Memories That Won’t Die–First Hand Account of Israel’s Murder of 34 American Servicemen on the USS Liberty

2007 Mark Glenn

‘When the first missile hit, I thought one of the main lines from the boiler had blown. The whole ship shook so hard it felt like an earthquake. About 15 seconds later when I smelled what seemed like burned gunpowder and heard the Captain order everyone to General Quarters on the ship, I knew it wasn’t no blown pipe, but that the ship was under attack. Everything that took place afterwards moved in slow motion’.

So says ‘John Doe’, a survivor of the attack on the USS Liberty who spoke with American Free Press on condition that his name and rank remain anonymous. Lest anyone think that he is being dramatic or overly-paranoid when it comes to what might happen to him as a result of exercising his right of free speech in the land of the free and home of the brave, the truth is that he has good reason for being concerned. 40 years ago he was told in no uncertain terms by 2 Navy lawyers that he was not to divulge what he personally saw and heard on June 8, 1967 when the state of Israel attacked an unarmed naval vessel of the United States and murdered 34 American servicemen in cold blood. In the 40 years since that time, he has watched as those with the blood of his fellow shipmates on their hands have gotten away with murder and has no illusions about their willingness to do the same to him, a theme that has been made explicitly clear to him on many occasions through threatening phone calls and harassing emails.

‘We had no idea who was attacking us until it was all over…It seemed like it would never end, and the only reason I think it stopped was that they ran out of ammo. Had that not happened, I have no doubt that they would have finished us off for sure. They were out to sink us that day, plain and simple.’

He is surprisingly calm when he speaks about what he witnessed that day. At least by superficial appearances he does not wear any of the typical psychological scars commonplace with men who have seen battle up close and personal. For him, the scars he does wear are those of outrage–outrage that 34 Americans lost their lives in a Pearl Harbor-type sneak attack and that the government for which he worked bent over backwards to cover it up. Rather than swallowing the anger and allowing it to destroy him though (as it has done to so many others) he projects it outwardly, as evidenced by his comments–‘Those SOB’s oughtta get on their knees and thank God everyday that I have a wife and kids, because if I were a single man with nothing to lose I would’ve tracked them down a long time ago and dealt them a dose of justice they would never forget.’

He–like the rest of the crew of the Liberty that day–was taken completely by surprise when the attack began, just as Israel had planned. John Doe had started off the day executing his duties in the engineering plant, the heart of the ship that provided the lifeblood for all its vital functions. He–like the rest of the crew–knew that hostilities were taking place in nearby Sinai, but went about his duties confident that he was safe, as the Liberty was in international waters, and–as Americans are never permitted to forget–Israel was America’s ‘greatest ally’.

Besides this, the Liberty was not a vessel of war. In fact she was the most advanced intelligence gathering ship in the world, with no heavy guns, 45 antennae on top and flying a flag a blind man could see from a mile away. Looking back, the only thing that caused him to sense that strange events were afoot was the fact that there were over-flights taking place every 30-45 minutes by low-flying Israeli reconnaissance aircraft in the 6 hour period immediately preceding the attack and that Capt. McGonagle called the Duty Photographic Teams to the deck to document them. Other than that, everything was just another normal peaceful day–until the first missile struck.
‘When the skipper called for Battle Stations, we grabbed our life jackets and helmets…My job was to go and secure all the hatches in deck 01 to ensure watertight integrity for the ship, and it was at this point,’ he tells AFP, that ‘things begin to blank out.’

‘As I said, everything kind of moved in slow motion. We did what we spent months training to do and did so without thinking much about it.’ But there are some things that he will never forget and which wake him at night sometimes.
‘I’ll never forget that first guy I saw, running down the hall towards me, covered in blood, screaming for someone to help him, or that other guy with a hole in his neck and blood gushing out of him. I’m ashamed to say I don’t even remember who they were, even though they were my own crewman.’

He continues–‘Around midnight I came up to the mess hall and saw that it had been turned into a make-shift triage room. The blood was everywhere…on the floor…on the walls…you could smell it and tried not to slip on it.’ One of the things John remembers best is what he calls the ‘incoherent murmur’–the sounds of men, lying on the floor fighting to survive as the ship’s one doctor–Lt. Kiefer–and 2 navy corpsmen tried desperately to save them. 

‘Unless you honed in on one of the men and concentrated, it all just sounded like noise, but then once you did, you could hear what was going on. Some prayed out loud, begging God to let them live. Some called out for their moms. We ran out of medical supplies pretty quick and so the men had to lie there until help came 18 hours later, groaning in agony. We later found out that Doc Keifer had taken several pieces of shrapnel in the gut that none of us knew about and didn’t even tend to himself until he did what he could for the rest of the men.’

