It Was Forty Years Ago This Week . .

Amid all the nausea inducing hoopla this week about the fortieth anniversary of the "great Zionist victory" against those who never had a chance (see here) comes another anniversary. One which, like the Palestinian cause, is still waiting for justice. How is it that such a small country, kept afloat only by the obscene level of aid given by the United States, can apparently dictate the results of an investigation into its own crimes?

Blue Ibis
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Searching for the Truth About the USS Liberty

Ward Boston
Counterpunch
Sat, 09 Jun 2007 23:04 EDT

Forty years ago this week, I was asked to investigate the heaviest attack on an American ship since World War II. As senior legal counsel to the Navy Court of Inquiry it was my job to help uncover the truth regarding Israel's June 8th 1967 bombing of the USS Liberty.

On that sunny, clear day 40 years ago, Israel's combined air and naval forces attacked our American intelligence-gathering ship for two hours, inflicting 70 percent casualties. Thirty four American sailors died and 172 were injured. The USS Liberty remained afloat only by the crew's heroic efforts.

Israel claimed it was an accident. Yet I know from personal conversations with the late Admiral Isaac C. Kidd -- president of the Court of Inquiry -- that President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of "mistaken identity".

The ensuing cover-up has haunted us for forty years. What does it imply for our national security, not to mention our ability to honestly broker peace in the Middle East, when we cannot question Israel's actions ­ even when they kill Americans?

On June 8th, survivors of Israel's cruel attack will gather in Washington, DC to honor their dead shipmates as well as the mothers, sisters, widows and children they left behind. They will continue to ask for a fair and impartial congressional inquiry that, for the first time, would allow the survivors themselves to testify publicly.

For decades, I have remained silent. I am a military man and when orders come in from the Secretary of Defense and President of the United States, I follow them. However, attempts to rewrite history and concern for my country compel me to share the truth.

Admiral Kidd and I were given only one week to gather evidence for the Navy's official investigation, though we both estimated that a proper Court of Inquiry would take at least six months.

We boarded the crippled ship at sea and interviewed survivors. The evidence was clear. We both believed with certainty that this attack was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew.

I am certain the Israeli pilots and commanders who had ordered the attack knew the ship was American. I saw the bullet-riddled American flag that had been raised by the crew after their first flag had been shot down completely. I heard testimony that made it clear the Israelis intended there be no survivors. Not only did they attack with napalm, gunfire, and missiles, Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned at close range three life rafts that had been launched in an attempt to save the most seriously wounded.

I am outraged at the efforts of Israel's apologists to claim this attack was a case of "mistaken identity."

Admiral Kidd told me that after receiving the President's cover-up orders, he was instructed to sit down with two civilians from either the White House or the Defense Department, and rewrite portions of the Court's findings. He said, "Ward, they're not interested in the facts. It's a political matter and we cannot talk about it." We were to "put a lid on it" and caution everyone involved never to speak of it again.

I know that the Court of Inquiry transcript that has been released to the public is not the same one that I certified and sent to Washington. I know this because it was necessary, due to the exigencies of time, to hand correct and initial a substantial number of pages. I have examined the released version of the transcript and did not see any pages that bore my hand corrections and initials. Also, the original did not have any deliberately blank pages, as the released version does. In addition, the testimony of Lt. Lloyd Painter concerning the deliberate machine-gunning of the life rafts by the Israeli torpedo boat crews, which I distinctly recall being given at the Court of Inquiry and including in the original transcript, is now missing.

I join the survivors in their call for an honest inquiry. Why is there no room to question Israel ­ even when they kill Americans -- in the halls of Congress?

Let the survivors testify. Let me testify. Let former intelligence officers testify that they received real-time Hebrew translations of Israeli commanders instructing their pilots to sink "the American ship".

Surely uncovering the truth about what happened to American servicemen in a bloody attack is more important than protecting Israel. And surely forty years is long enough to wait.

Ward Boston served as chief counsel to the Navy's Court of Inquiry into the attack on USS Liberty and as a naval aviator in World War II on the carrier Yorktown, and as an FBI agent prior to his assignment to the Navy's Judge Advocates General Corps. He is a graduate of the Law School of the College of William and Mary, and a resident of Coronado, California.

For more information see this story in Navy Times by Bryan Jordan.

