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majie · 06-18-2005, 09:29 AM

A very good source of information about this incident is a book named "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford in chapter 7, called Blood. I'll paraphrase it, but I highly recommend the book for the detail and many other recently declassified events you have never heard about in school. Everything stated below is from "Body of Secrets"

The Liberty was one of a few ships designed by the NSA for use as ocean going electronic servailance platforms. The ship was supposed to be positioned about 100 miles off the coast of Isreal and Egypt to monitor activities on both sides of the border during the 6 Days War of 1967. But these revised orders never reached the ship so the ship was positioned 12 miles off the coast with orders to monitor UHF transmissions as it had origionally been instructed prior to the breakout of the war.

During the first three days of the war, Isreal trounced Egyption forces. One Isreali general estimated that Egyptian casualties ranged from 7 to 10 thousand killed compared to only 275 Isreali deaths in his army. The Isrealis were ruthless and are known to have attacked and killed 14 soldiers who were part of an unarmed UN observation force of Indian troops flying under the UN flag. These troops had stopped and pulled over to allow the Isreali forces to pass when they were attacked. The tanks literally put their guns into the vehicals and fired point blank.

Isreal had been so successful in the first few days of the war that they found themselves with more prisoners than they could handle. At El Arish, the town 12 miles from the Liberty, Isreali soldiers began lining up and executing prisoners and civilians by the hundreds. The Liberty was recording all the radio traffic in the area. The ship was documenting these war crimes and the source of the orders to commit them. At the same time Isreal was committing these war crimes, Isreal was trying to convince the world that they were being persecuted by the Egyptians and held the moral high ground.

An Isreali reconnaissance plane identified the nature of the Liberty and reported the ship to the Isreali government. This is when the hours of circling followed by the attacks described above happened. The description of the attack in Body of Secrets is many pages long and includes accounts from many of the ships crew. In total 34 servicemen were killed and 171 more were injured.

In the days after the attack, Isreal tried to claim that the attack was an accident because the ship was misidentified as an Egyptian ship 1/4 the tonnage and 1/2 the length that was known to be rusting along side a pier 250 miles away from the incident. The Isrealis even claimed the ship was not flying any flag at the time.

The Johnson administration was planning to run for re-election the following year and felt it needed the pro-Isreal votors to win, so it covered up the attack. Subsequently, Congress covered up the event for the same reason.

The highest ranking Isreali officer in the area of El Arish? Ariel Sharon. Ever heard of him?

To repeat what I state above, these details come from the book "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford. The sources for this book are meticulously documented and cross referenced. Sources include many high ranking officials from the NSA, CIA, Pentagon, Congress and recently declassified materials. I also highly recommend Bamford's first book "The Puzzle Palace."

06-18-2005, 09:29 AM	#36 (permalink)
majie devotee Location: somewhere inside my head	A very good source of information about this incident is a book named "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford in chapter 7, called Blood. I'll paraphrase it, but I highly recommend the book for the detail and many other recently declassified events you have never heard about in school. Everything stated below is from "Body of Secrets" The Liberty was one of a few ships designed by the NSA for use as ocean going electronic servailance platforms. The ship was supposed to be positioned about 100 miles off the coast of Isreal and Egypt to monitor activities on both sides of the border during the 6 Days War of 1967. But these revised orders never reached the ship so the ship was positioned 12 miles off the coast with orders to monitor UHF transmissions as it had origionally been instructed prior to the breakout of the war. During the first three days of the war, Isreal trounced Egyption forces. One Isreali general estimated that Egyptian casualties ranged from 7 to 10 thousand killed compared to only 275 Isreali deaths in his army. The Isrealis were ruthless and are known to have attacked and killed 14 soldiers who were part of an unarmed UN observation force of Indian troops flying under the UN flag. These troops had stopped and pulled over to allow the Isreali forces to pass when they were attacked. The tanks literally put their guns into the vehicals and fired point blank. Isreal had been so successful in the first few days of the war that they found themselves with more prisoners than they could handle. At El Arish, the town 12 miles from the Liberty, Isreali soldiers began lining up and executing prisoners and civilians by the hundreds. The Liberty was recording all the radio traffic in the area. The ship was documenting these war crimes and the source of the orders to commit them. At the same time Isreal was committing these war crimes, Isreal was trying to convince the world that they were being persecuted by the Egyptians and held the moral high ground. An Isreali reconnaissance plane identified the nature of the Liberty and reported the ship to the Isreali government. This is when the hours of circling followed by the attacks described above happened. The description of the attack in Body of Secrets is many pages long and includes accounts from many of the ships crew. In total 34 servicemen were killed and 171 more were injured. In the days after the attack, Isreal tried to claim that the attack was an accident because the ship was misidentified as an Egyptian ship 1/4 the tonnage and 1/2 the length that was known to be rusting along side a pier 250 miles away from the incident. The Isrealis even claimed the ship was not flying any flag at the time. The Johnson administration was planning to run for re-election the following year and felt it needed the pro-Isreal votors to win, so it covered up the attack. Subsequently, Congress covered up the event for the same reason. The highest ranking Isreali officer in the area of El Arish? Ariel Sharon. Ever heard of him? To repeat what I state above, these details come from the book "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford. The sources for this book are meticulously documented and cross referenced. Sources include many high ranking officials from the NSA, CIA, Pentagon, Congress and recently declassified materials. I also highly recommend Bamford's first book "The Puzzle Palace."