| Author | Message | | Anglo Thug | | Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:45 am Post subject: USS LIBERTY: WE HAVE THE SMOKING GUN! |
| USS LIBERTY: WE HAVE THE SMOKING GUN!
Liberty deniers continue to insist that, despite all the evidence, the attack on our ship must have been a mistake. "Israel would not do such a thing to its best friend," they insist. They persist in presenting silly arguments such as "poor memory," "fog of war," and "transmitters were 1KC off frequency for a few seconds." No serious researcher to our knowledge has ever bought into those stories, yet they persist.
Recent claims by Liberty deniers, however, has brought a number of insiders out of the closet. Several were revealed in the June 2003 issue of Naval Institute Proceedings, which brought supporting statements from such senior intelligence authorities as Oliver Kirby, Admiral Bobby Inman, former CIA Director Richard Helms, General John Morrison and many others of unimpeachable stature. Yet the deniers continue to deny reality.
We have known for years that communications between the attacking Israeli jets and their headquarters were intercepted as the aircraft approached our ship. The Israeli pilots were clearly told by their controllers to find and quickly sink "the American ship" which was USS Liberty. Those communications were almost simultaneously translated and broadcast from a US Air Force C130 near the scene to an intelligence site at Crete where they were sent to Washington and to other stations as "Critical Intelligence," the fastest and most secure means available. Known as CRITICs, these reports routinely arrived in the White House, State Department and Pentagon within ten minutes or less.
Thus Liberty's attackers were caught in the act and their treachery was known to the highest levels of the US government even before the attack was completed.
Now, thirty-six years later, people who saw those reports as they occurred find that they can remain silent no longer.
Presented here is the first of several such reports to come. This one, from former Air Force intelligence analyst Stephen Forslund, is presented in his own words.
And here, a statement from former Air Force analyst James Ronald Gotcher, who saw the same intercepts at an Air Force intelligence station in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, statements are being prepared from others who saw the same reports. Those will soon be presented in these spaces.
Stay tuned!
http://www.ussliberty.org/smoking.htm
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Last edited by Anglo Thug on Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:48 am; edited 1 time in total | |  | | Anglo Thug | | Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:46 am Post subject: Statement by former Air Force intelligence analyst Forslund |
| Statement by former Air Force intelligence analyst Stephen Forslund:
For many years I have periodically been reminded of those days in June 1967 that had such an impact on me as a young man. It has been frustrating that, for all that time, I have had to stifle the shout I wanted to make over the injustice that was committed.
I finally feel the overwhelming compulsion to say something about what I witnessed. I do so with fear and discomfort because of the oath of secrecy we all took and the uncertainty over the legality of speaking out. What motivates me to speak is the fact that nothing I can add will harm our nation or compromise our intelligence sources at this late date. I can be written off as a liar or "conspiracy weirdo" or prosecuted if they want to admit that what I say is true.
Much discussion has gone on about what the NSA archives hold about the Liberty attack. The latest I read, stated that the only and final "tapes" that the NSA has released show that helicopters sent by Israel to the site of the attack on the Liberty, after the attack, were unaware of her nationality. Much importance is put on this issue by different factions in this debate. Parties state that these are the only tapes of intercepts that exist. That may very well be true, now. Nothing I can say will change anyone's mind but I have to state, for my own peace of mind, what I witnessed as an all source intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force during the 6 day war.
There were other intercepts, and I and many others like me, read transcripts of the air-to-air and air-to-ground communications of the fighters who attacked the USS Liberty. We read these in real time during the day the attack occurred. These intercepts were preceded by many others we read that week that started with the opening attack by Israel in the war and included intercepts of messages between the USA and Israel in which our government stated their knowledge of the Israeli's pre-emptive attack that began the war and warned Israel to cease their activities.
