- Declassified Congressional notes 1967, Israel... and
the USS Liberty
-
- It's okay when Israelis murder Americans... as is made
very clear in this session between esteemed US Senators representing the
American people. Let's go back to 1967 and the USS Liberty... which until
today, the US government refuses to officially investigate.
-
- Secretary Rusk's reference to the Israeli attack on the
USS Liberty as "this kind of operation" is very interesting.
What exactly does the Secretary mean? I thought that the attack
was an 'accident'. It's the first time I hear a US official admit
that it was an operation... and not an accident. Thank you, Secretary
Rusk.
-
- 1. Let's see what Israeli 'operation' the 'honorable
US Congress or Senate shall be covering-up for soon in the Middle East
and/or Persian Gulf?
- 2. Let's see how long it will take to hear the US to
come up with official admissions on 9/11?
-
- Cherifa
-
-
- http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_hr/1967executive.html (for
entire text)
-
-
- S. Prt. 110-20
-
- EXECUTIVE SESSIONS OF THE
- SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE
- TOGETHER WITH JOINT SESSIONS WITH THE
- SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
- (HISTORICAL SERIES)
- ================================================
-
- VOLUME XIX
-
- __________
-
- NINETIETH CONGRESS
-
- first session
-
- 1967
-
-
- MADE PUBLIC 2007
-
- Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign
Relations
-
-
-
- Secretary Rusk. Mr. Chairman, on the boat incident
- yesterday, which brought our meeting to a conclusion,
I may say
- that as soon as I found out the real facts, I came on
back
- down, but the committee had adjourned.
- The situation--the incident was extremely distressing,
not
- only because of the dead and the wounded which were involved,
- but because it was a very reckless act.
- Senator Hickenlooper. It seems to me it was completely
- inexcusable.
- Secretary Rusk. It was a vessel configured as a merchant
- vessel. It was a U.S. Navy ship flying the U.S. flag,
- relatively unarmed with 450 caliber machine guns. It
was ninety
- miles off Port Said, 14 miles off of the Gaza Strip territory,
- and was attacked by six strafing runs by aircraft and
by motor
- torpedo boats.
- Now, when I left here, I thought that it might well
be an
- Egyptian attack. You can imagine that would have
raised the
- most serious problems. But suppose it had been an Israeli
- attack on a Russian ship.
- The Chairman. Yes.
-
- ISRAELI APOLOGY
-
- Secretary Rusk. I called in the Israeli ambassador
and
- protested in the strongest possible terms and pointed
out to
- him the dangers that were involved in this kind of an
operation
- in that area (what kind of "operation"??). He
had no explanation.
- We have had nothing but an
- apology from the Israeli Government. But there it is,
and we
- will be in touch with Israelis further about it.
- After all, there are some damages and there are dead
and
- wounded, and we will follow up on that with them.
- Senator Carlson. Mr. Chairman, on that very point,
one of
- the families in our state is affected, and, of course,
that
- will be true of many others because of the dead and injuries.
- They are not happy with just an apology. They are really
- complaining. Is there anything more that can be
done on this?
- Secretary Rusk. I understand.
- Senator Carlson. It was, I imagine, as I understand,
- surface PT boats.
- Secretary Rusk. Plus six strafing runs by aircraft.
- Senator Carlson. I cannot understand it.
- Senator Hickenlooper. I think we should file for
- reparations. We should press for them, for the families,
the
- people that were killed, and I am not sure but what I
am
- impressed with the cavalier attitude of--it looks like
a
- cavalier attitude--of Israel on this thing. They can
do that
- with impunity.
- Secretary Rusk. Well, the next move is at the moment
up to
- them to come back with a better statement of fact than
they
- have given us thus far. I will say this. We were
very pleased
- that Israel immediately notified us that they had done
it (well
- how gracious of Israel...), and
- here in this room I can say that we did use the ``Hot
Line''
- for the purpose for which it was invented on this one,
to flash
- a message to Moscow to inform Cairo, because at
that moment we
- thought that the probabilities were it was an Egyptian
attack
- and we would take the steps necessary to defend the ship.
We
- were able to use the ``Hot Line'' to cancel that, and
inform
- the Soviets immediately that it was an Israeli attack,
and
- that--but in any event, as far as the international side
of it
- is concerned, it proved not to be the kind of crisis
that could
- have caused far greater trouble, either Egyptian attack
or a
- Russian victim.
- Senator Hickenlooper. Has the Israeli Government
indicated
- any real sorrow about this thing, or is it a perfunctory
- apology?
- Secretary Rusk. Oh, yes, they have been profuse.
- Senator Hickenlooper. Have they said whether any
- disciplinary action will be taken against the stupidity
of this
- crew or----
- Secretary Rusk. I asked for that yesterday.
- Senator Hickenlooper [continuing]. Or the commanding
- officers of the area or anything?
- Secretary Rusk. We have not heard any more except
what I
- have told you.
|
