| Author | Message | | sharkman | | Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2002 6:24 pm Post subject: uss liberty attack-35 years-ago today... |
| please access the following web link to see the photos that were with the actual article that is included below:
http://palestinechronicle.com/index.php
The Infamous Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty: Special Report
Friday, June 07 2002 @ 01:32 PM GMT
The Indisputable Events of June 8, 1967
By Dr. E.A. Richards for Palestine Chronicle
I. THE ATTACK
At 11:32 am, the USS Liberty, a sophisticated intelligence gathering vessel, commanded by Captain William L. McGonagle, was 15.5 miles north of the Sinai, and east of El Arish, Egypt, adjacent to the 12 mile limit off Egyptian waters, cruising international waters in an easterly direct.
Just before 2:00 pm, the Liberty was north of the Bardawil Peninsula, still outside Egyptian territorial waters. In the morning hours, Israeli reconnaissance planes had circled the Liberty several times, ostensibly taking photographs, and other surveillance Israeli aircraft, including one slow-moving propeller-driven craft, were in the area at that time.
Without any warning, the Liberty was attacked by Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats while she lay in quiet waters off Bardawil. The United States naval vessel was machine-gunned repeatedly, and took 81 hits from aircraft rocket and cannon fire and a direct hit midships from a torpedo fired by one of the Israeli torpedo boat attack squadron.
Thirty four American sailors were killed in the dastardly attack, and more than 170 were wounded.
II. REPORTS FROM LIBERTY PERSONNEL.
Lt. Richard F. Kiepher, a USS Liberty medical officer, wrote this to his mother: "We were cruising along, and it was a beautiful day under clear skies and the men were commenting about the Mediterranean pleasure cruise and what fine day it was for swimming. I heard the first explosion and then the jets were raking the decks with machine gun and rocket fire.
"Our .50 caliber machine guns, which are our only armament, had a chance to return some small fire before another wave of jets knocked out the gun mounts and destroyed all the lifeboats and life- rafts."
USS Liberty in port after the attack
Kiepher wrote that when fires broke out, and crews attempted to put them out, the men were cut down by the strafing Israeli aircraft. Keipher himself was shot in the leg, his kneecap shattered, but in spite of the wound he set up an emergency hospital in the mess hall, as the sick bay was knocked out by four direct hits. He treated wounded sailors there for 18 hours straight.
Joseph C. Lentini said this: "There was no way the Israelis could have mistaken the Liberty for an Egyptian ship. The hull was distinctively American, the lettering on the ship was English and not Arabic." He said the US flag was flying when the Israeli planes made their advance surveillance, and it flew during the attack.
"The firing was too precise to be a spontaneous target-of- opportunity attack," Lentini went on, "The Israelis shot out the black boxes controlling the guns," noting, "precise fire such as that could only have come after the aerial photos taken by the Israelis had been carefully studied.
"Moshe Dayan lied when he said the Israelis realized it was a mistake when they saw a life raft with "U.S. Navy" on it, and that is when the attack stopped. It stopped only a few seconds after a United States aircraft carrier finally received instructions from Washington to send American aircraft to the rescue of the Liberty."
Captain McGonagle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his command of the Liberty during the attack; Lt. George Golden, the ship's engineering officer, was given the Silver Star for his efforts to keep the crippled ship afloat and under power.
III. ISRAELI STATEMENTS TO COVER UP THE CRIME.
After US jet fighters had been launched from the air craft carrier, and the unmarked Israeli planes had fled, the Israeli government called the US naval attache from the US Embassy to notify him that the Israeli air force had attacked the USS Liberty "by accident" thinking it was an Arab ship, and offering its abject apologies. United Press International Reporter Bill Small said that Menachim Begin stated, "Anyway, we can defy the American Congress and it will go along." It still appears to be true.
USS Liberty point of attack
IV. OFFICIAL INQUIRIES INTO THE ATTACK
Only a highly classified hear was ever held on the attack, and the only result that came out in summary was a statement that the attack was "unprovoked." Both Adlai Stevenson and Barry Goldwater wanted to conduct hearings on the Israeli attack, but were stymied. Neither Stevenson nor Goldwater believed that the Liberty attack was accidental. Later on both ran for President, massive amounts of pro-Israeli money poured in against them.
V. STIFLING THE CREW MEMBERS.
Members of the Liberty crew were transferred to stations far apart from one another after the incident. The crewmen located said they had been ordered not to breathe a word about the attack, and feared for their jobs, their families, and some, their lives.
