arab Six-Day War (search).

In addition to the 34 Americans killed, more than 170 were wounded.

Israel has long maintained that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, an explanation that the Johnson administration did not formally challenge. Israel claimed its forces thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel and apologized to the United States.

After the attack, a Navy court of inquiry concluded there was insufficient information to make a judgment about why Israel attacked the ship, stopping short of assigning blame or determining whether it was an accident.

It was "one of the classic all-American cover-ups," said Ret. Adm. Thomas Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who spent a year investigating the attack as part of an independent panel he formed with other former military officials. The panel also included a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, James Akins.

"Why in the world would our government put Israel's interest ahead of our own?" Moorer asked from his wheelchair at the news conference. He was chief of naval operations at the time of the attack.

Moorer, who has long held that the attack was a deliberate act, wants Congress to investigate.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Mark Regev disputed any notion that Israel knowingly went after American sailors.

"I can say unequivocally that the Liberty tragedy was a terrible accident, that the Israeli pilots involved believed they were attacking an enemy ship," Regev said. "This was in the middle of a war. This is something that we are not proud of."

Calls to the Navy seeking comment were not immediately returned.

David Lewis of Lemington, Vt., was on the Liberty when it was attacked. In an interview, he said Israel had to know it was targeting an American ship. He said a U.S. flag was flying that day and Israel shot it full of holes. The sailors on the ship, he said, quickly hoisted another American flag, a much bigger one, to show Israel it was a U.S. vessel.

"No trained individual could be that inept," said Lewis of the Israeli forces.

In Capt. Boston's statement, he does not say why Johnson would have ordered a cover-up. Later in a phone interview from his home in Coronado, Calif., Boston said Johnson may have worried the inquiry would hurt him politically with Jewish voters.

Moorer's panel suggested several possible reasons Israel might have wanted to attack a U.S. ship. Among them: Israel intended to sink the ship and blame Egypt because it might have brought the United States into the 1967 war.

Nothing will come of this. It's been 35 years. Water under the bridge.

ah - the satisfying sounds of damage control trolls bubbling in thier own juices as they piss themselves when they see the mainstream media spread this story world-wide to millions of people in an unprecedented exposure of the truth that nails israel cold and starts a chain reaction of suspicion and fact finding.

This can only lead of course to israel's other lies being exposed in the same manner - by the mass media world-wide from now on.

Once reporters smell blood...

The failure of the public to care, and the failure of the media to pick up the story beyond this Associated Press article, will add to the Indymedia crowd's 100% success rate in being wrong.

This will be just one more "sky is falling"/"earth is flat" rant that nobody beyond the conspiracy-lover crowd notices or cares about.

Hey "eddie" have you changed your underware yet ?

On a day like today you might want to wear depends otherwise you'll need so many bathroom breaks you won't get much trolling done

I'd set up an appointment with an eye doctor, as your vision seems to be failing you - there's a bunch of news wires and newspapers - even the New York Times carrying this.

And you know how much they love to carry "flat earth conspiracy theory" stories especially about israel - considering who owns the paper..

They say hypertension is bad for you

is it ?

(The NYT "article" is the same AP piece)

Like I said, nobody* cares about this. Besides you conspiracy junkies.

* including me. In the unlikely event that this errupts into the Next Big Media Fixation, I could care less.

AP, UPI, NPR

(that's national public radio) RADIO

Newspapers across the country and world...

Millions - no hundreds of millions world-wide

but wait ! eddie the pollster has spoken

no one cares

The worlds media organizations are in the business of showing what no one cares about - that's how they make thier money...

squeeze harder

...the men on the Liberty who lost their lives, their families, the men who were injured, the lawyer who was ordered to lie and, of course, Lyndon Johnson!

Neo-Nazis also think that no one cares about the Holocaust anymore.

Mark it down. This is DOA before it even starts. It's a non-story. The Kobe Bryant crap will get more exposure and attention than this could ever hope for.

a speck of dust in my navel will get more attention than the death of 34 American's at the hands of a lying murderous scamming leech which sucks our economy dry to murder even more people in Palestine

squeeze it for all it's worth

Just watch.

You'll see.

please g_d give me strength to bury the truth and make everyone forget

please I beg you to let this brewing cauldron that's boiling over suddenly freeze over like hell

fat chance dead on arrival, but hey - everyone needs hope !

would you like a bat with that ?

This is already dead and gone, just like your 10/15/2003 prediction of having kobe behind bars. But, when it doesn't go anywhere, rest assured I'll be there to remind you of your continuing failures.