A Reasonable Question to Ask IMO

Flashback: To one of gems that only sites like Signs of the Times can bring you. The rest of the media are too cowed/bought off to do so. You don't suppose this is one of the secondary reasons the US is putting pressure on Iran? It certainly clear that AIPAC is calling the shots in Congress. Oh, and that "Israel wiped off the map" comment? See HERE for the real skinny. CNN ain't gonna tell you.

Long live real free speech.

Blue Ibis
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Iranian president sticks by anti-Israel comments

12 Dec 2005

TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday stuck by comments casting doubt on the Holocaust that drew censure from the U.N. Security Council and widespread condemnation by world leaders.

Ahmadinejad, echoing statements he made in Saudi Arabia last week, was quoted by state television and the semi-official ILNA news agency as accusing the West of using the Holocaust as an excuse to favor Israel.

"If the killing of Jews in Europe is true and the Zionists are supported because of this excuse, why should the Palestinian nation pay the price?" he said.

Speaking at a conference entitled "International Congress to Support the Islamic Revolution of Palestine", Ahmadinejad said Islamic countries had done too little to support Palestinians.

The conference was attended by Khaled Meshaal, chief-in-exile of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"The Islamic world should avoid its existing passiveness and handle the Palestinian issue more actively," said Ahmadinejad.

"As you see, since the Palestinians have become more active their situation has improved," he said.

Since taking office in August, Ahmadinejad has spoken out frequently against Israel in terms which were almost unheard of under his reformist predecessor Mohammad Khatami.

European diplomats say his anti-Israel comments, which have included calling the Jewish state a "tumor" that should be "wiped off the map", may cause a delay in planned talks between the European Union and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.

Comment: Of course, all right-thinking people understand that the claims that Israel wields disproportionate influence over American and European politics are nothing but lies and thinly -veiled anti-Semitism and that there is no evidence to back up such proposterous accusations... right?...

Long Bomb Passes of All Sorts

In honour (?) of Superbowl Sunday (one reason to be glad I am blessed with 'peasantvision' as opposed to cable), here is an article by the remarkable Joe Quinn. His analyses of the larger dynamics of the world's political events should be required reading for anyone who fancies themselves to be up on "how the world works".

Blue Ibis

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The Tale Of The Unwitting "Suicide Bomber" And SuperBowl XLI

Joe Quinn
Signs of the Times
Sat, 03 Feb 2007 13:52 EST

Today, Iraq, Baghdad, hot off the mainstream media presses, this just in:

Police estimate 80 killed in Baghdad bombing

A suicide truck bomber struck a food market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad today, killing at least 80 people and wounding dozens, police and hospital officials said.

The attacker was driving a truck carrying food when he detonated his explosives, destroying stores and stalls that had been set up in the busy outdoor Sadriyah market, police said.

Officials said at least 80 people were killed and 150 wounded as nearby hospitals were flooded with victims from the blast.

The blast occurred at 4:40pm local time as the market was crowded with people buying food for their evening meal, the latest in a series of attacks against commercial targets in the capital as insurgents seek to maximise the number of people killed ahead of a planned US-Iraqi security sweep.

The mainstream media is apparently as lifeless as the 80 Iraqi civilians, murdered by today's mysterious detonating food truck. How else to explain their reporting that "insurgents" desire to kill as many of their own people as they can. Can it be possible that the person who penned this report really did not stop at that point and think to him or herself: "hmmm... but aren't the 'insurgents' those members of Iraqi society that have taken up arms in order to expel the invading American army? Isn't their very existence justified only by the presence of American troops in their country? Why then would they want to kill as many Iraqi civilians - their own people whose support constitutes the lifeblood of the resistance - as possible?" Perhaps he or she did, but then just shrugged and said, "who cares, it's not my job to think."

Anyway, back to the mysterious exploding food truck. We are meant to believe that this was a "suicide bombing" because someone drove a truck into a market and it exploded. Just like we are meant to believe that every time an Israeli restaurant or bus blows up, it is the work of a "Palestinian suicide bomber" simply because what appeared to be a Palestinian happened to enter the restaurant or bus just before the explosion.

I've presented this scenario before, and I'll give it here again because it really is a concept that everyone should be able to grasp:

A two man Shin Bet (Israeli internal intelligence) team sneak up to a fixed Falafel stand in Tel Aviv in the dead of night. They open the doors to the storage area of the stand and attach 5kg of plastic explosives to the top corner, way at the back. The close it up and leave. The next morning they contact one of their informers, a Palestinian youth, little more than 20 years old. Known to the authorities, the youth enjoys free passage in and out of Israel. He is told his handlers want to see him at 1pm that afternoon. The meeting place is a Falafel stand in Tel Aviv. He is told to go and buy a Falafel and wait for them to arrive. At 1pm he approaches the Falafel stand. From a distance of 50 meters his two handlers are watching. As he orders something, they push a button. Two hours later, news reports are flying around the world of a new Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, at a Falafel stand no less, with lots of eyewitness to testify that the explosion occurred when a Palestinian man approached the stand.