VI. QUESTIONS STILL UNANSWERED.
To this day, a number of questions still have not been answered concerning the treacherous incident, for example:
1. Why did the government of the United States order the officers and crew of the USS Liberty to remain silent about the incident under implied penalty? If the attack had come from an Arabian state the hearings would have come thick and fast.
2. Why did one member of the crew consent to a an interview with expenses fully paid, then back out? His mother said she "didn't want him to end up with a bullet in his back." From an Uzi?
3. In 1976 it was reported that the secret findings of the Naval Board of Inquiry included the comment that the Israeli attack was deliberate. Why are certain elements of the report, and their conclusions still suppressed by the government and almost all of the media?
4. Why were 6th Fleet Phantom jets ordered by McNamara, Rostow, and the White House to halt a planned retaliatory strike on the Haifa torpedo base from where the attackers came?
5. Israeli officials admitted later that they knew an American naval vessel was operating off the Sinai coast; why didn't they pass on that information to the planes and PT boats that attacked the Liberty, unless the attack was planned?
6. Why did Senators Javits, Kennedy, and Ribicoff come out with alibis for Israel within hours of the attack? They said with Israel, we know it was a mistake."
7. Why wasn't the Israeli attack met by US aircraft immediately? When Captain Joe Tully of the Saratoga was informed of the attack by a Liberty radioman, he sent four A-1 aircraft to the rescue. Tully notified Admiral Martin of the attack and Martin ordered both the Saratoga and the America to help out.
USS Liberty in international waters
8. But, within a few minutes, Rear Admiral Lawrence R. Geis, commander of Carrier Task Force 60, ordered the immediate withdrawal of the Saratoga's planes. For the next 90 minutes, the White House and the Defense Department "discussed" options, finally ordering another rescue attempt, at which time the Israelis withdrew and "apologized."
9. After the attack ceased, why did the Liberty have to wait 16 hours before another American ship arrived? There was a Soviet ship hove to that offered assistance, but her help was refused.
10. A crewman on an American submarine in the battle area during the attack stated that sub personnel took motion pictures of the attack on the Liberty, through the periscope. Why didn't the sub radio the 6th fleet for help, and where are the pictures?
VII. POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THE ISRAELI ATTACK.
1. One view has it that the Israelis did not want the US to know they were massing troops along the Golan Heights and the West Bank for fear the US would bring pressure on them to halt the operation.
2. Another view states that there was a high-jacked freighter nearby which was filled with enriched uranium stolen from the US, which would subsequently be used to make the Israeli nuclear weapons. And if the uranium report was untrue, where DID Israel get the nuclear material for their atomic weapons?
VIII. ISOLATED INCIDENT?
In 1976, an SR-71 Blackbird flew a seep over the Negev and confirmed that Israel had 13 nuclear weapons of 20 kiloton intensity. The Israeli air force tried to down the Blackbird, but it easily out- climbed and outdistanced the Israeli pursuers, unlike the two civilian transports, with passengers, that the Israelis shot down long before the Soviet kill of flight 007.
IX. Stephen Green.
In his book, "Taking Sides: America's Secret Relations with a Militant Israel," Stephen Green reported the following:
1. Israel had the arrogance to order the US ship to leave the international waters and warned, several times, that it would attack the ship if she remained. (The question is, whom did Israel warn?)
Captain William McGonable
with his Congressional Medal of Honor
2. The attack was with unmarked aircraft. Israel expected to sink the ship after killing her communications system. Israel could then blame the attack on Egypt. (The warnings could then be denied as "unauthorized" and "something we would never really do.")
3. One of the six shore circuits survived the Israeli attack long enough for the Liberty to communicate its distress. But the defense department (Robert Strange McNamara) ordered American vessels not to come to the aid of the Liberty.
4. The night before the attack, Israel had ordered the US government to remove the ship or it would be attacked. The DOD then told the Liberty to change course, but the messages never reached the ship.
5. Within 15 minutes US planes from the Saratoga were en route to the Liberty. Their presence would have cut off the attack by the Israelis, limited the damages, and save many American lives. They were recalled.
6. Evidence of the Israeli plan to leave no survivors was compelling. The lifeboats were shot out of the water and the lifeboats still on the vessel were shot full of holes.
