Richard Rowland wrote:
Do you really think the USS liberty, is a conspiracy? Perhaps you're referring to the conspiracy involving the attempted sinking by the Isralies.
The USS Liberty was a spy ship and was in waters that they should not have been. It was cruising at 28 knots, in accordance with naval doctrine at the time, a ship proceeding at that speed was presumed to be a warship. The day fighting began, Israel asked the US to remove any American ships from off the coast and to be notified of the precise location of U.S. vessels. The Sixth Fleet was moved because President Johnson feared being drawn into a confrontation with the Soviet Union. He also ordered that no aircraft be sent near Sinai. Chief of Naval Operations expressed concern about the prudence of sending the Liberty so close to the area of hostilities and four messages were subsequently sent instructing the ship to move farther away from the area of hostilities. When the Liberty began shooting at the Israelis (which was a normal reaction) the Israelis responded with the torpedo attack, which k**led 28 of the sailors.
In January 2004, the State Department held a conference on the Liberty incident and also released new documents, including CIA memos dated 13 and 21 June 1967, that say that Israel did not know it was striking an American vessel. The historian for the National Security Agency, David Hatch, said the available evidence strongly suggested Israel did not know it was attacking a U.S. ship. Two former U.S. officials, Ernest Castle, the United States Naval Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv in June 1967, who received the first report of the attack from Israel, and John Hadden, then CIA Chief of Station in Tel Aviv, also agreed with the assessment that the attack on the Liberty was a mistake.
It is horrible, but there are THOUSANDS of cases of friendly fire.... One of the worst self-inflicted losses in U.S. military history occurred in April 1994, when F-15 fighters shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters in the “no fly” zone over northern Iraq. Twenty-six people were k**led, including 15 Americans, military officers from Britain, France and Turkey and five Kurdish workers. They were supporting U.N. humanitarian relief efforts on behalf of Kurds in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War. The F-15 pilots thought the Black Hawks were Iraqi craft violating the restricted zone.
That is just one example. War produces causalities, you can go back to the history books form 600 AD until now... mistakes happen and people die. I am not saying what happened to the USS Liberty is right, I am saying that Israel admitted the mistake (immediately) and apologized for the tragedy immediately and offered on 9 June to compensate the victims. Israel ultimately paid nearly $13 million in humanitarian r********ns to the United States and to the families of the victims in amounts established by the U.S. State Department. Israel did not try to hide it, unlike the many friendly fire incidents in Vietnam (Hamburger Hill) or even the Pat Tillman.... covered up. So, if you are angry over the Liberty.... where is your anger for the 10 Marines were k**led by U.S. airstrikes ordered by a Marine air controller who mistook their vehicles for enemy forces (2003). Nine British soldiers were k**led on Feb. 17, 1991, when two U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft fired on their armored personnel carriers in southern Iraq, mistaking it for an Iraqi target the Americans were trying to destroy 13 miles to the east. In all, 35 Americans and nine British troops were k**led by friendly fire in the Gulf War. In none of these cases did the guilty step forward and admit their mistake or pay r********ns for those deaths.