In Iraq, the same tactics are being used. Here are two first hand accounts of real events from last year:

"A few days ago, an American manned check point confiscated the driver license of a driver and told him to report to an American military camp near Baghdad airport for interrogation and in order to retrieve his license. The next day, the driver did visit the camp and he was allowed in the camp with his car. He was admitted to a room for an interrogation that lasted half an hour. At the end of the session, the American interrogator told him: "OK, there is nothing against you, but you do know that Iraq is now sovereign and is in charge of its own affairs. Hence, we have forwarded your papers and license to al-Kadhimia police station for processing. Therefore, go there with this clearance to reclaim your license. At the police station, ask for Lt. Hussain Mohammed, who is waiting for you now. Go there now quickly, before he leaves his shift work."

The driver did leave in a hurry, but was soon alarmed with a feeling that his car was driving as if carrying a heavy load, and he also became suspicious of a low flying helicopter that kept hovering overhead, as if trailing him. He stopped the car and inspected it carefully. He found nearly 100 kilograms of explosives hidden in the back seat and along the two back doors.

The only feasible explanation for this incident is that the car was indeed booby trapped by the Americans and intended for the al-Khadimiya Shiite district of Baghdad. The helicopter was monitoring his movement and witnessing the anticipated "hideous attack by foreign elements".

The same scenario was repeated in Mosul, in the north of Iraq. A car was confiscated along with the driver's license. He did follow up on the matter and finally reclaimed his car but was told to go to a police station to reclaim his license. Fortunately for him, the car broke down on the way to the police station. The inspecting car mechanic discovered that the spare tire was fully laden with explosives.
On May 13, 2005, a 64 years old Iraqi farmer, Haj Haidar Abu Sijjad, took his tomato load in his pickup truck from Hilla to Baghdad, accompanied by Ali, his 11 years old grandson. They were stopped at an American check point and were asked to dismount. An American soldier climbed on the back of the pickup truck, followed by another a few minutes later, and thoroughly inspected the tomato filled plastic containers for about 10 minutes. Haj Haidar and his grandson were then allowed to proceed to Baghdad.

A minute later, his grandson told him that he saw one of the American soldiers putting a grey melon size object in the back among the tomato containers. The Haj immediately slammed on the brakes and stopped the car at the side of the road, at a relatively far distance from the check point. He found a time bomb with the clock ticking tucked among his tomatoes. He immediately recognized it, as he was an ex-army soldier. Panicking, he grabbed his grandson and ran away from the car. Then, realizing that the car was his only means of work, he went back, took the bomb and carried it in fear. He threw it in a deep ditch by the side of the road that was dug by Iraqi soldiers in preparation for the war, two years ago.

Upon returning from Baghdad, he found out that the bomb had indeed exploded, killing three sheep and injuring their shepherd in his head. He thanked God for giving him the courage to go back and remove the bomb, and for the luck in that the American soldiers did not notice his sudden stop at a distance and his getting rid of the bomb.

"They intended it to explode in Baghdad and claim that it is the work of the 'terrorists', or 'insurgents' or who call themselves the 'Resistance'.

I decided to expose them and asked your reporter to take me to Baghdad to tell you the story. They are to be exposed as they now want to sow strife in Iraq and taint the Resistance after failing to defeat it militarily. Do not forget to mention my name. I fear nobody but God, as I am a follower of Muqtada al-Sadir."

Add to that the following:

Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq

Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday December 9, 2003
Guardian

Israeli advisers are helping train US special forces in aggressive counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, including the use of assassination squads against guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military sources said yesterday.

And then this from the UK Independent's Robert Fisk:

Unknown Americans Are Provoking Civil War In Iraq

The Americans, my interlocutor suspected, are trying to provoke an Iraqi civil war so that Sunni Muslim insurgents spend their energies killing their Shia co-religionists rather than soldiers of the Western occupation forces... "One young Iraqi man told us that he was trained by the Americans as a policeman in Baghdad and he spent 70 per cent of his time learning to drive and 30 per cent in weapons training. They said to him: 'Come back in a week.' When he went back, they gave him a mobile phone and told him to drive into a crowded area near a mosque and phone them. He waited in the car but couldn't get the right mobile signal. So he got out of the car to where he received a better signal. Then his car blew up."