7. Green said after a discussion of his book at the National Press Club, and repeated it in a subsequent telephone interview, that "Official Washington had immediate knowledge that the attack was deliberate, even while pronouncing it a tragic mistake, and the amazing uninterest of the establishment press was part of the biggest cover-up in American history.
X. US NAVY LT. JAMES ENNES, ABOARD THE USS LIBERTY.
Of all the books written about the Israel attack on the Liberty, by Green, Pearson, Don Neff's Warriors for Suez, and all the articles written on the subject, Lt. James Ennes' book, Assault on the Liberty, is the most factual, descriptive, and well-known of the Liberty incident publications and has already been quoted extensively. Most of his book set the standard for Green, Neff, and others in his description of weather conditions, circumstances of the attack, and theUS Government and media cover-up after the fact.
XI. Summary.
1. Much of the information on the cowardly attack on the USS Liberty by the forces of Israel has been garnered through the Freedom of Information Act; however, E. H. Sharp, who has collected huge files of data on the incident, was denied access to nine key documents, about 48 pages of critical material.
2. Sharp stated that, no full official record of the attack, none of the alleged failures of communication before and after the attack, none of the data describing the heroic defense of the Liberty by its personnel, or of the rescue attempt, has ever been given or even made available to the American people, an that "Attempts to piece the full story together through the Freedom of Information Act have been frustrated by the government.itself." It yet continues.
3. Most trecherous of all, a CIA observer in the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, reported that on the afternoon of 7 June 1967 the Israeli leaders already had decided to sink the USS Liberty if it came near what they considered the "war zone," international waters or not.
XII. Concluding Questions.
1. When is a 'war crime' not a war crime?
Answer: When the propaganda apparatus of the guilty party is able to convince the world that the act in question was an "accident."Answer: When he dares to question the official Israeli position as to what really happened to the USS Liberty.
3. In the Six Day War, Who attacked first?
Answer: Contrary to what has been implied by the pro-Israelis, the Six Days War began militarily when Israel attacked the planes of the Egyptian Air Force while the Egyptian planes were parked next to the runways. Nasser had made no overt or covert military attack on the Israelis; he had said Egypt would close a main waterway to Israeli shipping, which was the excuse Israel was looking for to attack Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in order to take over Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai, and the Golan Heights.
Even today, as was then, the Israeli Defense Force is strictly an Israeli Attack Force, at its best against unarmed, or poorly armed, opposition who cannot effectively defend itself against American- made aircraft, tanks, armour, and heavy weapons.
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[See the attached file] | |  | | sharkman | | Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2002 7:21 pm Post subject: the uss liberty: still covered up after 35 years |
| This can be re-published as long as attribution to WRMEA is given.
RN
===================================================== From the June/July
issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
=================================================== THE USS LIBERTY: STILL
COVERED UP AFTER 35 YEARS By James M. Ennes, Jr.
June 8 marks 35 years since Israel attacked the USS LIBERTY without warning
in international waters, killing 34 Americans and wounding 172 more. The
Israelis lied about it and persuaded our Congress to look the other way,
and they are still lying about it today. But the LIBERTY will not go
away. Every attempt to hide this story seems to bring more attention.
This past year brought a 60-minute documentary pro- duced by CBS News
Productions that was broadcast by The History Channel on Aug. 9 -- much to
the dismay and over the heated objections of the Israeli Embassy and
various spokesmen for Israel who did all in their power to block it.
CAMERA, a leading pro-Israel propaganda arm, produced an extended and angry
critique of the film, accusing survivors and CBS News itself of producing a
"propaganda- laden bogus history" that is deliberately distorted and
anti-Semitic.
In a personal attack on this writer, CAMERA unearthed a 1990 Internet
newsgroup in which I made what they con- sider a damning comment. In
response to a claim that Israel was "surrounded by enemies," I replied that
Israel would have no enemies if it didn't steal its neighbors' land and
water and shoot its neighbors' children. CAMERA cited that remark as
evidence of bias and anti-Semitism; I would defend it even today as a
truism that might well be engraved in stone.
The History Channel's report was aired as scheduled and rebroadcast this
past March 14. Although CAMERA urged The History Channel not to sell a
video version, it was made available anyway. In fact, the video tem-
porarily sold out and was described by some retailers as their best selling
such product ever. CAMERA, it seems, convinced only the choir.
