A Reader's Comment on the USS Liberty Controversy

A Reader's Comment on the USS Liberty Controversy

“I assist in the USS Liberty Cover Up web site and have concluded that nothing annoys and drives the Israel First-Liberty apologist crowd nuts [as much as] facts and the mention of the deliberate attack of the ship. If you believe that the attack was without premeditation then you could easily justify that Pearl Harbor was non-intentional by the logic and reasons used by apologists.

“It should be noted that Israel accepted responsibility for the incident and paid millions to the families of those that died, those that were injured and to cover damage to the vessel itself.

“Standard apologist similar boilerplate above for years has claimed this. The families of the dead were not paid until 1968, the wounded were not paid until 1969, Ship damages of only ’six million’ were not paid until Dec. 18, 1980 until James Ennes exposed the non payment of 13 years in his 1979 book, Assault on the Liberty.

“George Ball, Kennedy and LBJ Under Secretary of State said: ‘In the end, the Israelis tendered a reluctant and graceless apology; indemnities for the victims and damaged ship were both parsimonious and slow in coming.’

“Israel’s Naval Museum in some classless and some convoluted pride displays the MTB’s bell and helm that fired the torpedo that killed 25 Liberty crew but to their credit does not advertise this or mention the attack in the display. Do they know what their vessel did that warrants such a display? . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1883)

The USS Liberty: Israel's Defenders Stage a Counterattack

The USS Liberty: Israel's Defenders Stage a Counterattack

A bit of a brouhaha. A mini tempest in a teapot. A minor hulabaloo. Much ado about nothing.

All of the above describe the second set of reactions to my articles on the USS Liberty as reprinted on AmericanConservativeDaily.com, and all of which were anticipated.

It seems as if whenever I dare cite evidence with regard to Israel’s 1967 attack on the Liberty it stirs up great angst in certain sectors of the citizenry. I haven’t yet been accused of being an anti-Semite because of my views but just give it time. It’s just coincidental, I’m sure, but the last time I dealt with this topic my blogsite was assaulted with malware.

As I said, just a coincidence.

Three comments on ACD with my [bracketed] rebuttals.

3 Responses to “The USS Liberty, Sickening Truth vs. Official Lies”

Jaffrin Spes on September 4th, 2010 9:23 am
You’re hysterical in more ways than one Gene. First you are hysterical in the funny sense as anyone that reads my comments will clearly see that I was not “irate” as you claim to avoid actually addressing the facts. Secondly you are hysterical in the sense that, well you are just hysterical over the fact that someone would dare provide facts instead of conspiracy theories. [Maybe it’s just me but comments such as, “Of course if you want to delve into Truther land of LIHOP or MIHOP you are welcome to do that. I think it is silly but to each his own. If you want to think of more sinister motives and convince anyone more than accusations will be needed,” smack of sarcasm which is a product of ire. Furthermore, those facts that “Jaffrin Spes” craves were more than adequately furnished in the words of such notables as Dean Rusk, Richard Helms, Oliver Kirby, Richard F. Kiepfer, and eyewitness and crew member of the Liberty, Rick Aimetti. That is, unless “Jaffrin Spes” considers a Secretary of State, a head of the CIA, an NSA Deputy Director, and two Liberty survivors as equally “silly” and/or liars.]

Black Con on September 4th, 2010 12:56 pm
Gene, I followed your last post and saw this comment you are referring to. How you jumped to the conclusion that his comments were “irate” really boggles my mind. It seems to me that you are acting very defense. [See above]

Actually Gene the theories if [sic] MIHOP and LIHOP do pertain to this incident although [sic] Since they also refer . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1881)

The USS Liberty, Sickening Truth vs Official Lies

The USS Liberty, Sickening Truth vs Official Lies

Not unexpectedly, an apparently irate reader of “A Reader Speaks Out on the Festering Shame of the USS Liberty” also spoke out on the “USS Liberty Incident” on AmericanConservativeDaily.com where this blog is syndicated.

Writing as if he were someone in the know, “Jaffrin Spes” wrote on ACD that, “The reason Israel was never condemned for the attack is because the U.S. Naval Court Inquiry in 1967 determined the attack was a case of mistaken identity. The CIA’s intelligence report of the same year determined there was no malice intended but, as often happened in war, the target was failed to be properly identified. This is hardly a new problem as even during the Iraq War many U.S. soldiers were killed by friendly fire because of misidentification.

Of course if you want to delve into Truther land of LIHOP or MIHOP you are welcome to do that. I think it is silly but to each his own. If you want to think of more sinister motives and convince anyone more than accusations will be needed.”

Being something of a silly dolt, I admit I had to research LIHOP, (”Let It Happen on Purpose”) and MIHOP, (”Make It Happen on Purpose”), two levels of conspiracy theories I discovered are most often applied to the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001.

I can assure “Jaffrin Spes” that there is no valid comparison between those poppycock theories and the events of June 8th, 1967.