Impossible, I think to myself. But then I remember how many times Iraqis in Baghdad have told me similar stories.


And we begin to get a very different picture and understanding of what is happening in Iraq, Israel and many other places.

For example:

U.S. can't prove Iran link to Iraq strife

LA Times
03 Feb 2007

Bush administration officials acknowledged Friday that they had yet to compile evidence strong enough to back up publicly their claims that Iran is fomenting violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but don't such things usually happen the other way round? Ya know, the compiling of evidence before making the case? Or am I just being naive?

Administration officials have long complained that Iran was supplying Shiite Muslim militants with lethal explosives and other material used to kill U.S. military personnel. But despite several pledges to make the evidence public, the administration has twice postponed the release - most recently, a briefing by military officials scheduled for last Tuesday in Baghdad.

"The truth is, quite frankly, we thought the briefing overstated, and we sent it back to get it narrowed and focused on the facts," national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley said Friday.

[...]

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates seemed to concede Friday that U.S. officials can't say for sure whether the Iranian government is involved in assisting the attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq.

"I don't know that we know the answer to that question," Gates said.

Earlier this week, U.S. officials acknowledged that they were uncertain about the strength of their evidence and were reluctant to issue potentially questionable data in the wake of the intelligence failures and erroneous assessments that preceded the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"Erroneous assessments"?" The real problem here is, now that Colin Powell is gone, there's no one gormless enough to agree to sit in front of the world's cameras and present obviously faked documents as cold hard proof.

In rejecting the case compiled against Iran, senior U.S. officials, including Hadley, Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, confirmed Friday that they were concerned about possible inaccuracies.

"I and Secretary Rice and the national security advisor want to make sure that the briefing that is provided is absolutely accurate and is dominated by facts - serial numbers, technology and so on," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.

[dominated by facts? As in, sort of mostly truthful??! Ok, so what is the acceptable truth percentage? 85%, 50? or our expectations unrealistically high . . .]


[...] That report, called a National Intelligence Estimate, was issued Friday, concluding that Iraq was deteriorating and faces a bleak future that U.S. efforts may do little to avert.

"The involvement of these outside actors is not likely to be a major driver of violence or the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq's internal sectarian dynamics," says the report, compiled by experts from the nation's 16 intelligence agencies.

Geeze! Reading this somehow we are left with the impression that US covert forces are not heavily involved in manufacturing civil war in Iraq. How bizarre!

So far, the U.S. government has provided scant evidence that the government of Iran is directly supporting militant Shiite groups.

In a major speech on Iraq last month, Bush accused Iran of "providing material support for attacks on American troops" and vowed to "seek out and destroy" weapon transport networks.

Since then, Air Force officials have said they are planning new missions that could include flights along the Iran-Iraq border aimed at disrupting weapons shipments.

Iranian officials challenged the Americans to produce evidence of their charges, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, pledged last week to do so.

The increasingly harsh words from the Bush administration stoked fears of a possible U.S. attack on Iran. In recent days, the White House and top U.S. officials have sought to counter the concern. Gates became the latest administration official to offer such reassurances.

"The president has made clear, the secretary of State has made clear, I've made clear ...we are not planning for a war with Iran," Gates said Friday.

The US government is "not planning for a war with Iran", but that says nothing about Israel, which most definitely is planning on attacking Iran, concocted evidence or no concocted evidence, and once that happens, and Iran retaliates, the US will of course be forced to go to the aid of its "ally".

On last point. The US and Israeli governments are currently engaged in carrying out fake terror attacks in Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in order to cow the local populations and force them to submit to their agenda. We should remember, however, that the current massive bloodletting in Iraq would have been almost impossible absent one defining moment, not in Iraqi but American history: The September 11th 2001 attacks in New York.

It is fitting indeed that the 9/11 attacks gave rise to a wave of fake terror attacks by the US and Israeli governments in Iraq and Israel, because 9/11 was itself a fake terror attack, carried out by sections of the same US and Israeli governments.

Tomorrow is 'Superbowl Sunday'. Tens of thousands of American citizens, all grouped together in one confined space. It is unlikely, for a number of reasons, that a terror attack similar to 9/11 will happen tomorrow at the Miami Garden's Dolphin Stadium in Florida, but if it does, we will know where to look for the culprits.