Also this past year, author James Bamford released BODY OF SECRETS, his
second book on the National Security Agency, with a chapter devoted to the
LIBERTY. Bamford received wide attention in book reviews and on the talk
show circuit because his book revealed interviews with an airborne Navy
radio intercept operator who listened to the attack from overhead while it
was happening. This man confirmed the crew's claims that the Israelis knew
they were attacking an American naval vessel.
Further confirmation came a few weeks later, when an Air Force intelligence
analyst privately told us the same story. Those transcripts, we learned,
were widely dis- tributed to intelligence processing centers around the
world. The Israelis not only knew we were American, but were deeply
frustrated and angry when the LIBERTY did not sink quickly, as they intended.
Another intelligence analyst told us that, a few days after the attack, a
"consensus report" concluding that the attack was deliberate was briefly
circulated through- out the intelligence community. The report was then
cancelled and all copies were ordered collected and des- troyed.
On June 10, London's BBC plans a worldwide release of its new documentary
called "Dead in the Water." In it the BBC reports that the LIBERTY attack
almost led to a U.S. nuclear strike on Egypt, which was briefly but mis-
takenly thought responsible for the attack. The film, which includes
interviews with former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, former CIA
chief Richard Helms and others, reveals secret collaboration between Wash-
ington and Tel Aviv during the Six-Day War.
A new book entitled OPERATION CYANIDE, by prize-winning British
investigative reporter Peter Hounam, researcher for the BBC film, will be
published to coincide with the release of the film. Hounam argues that
carefully laid plans were made to sink the LIBERTY, and that the U.S. was
as much to blame as Israel for what happened.
Meanwhile, independent film-maker Tito Howard has pro- duced in VHS format
the documentary "Loss of Liberty," which includes interviews with several
LIBERTY survivors and former U.S. Navy leaders.
Undeterred by all this, bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol is about to release
a commercial trade book version of his doctoral thesis which seeks to make
the case that the attack really was just a tragic mistake. The original
thesis is a ponderous but seemingly scholarly account that may well
convince readers uninformed about the attack.
Survivors see it as a flawed work, packed with evasions and misleading
statements. Cristol seems to accept at face value all the arguments that
support his case, while he nitpicks, dismisses and ignores entirely the
eyewitness reports of survivors and other supporting evidence. Because he
comes to the subject as a federal judge and a reserve naval officer,
however, he brings some apparent credibility that probably will get him a
ride on the talk show circuits.
Michael Oren, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, recently
released a book entitled, SIX DAYS OF WAR, with a chapter arguing that the
LIBERTY attack was a tragic accident. An Internet search for "Michael
Oren" will turn up the gist of his one-sided argument.
Even the venerable NAVY TIMES came out April 4 with an article arguing
Cristol's case that the attack was a tragic accident. Its author received
an avalanche of e-mail, mostly challenging his conclusions. This writer
submitted a rebuttal statement, which was published in April as a guest
column (see box). Other rebuttals and counter-rebuttals are in the works
as we go to press.
Through it all, despite the passage of 35 years, con- troversy builds and
interest in the subject continues to grow. LIBERTY survivors welcome the
Cristols and Orens and misguided articles from Israel's defenders, because
every published attack causes even more people to want to know what really
happened to the USS LIBERTY. The con- tinued controversy caused ASSAULT ON
THE LIBERTY to sell out months ago. It is being reprinted, and should be
available soon.
The award-winning LIBERTY Web site, <http://www.>>ussliberty.com>,
sometimes hosts more than 1,500 visitors a day as people search for
informtaion on the subject. Survivors are happy to oblige.
======================
James Ennes retired from the Navy in 1978 as a lieutenant commander after
27 years of enlisted and commissioned ser- vice. He was a lieutenant on
the bridge of the USS LIBERTY on the day of the attack. His book on the
subject, ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY (Random House, 1980), is a "Notable Naval
Book" selection of the U.S. Naval Institute and was "editor's choice" when
reviewed in THE WASHINGTON POST.
=======================
[Accompaning box to article...]
A SURVIVOR SPEAKS
SURVIVORS OF ISRAEL'S 1967 attack on the USS LIBERTY that killed 34
Americans and wounded 172 find it very sad that some Americans can argue
endlessly that the attack on our ship was a tragic accident and not the
deliberate attack on a known- American ship that we experienced.
