Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!harvard!husc6!panda!genrad!decvax!decwrl!glacier!hplabs!sdcrdcf!ism780c!marty From: marty@ism780c.UUCP Newsgroups: net.followup,net.politics Subject: Re: Air raid on Libya Message-ID: <2182@ism780c.UUCP> Date: Fri, 9-May-86 17:25:13 EDT Article-I.D.: ism780c.2182 Posted: Fri May 9 17:25:13 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 14-May-86 01:04:31 EDT References: <157@unido.UUCP> <720@ark.UUCP> <170@westpt.UUCP> <901@harvard.UUCP> <215@cad.UUCP> <11610@amdcad.UUCP> Reply-To: marty@ism780c.UUCP (Marty Smith) Organization: Interactive Systems Corp., Santa Monica, CA Lines: 30 Xref: linus net.followup:5266 net.politics:15002 In article <11610@amdcad.UUCP> phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) writes: >In article <215@cad.UUCP> hijab@cad.UUCP (Raif Hijab) writes: >>I have referred before to the fact that Israel has a long history of >>terrorism. An example of such terrorism is referred to in Noam Chomsky's >>book, "The Fateful Triangle," (South End Press, Boston, 1983), > >I heard that Israel once attacked a US Navy Intelligence ship, killing >most of the crew. They were in the way and Israel didn't want them to >watch what Israeli forces were doing. >-- The IDF did indeed attack the USS Liberty during the six day war. An account of the attack is presented in ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY; I believe the author's name is Ennis. He was on the bridge during the attack. 23 men were killed, most of them by a torpedo from an IDF gunboat. 71 men were injured. Isreal claimed that the attack was an accident caused when somebody mistakenly identified the Liberty as a ship belonging to Egypt. None of Isreal's arguments are believable, in my opinion, but our government accepted Isreal's explanation, and Isreal paid damages. The book gives a compelling case that the attack was deliberate, claiming that its purpose was to keep us from knowing about Isreal's surprise attack on the Golan Heights. Apparently, claims the book, the attack on the Golan Heights was delayed until the Liberty could be eliminated. The argument makes sense in light of the knowledge that then President Johnson had warned Isreal that US support would be withdrawn if it was ever determined that Isreal had initiated any of the fighting. Much more evidence is presented in the book. martin smith