Ta-Ta

> just like *your* 10/15/2003 prediction of having kobe behind bars



that's smooth as silk. Not only did you pull that date out of your ass but this time we get special toppings of "behind bars" as well.

and we're changing the subject too - to exactly what you pulled out of your ass so you can "win".

please remind me where I typed that date

better yet quote me

no ?

ah shucks. whistling in the dark to keep the truth monster away has it's downside after all...

that posted a pic of the mast of a naval ship to prove how easy it was to see a flag. Then you had to circle it to point it out because it was neither as large as a "billboard" or distinguishable amongst the jumble of equipment. Or are you the uber -nerd who posted a pic of yourself to prove you were'nt a nerd while the picture contained easily one of the most nerdy individuals of all time. Im getting confused please clarify.

p.s. nice tye dye and mullet you gay ass nerd

um - no

but I did author the oct 15'th deadline

what the deadline is really for though is that's the day you go blind AND stupid

I do have other pictures - of the USS Liberty, flag and all

wanna see ?

Why do you have such a woody for the Liberty story?

Or are you just searching for anything to make Israel look bad?

Nonanarchist....

You know it's funny. I never really knew how much the left hates Jews and Israel and how obsessed they are with defending every act of violence against them until I stumbled upon IMC about a year ago.

Fact of the matter is that, while I was interested in Middle East history, I was never a blind supoprter of Israel. In fact there are alot of things about Israel that have definetly fueled the fires.

I'm not Jewish. Not Israeli. Not particularly religious. But I'm amazed at how much I defend Israel and Jews against the slander and inanity around here. Who knew?

This bunch, like hex and sheep and others are clearly obsessed with trying to find or manufacture ANYTHING they can about Israel. It's fascinating.

I'll show friends of mine (who are almost ALL very liberal) threads on here every so often and they're always amazed. They think it's a big joke. I have to continually explain that these goofs are for real. They usually don't see the humor like I do and just shake their heads and say " to hell with 'em".

Who knows why they have such a hardon for Israel. My theory is that Israel is the one country in the Middle East who is the "Rich White Guy" (as they see it) and it also ties in with the lock step anti-American mentality they all have. This bunch truly hates success. They don't trust it and ultimately it threatens them. Same way that Israel's success illustrates the glaring faults of the Arab world and breeds contempt. Same way all the kids at school picked on the kid who got straight A's. It's easier to hate success in other's and try to knock them down to your level then to work to reach theirs.

One thing is for sure, Hex, sheep all of 'em...they don't give a flying fuck about the "palestinians". Nothing could be more transparent then that "concern". They surely don't care about any other people in similiar situations. In fact, the "palestinians" better hope Jews are around for a long time, because if the Jews leave and someone else starts hassling them....the American left will be NOWHERE to be found.

When the story is one the Israeli supporters want to bury then start with the accusations of Anti-Semitism for daring to notice criminal behavior by the Israeli Reich.

How else do you explain the obsession with hatred of Israel, the lionozing and glorification of "palestinian" terror, the denial of massive Israeli civilian casualties and the utter exclusion of EVERY human rights atrocity in the Arab world in exchange for the plight of those who are raised to hate and kill Jews.

What is it but anti-semitism?

Here's an actual picture of the ship's FLAG



Stern view of the ship, displaying normal steaming colors. This is the flag that Israel claims its pilots and torpedomen could not see. While the attack was underway, an even larger flag was hoisted. That, too, they claim not to have seen.

Doesn't matter. Sometimes you get held to standards not of your own making. 10/15/2003 was more than a month, ample time for your idle chatter to materialize. It didn't.

This Liberty crap won't either.

The intent here is to demoralize and sap your spirit to resist the onslaught of lies and to not fight for the truth.

It is PsyOps.

When your enemy tells you that the fight is pointless it means he is running scared.

> hatred of Israel

this game was just played on the global IMC as yet another LGF troll handle did exactly the same thing

assigned hate, bias and anti-semitism to any/everyone who critizised israel in any way..

standard fare

I post facts.

dealing with facts fails him so he cleaves into multible handles as usual, plays dumb about LGF in order to have conversations with himself and promote it, then as on the global IMC paints all with the brush of emotionalism so that all discussion can be pulled down to his level of name calling and rhetorical games so the facts can be ignored

never mind can you see the flag - who cares about details like that which reflect badly on israel when you can play useless games insted - to hide the facts

>When your enemy tells you that the fight is pointless it means he is running scared.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah, we're all running down to the local newpapers and web sites distributing this story carrying clubs and torches.

You wackos are a laugh!

HAHAHAHAHA

Just for fun, I want to hear your predictions of what is going to become of tall this. Give me details and a timeline.

This should be a hoot.

"assigned hate, bias and anti-semitism to any/everyone who critizised israel in any way..

Wrong simpleton.

It has nothing to do with simply critcising Israel.

For instance...Israel should dismantle the settlements. They are an obvious hindrance to peace. Isarel should forgo retaliations JUST ONCE to see if perhaps this would lead to some sort of dialogue.

There. See, I criticized Israel.

You however, ONLY criticize Israel. You are obsessed with blaming them for every ill in the Middle East and your are utterly incapable of assigning any responsibility to arabs or the "palestinians".