Going up top to survey the damage, he saw that it was just as bad there as it was below. ‘The deck was usually clean as a whistle, but now it was covered with blood and littered with pieces of flesh, shards of bone and various other body parts of the fellas who had been up there when Israel unleashed hell on us. Bullet holes everywhere you looked. Seemed like there was a million of them.’

He related to AFP some of the other scenes visible on the deck that day–A shipmate lying near the main gun whose body was gone from the waist down…What looked like 5 gallons of blood that pooled in a low spot as it sloshed back and forth with the rocking of the ship…Another crewman whose foot was caught in a cable as he hung upside down, suspended a few feet above the deck, and a few feet from him, one spent casing from the gun. The gunner only managed to fire off one round in the attack before the lower half of his body was blown off.

In John’s opinion, the fact that only one round had been fired was just more proof as to how effective Israel had been in getting the Americans to lower their guard before they were sucker-punched with the sneak attack. John told AFP that Capt. McGonagle, the ship’s skipper, himself covered with blood from shrapnel he caught in his arm and leg, limped out on to the deck and ordered the bigger pieces of flesh and bone be collected and the smaller ones washed off the deck with the firehose. The larger remains were later buried in a singular grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

John Doe could go on all day if pressed to do so, but out of consideration for him the interview is cut short. He had a few parting words though about the matter–

‘Those SOB’s murdered 34 Americans and for the last 40 years our government has covered it up and protected those who did it. It started with one Texas clown named Johnson and continues to this day with another Texas clown named Bush. Had the Liberty attack been dealt with as it would have were it any other country, we wouldn’t find ourselves in this mess today. That region is not worth one drop of American blood, and the thought of them getting away with this is what p***** me off more than anything else.

John was told 4 decades ago by the US Government that he would get his chance to speak one day. ‘Well, it’s been 40 years and they haven’t contacted me yet, although I did manage to get $200.00 after the State Department filed a claim against the state of Israel for what took place that day. I was lucky, some of the other guys only received $56.00 for what they went through.’

‘Forty years ago they told us that speaking about it would be doing a ‘disservice’ to the dead. Hell, I can’t think of a bigger disservice than what’s been done to the fellas than the 40 years of silence they’ve gotten on this issue from their own government. We are tired of the silence, tired of the lies. We have been fighting the devil and his advocate for 40 years now, in this case, Israel being the devil and the US government being his advocate.’

For more on what took place that day, readers of AFP are encouraged to go to the website dedicated to the memory of the men of the USS Liberty found at www.ussliberty.org. Those interested in watching the video documentary on what took place entitled ‘Dead in the Water’ can write to the USS Liberty Veterans Association, c/o Moe Shafer/4994 Lower Roswell Rd, Suite 33/ Marietta Georgia 30068. The cost of the video is $25.00 and all proceeds go to the LVA for purposes of keeping the Liberty story alive.

2007 Mark Glenn

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American Treachery in the Attack on the USS Liberty Much Deeper Than Previously Assumed

2007 Mark Glenn

For those who follow the intrigues and explosive events surrounding the relationship between America and Israel over the last 4 decades it is easy to “get into a rut” so to speak and blame every single catastrophic event solely on the treachery of Israel. The tragedy though (and certainly the part hardest to swallow by patriotic Americans who would just as soon take their own lives as betray their fellow countrymen) is that there have been and are players on the American side of the equation whose hands are just as dirty as those of their Israeli counterparts. Whether it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of JFK, the bombing of the Twin Towers in 1993, the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995 or the events taking place on 9/11, the fact is that the only way these could have taken place is if elements within the US government infrastructure cooperated with the planning, execution and subsequent dissemination of propaganda in the aftermath of these operations.

Now, a new and terrible tale has surfaced indicating yet again that elements of the US government were involved at the highest level in even more criminal acts against the very same American people whom she is charged with protecting. The case in question involves the June 8^th, 1967 attack on the USS Liberty by the air and naval forces of the state of Israel during the height of the Arab-Israeli War that led to the deaths of 34 American servicemen. Long-believed that players within the Johnson administration simply assisted in the cover-up of the attack so as “not to embarrass” America’s greatest ally, Israel, it now it appears that American political, intelligence and military persons played a key role in setting up the Liberty for the purpose of igniting WWIII in what was code-named “Operation Cyanide”.