We felt secure after 13 very low reconnaissance orbits by Israeli aircraft,
our supposed friends. Our intercept oper- ators heard the pilots reporting
that we were American. I was relieved of the conn[ing tower] as the
attacking jets approached, and then was severely wounded by the first
rocket salvo. I was lying in a stretcher in a starboard passageway when
the torpedo exploded.
I recall the warning that torpedo boats were approaching, followed by the
explosion, the ship lifting away from the blast, then settling back to
starboard and the very real fear that it would continue to settle until it
rolled over and sank.
Moments later the torpedo boats approached within 50 feet of the ship. One
boat stopped alongside and trained a heavy machine gun on a man who was
standing alone on a hatch cover on the main deck screaming obscenities and
giving them the finger. They did not fire.
Then the boat moved to within 50 feet of the fantail where the ship
displayed her name in large letters in English and her hull numbers in even
larger letters. The boatmen clearly examined those markings and can hardly
have failed to see other distinctive American markings and the American
flag that flew from the mast.
The Israeli government claims it was at that point that they offered help
and that they never fired after the torpedo explosion. But this is not true.
Survivors recall that the torpedo boats then circled the ship firing at
anything that moved. Men on deck were fired upon as they tried to help
their wounded shipmates. Fire- fighters saw their fire hoses punctured by
machine gun fire. At one point the boatmen concentrated their fire near the
waterline amidships, presumably seeking out the boilers.
Forty minutes after the torpedo explosion, the boats drew closer and
methodically machine-gunned three life rafts that we had just launched in
response to orders to prepare to abandon ship.
The Israeli's excuse? They claim they mistakenly plotted our speed at 32
knots, marking us as a warship suitable for attack. We were moving only at
five knots and were more than 30 miles away, double their 16 mile radar
horizon. They claim the officers on two torpedo boats mistook the USS
LIBERTY for a 40-year-old out-of-service Egyptian horse transport. Israeli
naval officers tell me that story is an embarrassment to them. It should
be. It is unbelievable.
Yet despite these things a few Americans seem to accept the preposterous
claims that a tiny motor torpedo boat can have a 30-mile radar horizon, or
can miscalculate a target's speed by 500 percent, or can mistake a clearly
marked 10,000 ton United States ship a mile away for an ancient 2,640 ton
Egyptian horse carrier, can fail to recognize an oversize American flag
from as close as 50 feet, and can then con- tinue to fire on that target
from close range for another 40 minutes before suddenly recognizing us as
American after learning that Sixth Fleet jets were on the way.
Survivors cannot accept that. The typical Israeli reaction is that we are
liars or anti-Semites, which of course we are not. We are American sailors
honestly reporting an act of treachery at sea. -- James Ennes, LCDR, USN
(retired), survivor | | | | sharkman | | Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2002 7:29 pm Post subject: uss liberty attack: israeli treachery against the usa |
| the following is forwarded from another thread at this forum because it is appropriate to this thread as well since the uss liberty attack took place 35 years ago today:
anyway, mr. meeks has no credibility in that he is a known pro-israeli "truth distorter" as his antics have also been known by the surviving uss liberty crew members for quite some time, and i have seen his posts attempting to (unsuccessfully) "discredit" the uss liberty surviving crew members by calling the attack a case of "mistaken identity" or similar which it most certainly was not! however, pro-israeli spinners like mr. meeks apparently have more allegiance to israel (while continually trying to cover the rogue state's treachery against the usa) rather than seeking to finally get justice for the 34 american sailors (with 171 more injured) who were brutally slaughtered by the israelis in the very intentional and savage israeli attack on the uss liberty...
the uss liberty attack is not the first act of israeli treachery against the usa. i suppose mr. meeks also tries to distort the truth about the lavon affair as well... like the attack on the uss liberty, the lavon affair has been successfully (for the most part) covered up by the pro-israel media and government in the usa... however, david duke (even though i don't agree with the racisim that he has been accused of) eloquently mentions the treacherous lavon affair and uss liberty attack as well in the following article (as any patriotic american should be aware of both by completely reading the article):
http://www.davidduke.com/writings/howisraeliterror.shtml
if mr. meeks is so "convinced" that the deliberate and savage israeli attack on the uss liberty was a case of "mistaken identity" or similar as he feebly tries to claim, then why won't israel release documents about the attack that have been classified for years... what is israel hiding.. perhaps israel is waiting for the surviving uss liberty crew members to finally die-off as killing them all was the intent of the attack in the first place (along with sinking the uss liberty while trying to make it look like egypt was the culprit with a similar motive to what happened in the notorious lavon affair which is mentioned in the above referenced duke article). also, if the uss liberty attack was such a case of "mistaken identity", then why did admiral moorer think that such mention was nonsense as you can read his letter which is included at http://www.ussliberty.org?
