The Liberty Cover-up 
                                by Charley Reese

In June 1967, in international waters, an American ship, the USS
Liberty, came under attack by airplanes and torpedo boats from the state
of Israel.

In an attack lasting more than two hours, the intelligence gathering
ship was bombed, rocketed, strafed, napalmed and torpedoed.  As valiant
crewmen fought the flames and rushing sea water, their life rafts and
lifeboats were deliberately destroyed by Israeli gunfire.  On that day,
34 Americans were killed, and 171 were wounded.

But that's only the opening page of a mystery that reads like a Tom
Clancy novel when you follow the events.

As the men pleaded for help, American planes were launched from a
carrier--and then recalled on direct order from then Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara and President Lyndon Johnson.  The men were left
to die and the ship to sink for all McNamara and Johnson knew at the
time.  Why did they do that?

Orders to move away from the coast about 100 miles were mistakenly
sent to the Philippines and never reached the Liberty.  Yet orders to
abort the rescue reached the carrier instantly.

A Navy court of inquiry was a whitewash--so bad, in fact, that a Navy
legal officer in Washington refused to endorse it.  Members of the crew
were ordered to remain silent and were threatened with court-martial if
they talked.  They were broken up and sent to scattered assignments.  So
were the pilots involved in the aborted rescue mission.  Why?

For the first time in American history, an attack on an American ship
resulting in casualties was never investigated by Congress.  A unit
citation, issued in 1967, was never given to the crew until years later,
and then in an unpublicized ceremony.  The commanding officer was also
belatedly given the Congressional Medal of Honor--quietly.

When the survivors of the Liberty finished their service in the Navy
and were thus free to talk, they became targets of a campaign of
vilification and have been called drunks, anti-Semites, and
incompetents.

When a small town in Wisconsin decided to name its library in honor
of the USS Liberty crewmen, a campaign claiming it was anti-Semitic was
launched.  And when the town went ahead, the U.S. government ordered no
Navy personnel to attend, and sent no messages.  This little library was
the first, and at the time the only, memorial to the men who died on the
Liberty.

There are a number of outrages that remain to be resolved.  Why did
the U.S. government publicly accept the Israeli claim that the attack
was a mistake even though evidence now exists that it knew then the
attack was not a mistake?  It's easy to understand why the Israeli
government lied about the attack, but why did the U.S. government lie
about it?  Why does it coninue to lie about it?

Why does the U.S. government continue to classify much of the record?
Why does McNamara now profess to remember nothing of his role in the
affair?  Why, if the attack really was a mistake, do Israel and its
supporters oppose so strenuously a congressional inquiry?  Why is
Congress afraid to conduct the inquiry?  Why have veterans been so
viciously attacked by their fellow Americans?

A new book, "The USS Liberty:  Dissenting History vs. Official
History," fairly examines the coverup.  John Borne, who has taught
American history, did the study for his doctoral dissertation at New
York University.  You can order it directly from him by writing John
Borne, 41 Eastern Pkwy., Brooklyn, NY 11238.  I talked to Borne, and he
will send you the book postage paid for $20.  You can get more
information on the Internet at
http://www.halcyon.com/jim/ussliberty/

These survivors deserve the support of the American people.  Will you
stand by them?

Charley Reese is a syndicated columnist