To be precise, “Jaffrin Spes’ ” citing of that U.S. Naval Court Inquiry and the CIA report is a further example of the cover-up that refuses to go away and is testimony to the effectiveness of that cover-up even after 43 years. To be more blunt, “Jaffrin Spes” must be functioning in one of three roles: a governmental front, a blind apologist for Israel, or a terminally naive indidividual.

Or, maybe, a combination of all three?

The article in question, http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/, was primarily intended to present the impressions of one “C.K. Amos,” “Darwin,” . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1880)

A Reader Speaks Out on the Festering Shame of the USS Liberty

A Reader Speaks Out on the Festering Shame of the USS Liberty

. . . Briefly, on a clear June 8th, 1967 afternoon in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula, the American surveillance ship was repeatedly attacked, strafed and torpedoed by the Israeli air force and navy. The Six Day War was in progress at the time and the ship was flying the U.S. colors. When the attacks were over hours later, 34 officers and seamen of the Liberty lay dead with another 174 injured and maimed. Though seriously damaged, the ship remained afloat.

Since the event, various inquiries and investigations have been conducted, testimony from eye witnesses has been taken, and various medals have been awarded but neither the Navy nor our government has ever condemned Israel for the unprovoked attack.

Some years later, after numerous denials of culpability, Israel did pay reparations while still denying responsibility. Yet, still, there were no official recriminations or even mild criticisms of Israel forthcoming.

The central issue surrounding the Liberty may be summarized as follows: Either the survivors had all conspired to lie about what they had witnessed first-hand or our navy and government had conspired to engage in a massive cover-up in order to protect Israel, ostensibly an ally, from public repercussions. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1878)

A Blogger's Life, Part Two

A Blogger’s Life, Part Two

Sticks and stones may break my bones, depending on the size of the sticks, poundage of the stones, and fragility of my aging bones, but nasty comments on my blogs will never hurt me. In fact, they provide some of the most entertaining features associated with blogging.

It’s a rotten job but someone has to do it and they make it all worthwhile.

As mentioned in Part One, most of the negativity on my articles emanates from those who feel I’ve been unfair in some way to two particular groups–our brother and sister homosexuals and blacks.

I neglected to mention a third group, those of the Jewish persuasion, the result of an intermittent series posted here on the 1967 USS Liberty “incident” in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula.

Anyone familiar with the background of what happened on June 8, 1967 will know that the details of that unprovoked attack by the Israeli Air Force–sworn testimony by crew members and others–have been contested, largely for political reasons, to avoid antagonizing Israel.

Indeed, the reactions to my various Liberty articles . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1463)

THE USS LIBERTY: INFORMATION AND DISINFORMATION

When I posted the article, “The Shame of the USS Liberty,” I never anticipated such a ruckus over its contents. I felt it was a one-shot deal, just a pertinent reminder of what many still firmly believe was a miscarriage of military and political justice.

The often venomous reactions to my two most recent articles have served as assurances that the subject is well worth a retrospective commemoration, at the minimum or, preferably, an exhaustive re-investigation.

To relegate the memory of the USS Liberty to nothing more than a blip in America’s history would be the equivalent of forgetting Pan Am Flight 103 which was blown out of the night sky over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988.

Simply because Libya has finally admitted its responsibility in that terrorist atrocity and has finally paid reparations doesn’t mitigate the horror of that attack nor does it relieve the burden of Libyan guilt.

So, too, with the Liberty and Israel, which indemnified the victims with some $7 million dollars. Unlike Libya, however, Israel has never admitted any guilt.

Baseless charges of anti-Semitism have been lodged because I have dared to criticize Israel, (as well as my own government), for Isreal’s unprovoked attack on the Liberty. Almost as repulsive have been suggestions that I am a supporter of President-elect Obama since I expressed the sarcastic hope that maybe he would re-open the matter of the Liberty.

Israel is an autonymous, democratic state. It is not a theocracy and to offer valid critiques of that state and its actions represents no more an attack on the Judaic religion than, for example, criticizing the actions of the Canadian government would indicate a disdain for the Canadian people.

Likewise, objecting to the Jewish Lobby in America and finding fault with its inordinate power does not constitute an exercise in hatred of Judaism any more than disdain for lobbyists for Big Oil would imply contempt for gasoline.

As far as I am concerned, allegations of anti-Semitism arising from a discussion of the Liberty, or of the Jewish lobby, is a misleading and dead issue.

Less dead are fair questions as to why I choose to revisit rumors, allegations and facts relating to the events of June 8th, 1967 at this time–or at anytime.

The chief reason would be that the vast bulk of available information on the Liberty does not involve mere rumor and the case has never been closed. Indeed, it was never adequately investigated.

Contrary to some of the sounds and furies which have arisen and critics’ claims that I had ulterior purposes in writing about the Liberty, I simply feel that to forget what happened in 1967 would be to dishonor the forty one innocent men who died and the 174 who were injured and maimed.

Any more than Israel would want the world to forget the horror of the Holocaust, I refuse...
(Read the rest of this article at http://genelalor.com/.)

BURY THE USS LIBERTY STORY? I THINK NOT!

THE USS LIBERTY AND JEWISH CONSTERNATION

What is it about the story of the USS Liberty and the 1967 Israeli attack on that unarmed, American intelligence vessel that so riles people of the Jewish-American community?

