This happened in the 60's and was it reported in the News NO!
From 14:03 until 14:10, the Israeli air assault unleashed hell, concentrating a coordinated strafing attack first of bombs, then of rockets, armor-piercing bullets, and napalm on the ship's communication antennas and crew. Basically these fighters exhausted all of their ordnance and ammunition on a ship they knew could not return fire before they left. (3) page 16 and (4). Israel later confirmed that multiple Mirage fighter-bombers and Dassault Mystyres swept-wing fighters were used, and this was confirmed from photographs taken by Liberty sailors. During the assault, the aircraft jammed all frequencies so the Liberty was only able to communicate during the short intervals when the Israeli rockets were in-flight, as the fighters had to switch off jamming temporarily. (1) page 36. Also during the assault, the American flag was shot away, but before the torpedo attack began, it was replaced with a larger 8x13 foot version. (3) page 19.
Between 14:24 and 14:28, the three torpedo boats arrived in visual range and were reported as flying Israeli flags. (3) page 19 and (1) page 36.
At 14:31, both the USS Liberty and the torpedo boats opened fire at each other. At least five (5) torpedoes were launched, and two (2) torpedoes made contact at about 14:35, and later mechanical analysis revealed one of the torpedoes hit in an area where a few meters in either direction would likely have broken the ship in half. Twenty-five (25) Americans working in the SIGINT section were killed instantly by this torpedo. Following the torpedoes, the Israeli boats raked the USS Liberty with cannon and machine-gun fire, shooting at any visible sailor above deck. At one point, the Israelis concentrated their fire on the boiler, trying to cause an explosion and sink the ship. The torpedo boats were later confirmed to be Ayah class motor torpedo boats, each carrying two (2) torpedoes, and (4) cannons. Before the ship was scrapped, there were 861 holes larger than a man's fist and thousands of 0.50 caliber machine gun holes. (3) pages 19-20, (2) pages 7-8, (1) page 37-38. Same as the fighter attack, basically the Israelis expended all of their ordnance and then just opened up with machine-guns, possibly to keep the sailors from activating a new radio line. They threw everything they had at the USS Liberty, trying to sink a defenseless vessel that they had confirmed to be American.
The Monarch Who Declared His Own Revolution
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
Whatever you do, don't make King Abdullah angry. In 2001 and 2002 he threatened to rethink the U.S.-Saudi strategic partnership if Washington did not do something to stop the suffering of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation. In short order, George W. Bush became the first American president to openly advocate the creation of a viable Palestinian state. When Bush started to backpedal on diplomatic efforts to realize that goal, Abdullah visited the Crawford ranch and reportedly delivered an angry ultimatum; Bush's then secretary of state, Colin Powell, was later quoted as calling it a "near-death experience."
Nevertheless, the king prefers honorable conciliation over confrontation. In 2002 he tried to end the Arab-Israeli conflict by imposing a deal on the Arab League that would offer peace between Israel and all of the Arab world if Israel would pull back to its 1967 borders, allow East Jerusalem to become the Palestinian capital and make some accommodation with Arab refugees from the wars of 1948 and 1967. The plan won't stay on the table forever, he warned during the recent Israeli bombing of Gaza.
But the violence and threats continue on all sides despite his best efforts. Fighting between Hamas and Fatah is said to cause him particular anguish. Abdullah's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, recalls the king's reaction during an especially ugly moment, back in 2007: "He just couldn't believe that Palestinian guns were turned against Palestinian people, and blood is shed and people are killed and children are orphaned while they're facing such horrendous treatment from the Israelis. He just couldn't take that."
The king is likewise distressed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's popularity on the Arab street. The Iranian president keeps gleefully stirring up trouble in the region, apparently oblivious to the harm he does with his encouragement of extremists, with his venomous posturing toward Israel and with the nuclear program he's revealing bit by bit, like a bomb hidden behind seven veils. "Don't play with fire," Abdullah warned Ahmadinejad when they met face to face in early 2007. The Saudis have quietly worked to undermine Iranian influence in Lebanon and even in Syria, Tehran's old ally. "The Iranians cannot match us financially, so why not give it a try?" said a Saudi analyst who asked not to be cited by name because of the sensitivities involved.
But Abdullah's reforms at home—if they succeed—could be as significant as any of his foreign-policy efforts. Those domestic moves are likely to take months or years before they produce solid results. "The king's heart is in the right place, but he's up against an intransigent bureaucracy," says one senior Western diplomat who has worked with him closely. "There were times when we agreed on something with the king and six months later we would raise it again. He'd say, 'We agreed, and it was done.' And we'd have to say, 'But Your Majesty, it wasn't done'."
Most Saudis seem to revere their king, and many appreciate what he's trying to do. Still, they're not sure that even he has what it takes to transform their reactionary society. "I am afraid it's not enough," says the young mother in Riyadh. "And in a year or two, it might be—nothing." For Abdullah, for the Americans and for the Saudis themselves, that would be a tragedy.
© 2009
Discuss