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.
Looking South
How Obama can mend relations in Latin America.
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Since the attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration's focus on terrorism led to a neglect of Washington's relations with Latin America—and a loss of U.S. influence in the region. Barack Obama is about to change that. "He's looking at what's happening in the continent after Bush's negligence, because he wants to rebuild that bloc," says Eduardo Rosales, a professor of Latin American international affairs at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
This philosophy is behind Obama's latest initiatives on Latin America. He has met recently with Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and visited Mexico's President Felipe Calderón on his way to this weekend's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. Obama also dispatched Joe Biden on a visit to Chile and Costa Rica ahead of the summit. "I'm here to launch a new chapter of engagement," Obama told summit delegates to applause on its opening day Friday. "There's no senior partner and junior partner in our relations."
What else does the continent want to hear from the U.S. president? First, Obama needs to acknowledge at least two new realities about the continent, says Lorenzo Meyer, a researcher at the Colegio de México. One is that the major South American economies have been drifting apart from the Washington consensus, a term coined to explain the economic advice from Washington-based financial institutions to Latin America, but now often used interchangeably with neoliberalism or globalization. "He must accept that those countries have changed the economic model because it failed," says Meyer. And if the U.S. wants to get along with South America, he adds, "it has to get along with the leader, with Brazil, since Mexico doesn't have that leadership anymore, if it ever had it."
A key part in new U.S. policy strategy toward Latin America, says Rosales, is to prevent the bloc of radical governments led by Venezuela from expanding. The main countries forming this axis are Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Bolivia. The global drop in oil prices has weakened Venezuela's economy, giving Washington fresh leverage over the South American nation. "This puts [Venezuelan leader Hugo] Chávez in a weak position, not only internally but externally, and the same goes for his radical movement in the American continent," says Rosales.
According to Rosales, the United States has good relations with other nations not aligned with Chávez, such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Panama and even El Salvador, despite the fact that its March 15 elections were won by the leftist Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) and its candidate Mauricio Funes. These leaders realize that while criticism of the U.S. may win them political points at home, such confrontation won't solve any of the region's problems. "We must understand that if the United States does well economically, Latin Americans could also do well," says Rosales. That's a message that summit delegates should find easy to digest.
This report has been adapted from an article published in Newsweek's Spanish-language partner, Newsweek En Español. Additional reporting by Arlene Getz in New York.
© 2009
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