Liberty and Injustice

June 8 marks the 45^th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty resulting in the death of 34 American servicemen and the wounding of an additional 174—a 70% casualty rate.  

The attack was shocking, but even more shocking—U.S. military rescue aircraft were recalled through direct intervention by the Johnson administration.

Admiral Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and once commander of the 7^th Fleet, wrote in Stars and Stripes on January 16, 2004, that he was “compelled to speak out about one of U.S. history’s most shocking cover-ups.  The full text can be found at  http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/moorer.pdf. A summary of the article and links to more resources about the details and cover up of the shameful incident may be found at http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/ul-moorer.html.

The survivors of the attack continue to seek justice for their fallen comrades, and to expose this heinous act.  They have united to form the USS Liberty Veterans Association.  On their website, http://www.usslibertyveterans.org, they quote radio operators who heard the conversations between the pilots and their commanding officers in which they distinctly mentioned that the ship they had been ordered to attack was a U.S. ship more than once, and were ordered to proceed. 

As the survivors began to lower life rafts with the most seriously injured, Israeli torpedo boats arrived and began a surface attack.  Again, U.S. military rescue planes that responded to their distress calls were ordered to return to base.

The report USS Liberty Veterans Association submitted in 2005 to the Department of Defense can be read at http://www.usslibertyveterans.org/files/War%20Crimes%20Report.pdf .

There are multiple YouTube videos about the attack, but the most complete and objective account is an hour long documentary from the BBC, called Dead in the Water (see below).  The video includes interviews of survivors as well as actual clips from the USS Liberty. 

Forty-five years later, and there has still been no proper investigation, and no justice for the victims and their families.

These men neeed and deserve your support. 

You can sign a petition calling for an investigation at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ussliberty/ Although the site takes you immediately to a page requesting a donation (for the site, not the USS Liberty Veterans) your signature will be recorded without making a donation. They are seeking a modest 100 signatures, and have already collected 44 when I posted this. Surely we can reach that small goal before the anniversary date of June 8. Please join me to reach this very attainable goal.