Because I posted my previous article, “The Shame of the USS Liberty,” on other websites I have been inundated with accusations of anti-Semitism, threats of expulsion from those sites, and even revocation, sans explanation, of my posting privileges by one, FreeRepublic.com.

That revocation was disappointing but with some 200 million other websites available on the internet it is hardly devastating.

What is devastating is the realization that there are so many people out there who not only resist hearing/reading the truth about Israeli influence on American foreign policy but who then actively campaign to muzzle those who only seek to place a very significant issue on the table, that issue being, What really happened on June 8, 1967 and whether the actions of Israel’s military were by design or simply a gross, and bloody, “mistake.”

If I were the only one “dredging” up the issue, I’d cease my inquiry.

However, I’m far from unique in my quest for an ultimate answer and for a final resolution. Such individuals as Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, United States Navy (Retired), former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, also want definitive answers: http://www.gtr5.com/evidence/moorer.htm.

That resolution cannot be expected shortly, considering the forty-one year old cover-up by our government and by our military, but this names-redacted exchange with the webmaster of one website gives some inkling as to how pervasive that cover-up is and the reasons for it:

(My response to that webmaster precedes his query.)...

(Read the interchange at http://genelalor.com/.)

THE SHAME OF THE USS LIBERTY

THE SHAME OF THE USS LIBERTY

Fortunately, or unfortunately, some news stories have lives of their own. It’s as if they don’t want to die, which is sometimes a very good thing.

Such a story is the disgraceful tale involving the USS Liberty, a disgrace which began more than forty one years ago and continues to this day.

Neither the disgrace nor the shame of the USS Liberty applies in any way to its crew or to its captain, William McGonagle, who subsequently received the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of his bravery and refusal to leave the Liberty’s bridge despite being wounded. The shame is on America, the shame is on our shameless politicians, and the shame is on Israel.

For those still unaware of what transpired on the afternoon of June 8th, 1967 in the waters off the Sinai Peninsula, the USS Liberty was a converted Victory ship, a 455 foot vessel then being used for intelligence gathering during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It was attacked by Israeli air and naval forces, strafed and torpedoed, leaving 34 sailors dead and 174 injured, many severely.

A confessed news junky, I had never heard about the Liberty until a decade or so ago. Back in January, 2008, I posted an article here, an interview with Rick Aimetti, a petty officer first class assigned to Damage Control aboard that U.S. Navy vessel. He was one of the survivors and still vividly recalled the events of that day.

The fortuitous circumstances of that interview are detailed here, “Remembering the USS Liberty,” (January 10, 2008, http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=19.)

A calm, composed man, Rick was nevertheless passionate in his recollections, especially about the friends he lost, but also in his certainty that it was a deliberate attack by a presumed ally on an American ship.

That assault continued for hours even though the Liberty was clearly marked and flying the stars and stripes.

Israeli helicopter gunships first took out the ship’s antennae and shot down the flag mast before launching torpedoes in an attempt to, first, cripple the Liberty’s communications and, second, to sink it.

It struck me that with a new president taking office precisely one month from today there was a possibility, however remote, that President Obama would do what seven presidents before him failed to do, namely, give official, government recognition of the Liberty heroes who died that June day, and to acknowledge why they died and were wounded.

That Israel attacked and killed 34 and injured 174 Americans on the Liberty is indisputable. Israel ultimately admitted as much and paid reparations. What it never did was concede intent. Instead, Israel to this day alleges it was a “mistake,” a mistake which could only have been made by two blind Israeli helicopter pilots and three blind Israeli torpedo boat captains.

Petty Officer First Class Rick Aimetti was a witness and a survivor of the attacks on the USS Liberty but he can hardly be considered an objective observer. Running for cover, seeing your dead and bleeding fellow sailors, and trying to keep your ship from going down aren’t situations conducive to objectivity.

His status as an eye-witness has been supported by numerous other accounts, however. Our military and our politicians just love investigations, studies, and inquiries even if they rarely uncover the truth, that whole, nothing but the truth that scares the uniforms off our military and which makes our politicians dive for cover when they can’t admit it.

Such is the truth of the USS Liberty. It has festered on the American conscience for over four decades now.

Five years ago, the National Security Agency, which was instrumental in the outfitting and in the mission of the Liberty, declassified, (under pressure), documents, recordings, and interviews relating to the assault on the USS Liberty: http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/.

Although that wealth of material and information is fascinating, it nevertheless is transparently slanted as can be seen in the interviews of personnel who admit to being pro-Israel and even in the greatly redacted translated transcripts of the Israeli pilots: http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/recordings.cfm.

Far more objective is this analysis of the events of June 8th, 1967: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html. There Eric Margolis dares to spell out the truth and dares to explain and substantiate what really happened that day.

It’s an ugly and shameful truth about the USS Liberty.

Perhaps President Barack Hussein Obama will address that truth and redress the grievances of the crew members such as Rick Aimetti?

One can always hope for “change” from Obama, no?

Festering stinks, literally.
(http://genelalor.com/)