So there it is. It's not criticism in and of itself that makes you a racist. It's the fact that you willingly condemn those you hate while making heroes out of anyone else who hates them regardless of how wrong they might be.

You are, simply put, a neo-nazi. There's no other term for you.

what does matter to a lying troll only here to obscure the truth as much as possible ?



> The intent here is to demoralize and sap your spirit to resist the onslaught of lies and to not fight for the truth. It is PsyOps. When your enemy tells you that the fight is pointless it means he is running scared.

exactly - too bad he's no good at it though.

I pound facts while he pounds the table - the table of defeatism. While a convincing illusion for his mental development he fails to realize we're not all as inmature and dishonest as he is. The illusion only serves himself. He only hopes and wishes, please let this work - let me cover up yet another truth to feed the fire of my illusion.

stoking his own fire

I want to hear your predictions of what is going to become of all this. Give me details and a timeline. Be specific.

> You are, simply put, a neo-nazi. There's no other term for you.

Well you got it half right - except your hatred of Muslims shows it's actually you.

(I never said I hated anybody, although you have tried to assign it on me several times, you on the other had HAVE openly stated "death to Muslims" and so on..

anti-isreal=anti-jew

You see it just the way your buddy hitler

It already been established that these Indymedia types hate Jews. That's not even debatable anymore. They hate Jews.

Hex-

Just give us a timetable. Apparently these new articles are going to get something started. What will that something be? What will take place? What will be the outcome? What will be the timeline? Be specific.

God knows the last thing I want to talk about is the USS Liberty, specifically whether the flag is visible or not.

That might look bad on israel and we can't have that - let's talk about something else DOA, anything else DEAD that way the lies israel told will not be exposed. When the subject of israel comes up, notice how when anyone else says anything - true or not - because facts mean nothing (unless they come from israel) - automaticly it must mean said person "hates" israel and therefore I render judgement that thou art anti-semitic

and yet

because I'm a special gold badge LGF troll, I can say anything I like about israel and no one can accuse me of being anti-semitic because I have my head firmly up israel's ass. (never mind the fact that because of this anything I do say is ineffective at changing things - hell that's exactly what I want)

Only people guaranteed to not rock the boat are "allowed" to talk about israel so nothing actually changes - anyone in danger of causing change or supporting israel's victims MUST be labeled anti-semitic right away before such dangerous thinking get's people riled up - my only real fear

like today when the USS Liberty story went mainstream world-wide, this must be stopped at all costs ! Even if all I can do is preach to myself to comfort me from the scary truth monsters

beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice !

DOA, DOA, DOA

when that stops giving comfort I'll cleave into more handles to have comforting conversations with myself, the idea being popularity wins and to provide a SIMPLE way to deal with not dealing with the issues.

I can have a discussion about anything else on my own so as always - just when needed - my alter ego shows up to have self-stimulating cross ass kissing sessions where "we" can then frame and talk about anything.

thus is the life of a troll

That's what I guessed. All these articles are supposed to cause quite a stir, but they can't tell us what they expect will happen.

DOA.

you're so predictable I got you coming AND going that time

the post right before was more troll baiting "lets set deadlines" which is useless chatter

the post right after was DOA chanting for self-comfort like earlyer

the reason why you are so predictible is because you lack originality and creativity.

and the reason why you lack these qualities is because mindless parroting of other's thoughts doesn't instill anything of value into yourself

trolls always give themselves away like this...

You've been Hexified

Just give us a timetable. Apparently these new articles are going to get something started. What will that something be? What will take place? What will be the outcome? What will be the timeline? Be specific.

You can either answer or you can't. My guess is you'll continue to dodge answering because you don't have any answers. You're hoping something will happen with all this, but it won't.

Another few hours and it's already yesterday's news.

What's on the menu tomorrow?

dense

too dense to even see this issue spreading and growing with more info coming in all the time, a new thread just added with even more damning evidence, the pilot refusing and arrested when he returned, the war room radio traffic confirmed, the interviews etc

this extreme density can't be natural, a black hole that sucks all logic and reason, all data and facts, all info and witnesses into a null and void "DOA" fantasy world where nothing matters, nothing's real.

And to think - most people need serious drugs to achieve this effect !

>And to think - most people need serious drugs to achieve this effect !

No kidding! To you whackos, it just comes naturally.

>too dense to even see this issue spreading and growing with more info coming in all the time

Oh yes, the impending storm will overcome us all. After 35 years, the story of the USS Liberty will take over the media world commanding every second of the world's attention as wave upon wave of people march in the streets demanding that the seal be broken.

Kobe Bryant will get more airplay.

DOA

Let's see, I can talk to Hex about a ship no one gives a damn about or I can go watch the Maryland - Ga. Tech game.

Gee, that was an easy choice.

I'm from MD and all but you gotta watch the series. Contreras is havin' a hell of a time. Wells is out.