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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lou Weed who wrote (273263)	1/22/2010 4:51:45 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

If that was its mission....why do you have a problem with it....you are American, right???? MY PROBLEM is that the Israelis WARNED US REPEATEDLY not to send spy ships into the area and OUR COMMANDERS IGNORE THOSE WARNINGS!! Page 8, 9, C. Private Warnings/Threats On the 7th of June, as the Liberty was approaching its Sinai operating track, members of the staff of the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) made a routine attempt to notify the Liberty, through its seniors in the chain of command, to maintain a distance from the Egyptian coast of twenty nautical miles and from the Israeli coast of fifteen miles.54 Within an hour, this distance dramatically increased to 100 miles from any southeastern Mediterranean coast.55 To ensure speedy execution of the last position change, a telephone call was placed from the JCS in Washington, D.C., to a military staff member in the Liberty's chain of command to move the ship.56 Since, by that time, Israel was the only effective military force left in the region, the only explanation for concern about the Liberty's safety was concern about the threat of Israeli military action. Despite the obvious urgency of the situation and the irregular action by the JCS to pass word by telephone, word did not reach the Liberty before she was attacked at 2 p.m. local time the next day.57 What had preceded this urgent direction to get the Liberty away from the Egyptian coast, then controlled by Israel, was a message from the U.S. Defense Attaché Office (USDAO) in Tel Aviv, telling U.S. authorities that Israel was planning to attack the Liberty if she was not moved.58 The report had come from a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) observer at the USDAO, who advised that Israeli leaders had decided to sink the Liberty if it came near the war zone."59 Former Representative Robert L. F Sikes of Florida (who had been with the ntelligence working group of the Defense subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations) and other committee sources confirm that the frantic efforts by the JCS (and NSA) to move the Liberty on the evening of June 7, 1967, were prompted by a report from the USDAO in Tel Aviv that the Israeli Defense Forces planned to attack the ship if she continued to operate where she was. Their knowledge came directly from testimony on the subject of the Liberty made to the committee by a representative of the CIA.60 There are two other accounts of threats to the Liberty. One was a conversation between a CIA employee and a Navy Master Chief that took place after a meeting at CIA headquarters. The CIA employee told the Master Chief: Sending the Liberty to Gaza was a calculated risk from the beginning. Israel had told us long before the war to keep our intelligence ships away from her coast. Liberty was sent anyway because we just didn't think they were serious. We thought they might send a note of protest or, at most, harass the ship somehow. We didn't think they would really try to sink her.61 The other indication of a warning by Israel to the United States came from a former Israeli government official. He said that there had indeed been a note of protest. He said, "There was plenty of warning; Israel warned the United States to get that ship out of there. The United States just didn't react.62 This official said that his government had "protested" the ship's presence just a few hours before the attack.63 In his memoirs, the former Israeli Chief of Staff at the time, General Yitzhak Rabin, says that, on the 5th of June 1967, he informed Commander Castle, the American Naval Attaché in Tel Aviv, that: Israel intends to defend its shores from attack by the Egyptians. This will be done by combining our Air and Naval forces. If threatened, we will not be able to delay our response. We request therefore that the United States either withdraw all its vessels from our shores, or inform us of the exact location of all vessels close to our shores.64 The U.S. Defense Attaché in Israel stated shortly after the attack that no request for information ever took place and, had the request been made, it would have been forwarded to Navy officials in Washington.65 Regardless of the Rabin-Castle dispute, it is apparent that the Government of Israel made it clear to the United States, before the attack, that the Liberty's presence would not be tolerated. Although Israel was clearly indicating its intention to attack a U.S. warship if it were not moved from international waters off the Egyptian coast, and officials in Washington knew of this threat, word did not reach the ship at sea.66 The ship's officers and men proceeded to carry out their last-received instructions by moving into position off Gaza, as the 8th of June dawned. usslibertyinquiry.com Thus, once again.. I state that our Naval Commanders, as well as our CIA/NSA directors, KNEW the risk and decided to ignore Israeli warnings and provoke a response. Now why they thought the mission was important enough to send the Liberty there, BUT NOT PROVIDE AN ARMED ESCORT, only they can answer for. They put our sailors and vessel at DIRE RISK. Does that excuse the Israeli decision to attack the Liberty? Clearly no!! But again.. when you risk putting your fingers in the "Tiger's Cage", you risk getting bitten. We had NO BUSINESS ignoring Israeli warnings and sending that lightly armed ship into those waters without extensive escort to protect and defend the Liberty. And 34 of our sailors paid the price for this negligence and arrogance (on both sides). Hawk