On the day of the attack on the Liberty, I read yellow teletype sheets that spewed from the machines in front of me all day. We obtained our input from a variety of sources including the NSA. The teletypes were raw translations of intercepts of Israeli air-to-air and air-to-ground communications between jet aircraft and their ground controller. I read page after page of these transcripts that day as it went on and on. The transcripts made specific reference to the efforts to direct the jets to the target which was identified as American numerous times by the ground controller. Upon arrival, the aircraft specifically identified the target and mentioned the American flag she was flying. There were frequent operational transmissions from the pilots to the ground base describing the strafing runs. The ground control began asking about the status of the target and whether it was sinking. They stressed that the target must be sunk and leave no trace. The pilots stated they had made several runs and the target was still floating. The ground control station re-iterated that it was urgent that the target be sunk, leaving no trace. There was a detectable level of frustration evident in the transmissions over the fact that the aircraft were unable to accomplish the mission quickly and totally.
The aircraft eventually broke off and we received no further transcripts of the event. I have since learned in later descriptions of the attack that torpedo boats attacked the Liberty also. I saw neither intercepts nor analyses that addressed that attack. An hour or two later I was discussing the event with a team member and he stated they had received, during the time frame of the attack, an intercept of a US State Department message to Israel stating that the United States had full evidence of what had occurred in the attack on the Liberty and strongly warning Israel to cease activities immediately.
Imagine my surprise when, upon going home that night, I was watching the evening news and a short piece that gave vague reference to a mistaken attack by Israel upon an American ship off Sinai came on. The next day there was a small article buried in the A section of the paper stating that there had been an accidental attack on the USS Liberty and that the governments involved were in discussions. I saw little mention after that in the popular press and, of course, said nothing for the next 36 years.
I read these discussions debating whether Israel intentionally attacked the USS Liberty and what their motivation would have been for a deliberate attack. I can't debate their motivation. But, I will carry the memory of those transcripts with me until I die. We all lost our virginity that day.
Steve Forslund
sgmsteve@comcast.net
http://www.ussliberty.org/forslund.htm
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Please sign the petition to prosecute War Criminal Tony Blair | | | | Anglo Thug | | Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:47 am Post subject: DECLARATION OF JAMES RONALD GOTCHER |
| DECLARATION OF JAMES RONALD GOTCHER
I, JAMES RONALD GOTCHER, DO DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY THAT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS TRUE AND COMPLETE, AND BASED ENTIRELY UPON MY PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE GAINED THROUGH DIRECT OBSERVATON, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY STATED OTHERWISE:
1. My true, full, and correct name is James Ronald Gotcher, III.
2. I am a resident of the State of California.
3. On June 8, 1967, I was a Sergeant in the United States Air Force, assigned to the 6924th Security Squadron, Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam.
4. During the early evening (local time) of June 8, 1967 we received a CRITIC message, informing us that USS Liberty was under attack by Israeli aircraft. Shortly thereafter, we began receiving rough translations of the Israeli air to air and air to ground communications.
5. The next day, we received the final translations of the intercepts. There will virtually no difference between the two versions.
6. While I have a clear recollection of reading transcripts of conversations between pilots and controllers, I do not recall ever reading anything similar to the transcripts recently released by the National Security Agency concerning Israeli helicopter pilots.
7. It was clear from the explicit statements made by both the aircraft crews and the controllers that the aircraft were flying a planned mission to find and sink USS Liberty.
8. My understanding of what I read led me to conclude that the Israeli pilots were making every effort possible to sink USS Liberty and were very frustrated by their inability to do so.
9. Approximately ten days to two weeks later, we received an internal NSA report, summarizing the Agency’s findings. The report stated, in no uncertain terms, that the attack was planned in advance and deliberately executed. The mission was to sink USS Liberty.
10. A few days after the report arrived, another message came through directing the document control officer to gather and destroy all copies of both the rough and final intercept translations, as well as the subsequently issued report.
11. After the destruction of those documents, I saw nothing further on this subject.
12. I have read the translated transcripts, released by the Israeli government, which purport to be actual transcripts of the air to ground communications between the controllers and the attacking aircraft. I know this document to be a fabrication because I have read the actual intercepts and they were nothing like this. It is not possible that the differences could be due to different translations being used.
13. If called upon to testify, I am competent to testify to all of the foregoing on the basis of direct observation and personal knowledge.
Dated: September 2, 2003
Click here for signed statement in PDF format.
http://www.ussliberty.org/gotcher.htm
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