News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: The USS Liberty

Date: September 03, 2001

On June 8th, 1967, Israeli warplanes attacked, unprovoked, a US techinal research ship operating in the vicinity of the Arab-Israeli War or 'Six Day War' theater.

The USS Liberty flew the American flag (now on display at the NSA museum) and was impossible to misidentify as a hostile craft. During the unprovoked, sustained hour and a quarter attack, 34 men either were killed instantly, died as a result of wounds or died while missing, and 171 other crewmen were injured.

There has been a concerted effort to force a full investigation of the USS Liberty attack, especially by survivors and their supporters. The efforts have been stonewalled for 34 years, with statements as recent as 29 AUG 01 by Naval Secretary Gordon England. (see news story below).

To learn more about the USS LIberty tragedy and to register your support, please visit the official USS Liberty website, created and maintained by her veterans/survivors, at -

http://www.ussliberty.com/

News Story:

"Navy Secretary Balks at Investigating 1967 Attack on Liberty

Aug. 29, 2001 -- Navy Secretary Gordon England is balking at calls to reopen an investigation into the Israeli attack on the U.S. Navy surveillance ship Liberty (AGTR-5) that occurred off the Sinai coast on June 8, 1967. Survivors of the attack, however, say a full investigation is needed to uncover the truth about the incident.

Israel has maintained the attack -- which occurred during the Six-Day War -- was an accident and that its forces did not realize they were attacking an American ship. However, survivors of the attack and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Thomas Moorer remain unconvinced the attack was accidental. A book published this year about the National Security Agency has fueled calls for a new investigation by reporting the NSA possesses secret transcripts of Israeli communications during the attack. According to the book, "Body of Secrets" by James Bamford, the transcripts show the Israeli forces involved knew they were attacking an American vessel.

In remarks during the Aug. 22 edition of the C-SPAN television program "Washington Journal," a caller asked England if the department intends to reopen the investigation into the Liberty attack.

"No, we don't. It's very, very hard to put yourself in someone's . . . shoes, turn back the clock and try to come out with different decisions for events that took place in the past," said England. "As a matter of policy, I don't plan to reopen other prior decisions, because I believe it's very, very difficult to put yourself in those people's shoes and in the events that were taking place at that time."

John Hrankowski, president of the Liberty Veterans Association, told Inside the Navy that roughly 160 Liberty survivors are willing to come to Washington, DC, to participate in an investigation. The association has criticized the Navy for ignoring the testimony of American military eyewitnesses and taking "on faith the word of their attackers." The association would like to meet with England but has not yet done so, he said.

"We are here to testify. There is nobody that has to be brought back from the dead," Hrankowski said. "We've never had a chance to testify and we want to testify as to what happened, what we've seen, what we did." Hrankowski said there is some interest in Congress in reexamining the Liberty attack but would not elaborate.

Other incidents involving Navy ships have been more thoroughly investigated, said Hrankowski.

"We would like to get the same as the Pueblo [AGER-2], as the Stark [FFG-31], the Vincennes [CG-49], as the Cole [DDG-67], as the Iowa [BB-61], and after 56 years, as the U.S.S. Indianapolis [CA 35]," he said. "They got a chance to have their stories told and investigated. Why can't we?"

Hrankowski said there are still "many secret documents that have to be opened up from the NSA and wherever else they are stored." The NSA told ITN that it "cannot confirm nor deny the existence of any transcripts from the Liberty incident. Several documents concerning the attack have been available in the National Cryptologic Museum's library since the mid-90s. In addition, the [Freedom of Information Act] office is currently reviewing a package of materials for possible release sometime during 2001."

Bamford's book says the NSA was flying an EC-121M eavesdropping plane high above the Liberty during the attack, which left 34 sailors dead and 171 wounded.

The Six-Day War began June 5, 1967. Bamford contends the Israeli military was in the process of "butchering" hundreds of civilians and bound prisoners on June 8 at the time the Liberty was secretly listening nearby and suggests Israel might have then feared the Liberty's surveillance capabilities. Bamford accuses former President Lyndon Johnson and Congress of disgracefully covering up the truth about the Liberty attack, "despite overwhelming evidence that Israel had attacked and killed American servicemen deliberately." "