and the Israeli terror state
The USS Liberty was a “signals intelligence” ship, a spy ship if you will. It was actively monitoring the Israeli attacks from international waters between 17 and 28 miles off the Sinai coast. The vessel was a 455-foot converted cargo carrier with a maximum speed of 18 knots (this will become important). It was circling at 8 knots when the attack began. That attack was the only surface naval engagement of the entire war. It lasted 61 minutes . . . a solid hour.
For nine hours prior to the attack, Israeli planes had flown over and near the Liberty eight times. Her position and nationality were well known. She was flying a US flag, and her hull numbers and name were freshly painted. Israeli reconnaissance planes had flown so low the crew members could see them in the cockpits. The claim that this was “fog of war” is utter horseshit. The US Defense Attaché at he US Embassy in Tel Aviv issued Message 0854 on June 10th, confirming that Israeli planes had specifically relayed the nationality of the ship to ground controllers on at least two occasions prior to the attacks.
At 1358 hours (1:58 pm for you civilians), that is, in broad daylight on a clear day, the crew monitored fast-moving incoming aircraft on the radar. Within minutes, the ship was under attack by unmarked Israeli fighter jets (war crime—international law forbids unmarked combat aircraft), firing rockets, napalm bombs, and automatic cannons. The attacks were repeated in wave after wave. The Israelis had jammed their communications, so the Liberty could not contact the Sixth Fleet of which they were a part (another war crime, and days before the war started the vessel had been seconded to the National Security Agency). Thirty-five minutes into the attack, Israeli torpedo boats joined and fired on the Liberty with .50 caliber machine guns, cannons, and five torpedoes, with one finding its mark and killing 25 men in a single explosion. As survivors mounted lifeboats, the Israelis made several more passes at the lifeboats with machine guns (another war crime).
Michelle Kinnucan, an investigative journalist, filed for NSA records under the Freedom of Information Act, and discovered that “on June 7, 1967, the Israeli government threatened to attack the Liberty if the ship was not diverted or moved away from Israel.”
