2023-10-18 08:44:17
The conversation took place more than half a century ago, less than a week after the start of the Six-Day War. Specifically, shortly before 2:00 p.m. on June 8, 1967. A United States pilot flying over international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25 miles from the Egyptian city of El Arish, nervously asked: ” Can you see the flag? His partner responded nervously: «Yes, he is from the United States. I repeat: he is from the United States,” according to what the Chicago Tribune newspaper published in 2007, after snooping through Washington’s official archives.
Although the identification had left no room for doubt, several fighters of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed the ship USS Liberty, causing 34 deaths and 173 injuries for which the Jewish State never received any retaliation in response. by the United States. There was no revenge and both countries decided to draw a veil, perhaps to avoid unleashing a full-scale war between these two traditional allies. Israel always defended that it had confused it with an Egyptian ship and asked for forgiveness.
«We express our deep regret for the thirty-four friends who died at our hands in combats in which they should not have participated. “May his memory be blessed,” can be read on a commemorative plaque at the Haifa Naval Museum. Israel offered to compensate the victims and their families within 48 hours of the attack. A year later, it paid $3.32 million to the families of the deceased; in 1969, another 3.57 million for the injured, and in 1980, six more for material damage.
Both governments conducted investigations and issued independent reports, but agreed that the attack had been a mistake due to Israeli confusion over the identity of the ship. Many parallel studies and accounts from some US officials and survivors of the attack reject these conclusions and continue to argue that the attack was deliberate. Most of the latter under the belief that Israel was trying to prevent the USS Liberty’s listening devices from listening to Tel Aviv’s plans to occupy Syria’s Golan Heights, as happened the next day.
The first attack
When it became aware of the presence of a non-Israeli ship in the waters of the Sinai Peninsula, the IAF sent two Mirage III fighter jets shortly before 2:00 p.m. Exactly at 1:57, the head of the air traffic controllers, Lieutenant Colonel Shmuel Kislev, authorized the attack and the fighters launched themselves on the ship and attacked with cannons and 30-millimeter rockets, in a few minutes of great confusion about which they have emerged. very disparate versions in recent decades.
The attack occurred after the crew had completed a chemical attack drill with Captain McGonagle on the bridge. All participants were standing on the deck with their helmets and life jackets removed. Eight crew members were killed immediately and 75 were wounded in the first offensive. In addition, the antennas were cut, the gas canisters were set on fire, and the ship’s flag was torn down.
McGonagle, wounded in the arm and leg, sent an urgent request for help: “Unidentified aircraft attack, immediate assistance required.” Help did not arrive and two Dassault Mysteres armed with napalm bombs continued the massacre on this friendly ship that had no military function nor the slightest intention of launching an attack. At that time, much of the ship’s structure caught fire. In the absence of return fire, Kislev warned that the target could be Israeli and he contacted all Israeli ships in the area to rule out this assumption.
The USS Liberty, after the attack WIKIPEDIA
The second attack
The Israeli Navy then sent two Hornet helicopters to search for survivors and the attacks briefly stopped. During that interval, the crew of the Liberty raised a large American flag. However, they saw a series of torpedo boats approaching quickly, without being able to identify what nationality they were. McGonagle then ordered a sailor to go to machine gun station 51 and open fire, although at the last moment he realized that the ships were flying the Israeli flag and the captain ordered the attack to stop.
The orders did not arrive in time and several machine guns fired bursts. Confusion increased and the torpedo boats returned fire with their guns, killing Liberty’s helmsman. They then launched five more torpedoes, one of which hit the ship on the starboard side forward of the superstructure, creating a 12-metre hole in the space created for the research teams. Another 25 American sailors were killed and several dozen more were wounded. The torpedo boats then approached and strafed the hull of the ship with their cannons and machine guns. It was at that moment that the offensive stopped.
According to the ‘Chicago Tribune’ investigation, forty years later, the then Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, ordered the American fighters that went to defend the USS Liberty to return to their bases. JQ Hart, stationed in Morocco and coordinator of Sixth Fleet operations, claims that he heard McNamara say: “President Johnson is not going to go to war or violate an ally of the United States over a few Marines.”
Flag
The survivors, for their part, stated that since the morning of June 8 they saw Israeli planes flying over the ship. This indicated that it was impossible for them not to identify the Liberty as a United States ship. In addition, the ship had her name written in Latin characters and not in Arabic characters and the flag flew from the top of the ship’s masts. The Israelis have always denied this last point. Other sources theorize that it was an attack by Israel with the aim of luring Washington into the war, posing as Egyptian or other Arab forces.
After the incident, many survivors left the Army and some are still undergoing psychological treatment. The US Congress has always refused to address the issue, despite the insistence of survivors and the testimonies presented.
#war #marines