also, why has the pro-israel lobby, government and media in the usa successfully prevented the the surviving uss liberty crew members from having an opportunity to personally testify in front of congress as to whether the attack was intentional which it most certainly was? with such israeli treachery against the usa like the lavon affair and the uss liberty attack, one can not rule out that the israeli mossad and similar might have known about the 9/11 wtc beforehand and didn't tell the usa... if the cia knew about at least two of the 9/11 hijackers before the attack, then the israeli mossad most likely knew about them as well since i assume that the mossad and cia share information..
i don't know how much at the following web site is credible, but the articles about israeli espionage within the usa are most interesting as at least one mentions that israeli mossad agents were living in apartments not far from where the 9/11 hijackers were living in florida as another article there mentions that at least six israeli nationals were arrested after they were reported to have been cheering as they watched the wtc towers come down):
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
keep in mind that one primary goal of apparent extremist zionists like mr. meeks is to keep american taxpayers duped (via a corrupted pro-israel lobby "bought" us congress) into continually flowing billions and billions of dollars to their beloved israel each year (such facilitates the brutal israel oppression of the palestinian people which in turn contributes to the arab world's anger of the usa that contributes to the usa's domestic terrorism problem like the 9/11 wtc attack as this aspect is also addressed in the above referenced duke article)...
so the american public finding out about the israeli treachery of the lavon affair and us liberty attack goes against the interest of those zionists because most americans would not be in favor of perpetuating such vast financial support to israel if such treachery were to become widely known by the american public... so israeli spinners like mr. meeks (some even paid by the pro-israel lobby and/or by pro-israel "truth distorter" groups like camera at www.camera.org) try to "discredit" anyone who knows the extent of israeli treachery against the usa and britain as well ... and they make it their apparent "mission" in prowling the internet (which the zionists don't completely control yet!) to make sure that the american public doesn't realize the extent of such israeli treachery... for now, the pro-israeli "truth distorters" like mr. meeks and the us media and government still have many americans believing that the "emperor has clothes on".... | | | | sharkman | | Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2002 4:13 am Post subject: uss liberty wreath laying june 8, 2002 |
| Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2002 18:48:38 -0400
From: "John E. Engelberger"
Subject: USS Liberty Wreath Laying June 8, 2002
For those of you who could not attend today, I am pleased to report an
attendance of approximately 40 people. Due to my illness I was unable to
arrange the usual Clergyman and Speaker, and our usual soloist, Barbara
Trent was unable to attend to sing the National Anthem and Taps. But I led
the group in singing and it worked out fine.
Attached are my remarks.
Regards,
John E. Engelberger, LCDR USCGR (Ret)
===================
DELAWARE VALLEY USS LIBERTY MEMORIAL COMMITTEE
LCDR John E. Engelberger, USCGR(Ret), Chairman
USS Liberty Wreath Laying Ceremony, June 8, 2002
Remarks by LCDR John E. Engelberger, USCGR(Ret)
We are gathered here today to honor 34 Americans killed during the
brutal Israeli attack on the USS LIBERTY, 35 years ago, on June 8,
1967. Many will label this ceremony as anti-Semitic, as has been
done in the past, while other memorials to our war heroes
nationwide are decorated and honored, particularly on Memorial
Day.
Is there a fear of the anti-Semitic label here in Morrisville? I
think so. Back in 1997 we attempted to locate this Memorial,
first at the Library, and then at Borough Hall, but were turned
down. Finally, I decided to locate it here on my property on
Morrisville's main street. I requested the then Borough Manager
to post a notice of the dedication on Channel 13, but she refused.
To publicize the present ceremony we requested that the following
message be posted on Channel 13:
The Public is invited to come and say a prayer for the 34 fallen
heroes killed during the brutal Israeli attack on this virtually
unarmed US Navy vessel on June 8, 1967. The posting as "edited"
by the Borough is as follows: The Public is invited to an INFORMAL
Wreath Laying Ceremony and to say a prayer for the 34 fallen
heroes killed on June 8, 1967. We deeply appreciate that the
Borough has arranged to display our notice on the Community Cable
TV station. However, they succumb to the Wall of Silence that has
manifested itself for 35 years, not because they are staunch
supporters of Israel, but because they fear the truth will label
them as anti-Semitic.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, from Decatur Georgia, introduced
the following on June 6th in the Congressional Journal:
"Mr. Speaker, I speak to commemorate and recognize the tragic
attack that took place against the U.S.S. Liberty on June 8, 1967.
Although thirty-five years have come and gone since this historic
event, the survivors of the U.S.S. Liberty are still struggling
with the fact that their story has never been heard.
While there has never been an official investigation into this
event, we have learned from survivor accounts that for over 75
minutes the Israeli Defense Forces attacked the U.S.S. Liberty,
killing 34 American soldiers and wounding an additional 172. With
over 85% of the crew either dead or wounded, they somehow managed
to keep the ship afloat after being hit by over 1000 rounds of
rocket, cannon, machine gun, napalm hits, and even a direct hit
from a torpedo.
This unprovoked attack took place in international waters, and by
a trusted ally. The only explanation given to the survivors and
their families as to why this attack took place was that it was an
accident and that their ship was not identified as being American,
regardless of the fact that our flag was proudly flown throughout
the attack. Unfortunately, that explanation is not good enough for
those whose lives have been impacted by this attack, and it should
not be good enough for the American people. Let's not wait another
thirty-five years before we provide the survivors of the U.S.S.
Liberty an official investigation into why this attack took place
and allow them to tell their story. We owe them more than a debt
of gratitude for their sacrifice; we owe them the truth."
I have no doubt that Congresswoman McKinney will have a tough time
in her next election. Typically, when a member of Congress does
not toe the Israeli line, the ADL and AIPAC will seek out and
support an opposition candidate, and fund that campaign with money
from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or wherever the contributions
can be gathered from the Jews.
Recently, Congress, by an overwhelming majority, passed a
resolution in full support of the Israeli action against
Palestinian terrorists and suicide bombers. Do all these
congressman "love" Israel? I doubt it, but if they don't vote to
support Israel, they will don the anti-Semitic ribbon, and have
great difficulty in the next election. The ADL and AIPAC are
probably the most powerful lobby in Washington, and they represent
essentially a foreign country. They march Israelis through the
halls of Congress as if they were US citizens. On Monday Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with President Bush. What
will this meeting cost the US taxpayers?
The United States was founded as a Christian country, although our
Constitution guarantees religious freedom to all. The Jews
represent about 2% of the US population, but they wield tremendous
political power, far outweighing their numbers. They control much
of the media - newspapers, TV, and film. They get a tremendous
return on their political contribution investment - $3 Billion to
Israel, year after year. Many of us object to these give-away
policies, but how can we change this ritual. We must beat them at
their own game. The Christian majority here in the US must band
together, and provide political and financial support to
candidates who prioritize solving our own domestic problems.
The suicide bombing in Israel is horrible, especially when infants
are killed, or when Jews participating in a religious service are
massacred. I abhor this violence against innocent victims. But
remember the Hebron Massacre where Baruch Goldstein murdered 29
Arabs at prayer in their Mosque? Goldstein was just promoted to
Major in the IDF, and continuing investigation indicates he did
not act alone.
Where and how did these unskilled Palestinian terrorists learn to
construct bombs? Perhaps they learned from the Jewish terrorists.
Years before he became Prime Minister, Manachem Begin was the
leader of the Israeli terrorist Irgun that was engaged in a
campaign against the British in Palestine. On July 22, 1946,
Begin commanded a group of terrorists that bombed the British
office wing of Jerusalem's 7-storey King David Hotel, killing
91people. A British Officer among those killed was the uncle of
one of our guests here today.
I wish to thank you all for attending our 5th Wreath Laying
Ceremony. I also wish to thank my wife, Ginny, who felt that this
modest ceremony would be too much of a burden for me, and
consequently refuses to participate. However, Ginny tends to the
memorial, mows the lawn, plants flowers, and helps in so many
ways. GOD Bless her. I also wish to thank Anne Pappalardo who
provides flowers and flags and helps Ginny as necessary. Ron
Stout is my right hand man, who does all the things that I can no
longer do. Thanks to my sister, Elsie Stemhagen, who placed the
wreath, and lastly, I extend my sincere thanks to Karen Brand who
created the beautiful wreath that stands before you.
_________________________________________________________________
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