It was a heady time, to be sure. The US and the USSR were neck-deep in what was called the Cold War and by all appearances it seemed that a shooting match between the two superpowers was an inevitability. The reader should keep in mind that this was only a few short years after the Cuban Missile Crisis and a time when America seemed unable to stop the spread of communism in Asia and other parts of the world. In the Middle East, states such as Egypt, with dynamic, fiery and recalcitrant leaders such as Nasser were forming strong bonds with the Soviets for military and economic aid. Using the same rational that led to America inserting herself militarily into areas such as Korea and Vietnam, it was believed that if not stopped the Soviets would entrench themselves in the Middle East to the point that America’s access to the oil of that region would be directly jeopardized and that, just as the communists had predicted decades before, the West would be conquered “without a shot being fired”.

It has long been assumed that Israel’s deliberate attack on the USS Liberty was just another of her made-to-order false flag operations done simply for the purpose of dragging an unwilling America into a Middle East war on the side of the Jewish state. However, new information uncovered by former BBC investigative journalist Peter Hounam reveals that America–and more specifically the administration of Lyndon Johnson–was not as much the unsuspecting victim in all of this that she has claimed these last 40 years. Based on relatively new evidence, the attack on the Liberty was actually part of a much larger plan and that the Liberty incident was just one domino in a series of them that had as the ultimate goal a real-live shooting war between the US and the USSR. Had the Liberty been sunk with no witnesses as planned, the world would be a much different place now as a result, and certainly not for the better.

In short, what was planned for that awful day in American history was that the a defenseless, unarmed American ship sailing in international waters off the coast of Egypt be sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean and that the Soviets and their Arab allies (in particular Egypt) would be blamed for the event. As with the sinking of the USS Maine nearly 70 years earlier, the cry would be “Remember the USS Liberty” and America’s “justifiable” response to such a horrendous act would be the launching of nuclear weapons against Egypt, the USSR’s ally. Working in tandem with the US would be allies such as Israel, Great Britain and, interestingly, Australia. The end result would be a Middle East free of any Soviet presence, leaving America and her ally Israel in possession of Arab oil for the foreseeable future and in a better position to dictate terms to the communists.

In the minds of powerful men such as these–men who sit in comfortable offices and expensive chairs and who do not have to answer to anyone for their actions, the rationale for such an act is simple–better that 300 men die in the service of their country than that the ‘free world’ fall into the clutches of Soviet communism. What prevented all of this from taking place was that–simply by the grace of God–the Liberty did not sink and the world was spared, at least temporarily.

Of course there is no official confirmation of Operation Cyanide. In fact there is no mention of it at all. In various interviews that have been conducted over the years, individuals from Secretary of Defense McNamara to Dean Rusk to Richard Helms to Mossad spy chief Rafael Eitan have demonstrated great intellectual and verbal energy for men their age when discussing various items but who then clam up instantaneously when Operation Cyanide is mentioned as if they were witnesses to a Mafia hit and feared for their lives.

Nevertheless the smaller players who were involved at that time have a different tale to tell, and piecing together all the small parts that they individually bring to the table fleshes out a picture that, although not crystal clear, is clear enough to suggest that America was involved in the murder of 34 of her young men on June 8^th 1967 in a much deeper fashion than previously thought. For the sake of those men who died that day and for those who survived the attack physically but who have endured the assault of lies that has been waged against them these last 40 years, the truth concerning what took place that day must be told. In the opinion of many, the Liberty incident may very well hold the key to freeing America from the bondage she suffers under men such as those who have murdered–not only her people, but as well her political system.

Beginning in June, AFP will begin running a series of exclusive articles going into deeper detail the mechanics of “Operation Cyanide” with an individual who worked in US Intelligence circles and has first-hand knowledge of the events that took place before, during and after June 8^th 1967. What he has to say has never before been published.

Mark Glenn

 Source

Eyewitness to an Act of War…A US Air Force Intelligence Officer Speaks Out About the USS Liberty

 

June 6, 2007 Mark Glenn

 

The outrage in his voice was made all the more striking by his New England accent and Yankee assertiveness that long ago brought about the American Revolution. ‘I couldn’t believe it…One minute, nothing, and then the next minute they were attacking our ship in broad daylight…We had no warning that it was coming, and then ‘boom,’ there it was, and our guys were being slaughtered.’

Like hundreds of other individuals who have particular stories to tell concerning their actions and whereabouts on June 8^th 1967 when the USS Liberty was attacked by the air and naval forces of Israel, Capt. Richard Block’s testimony is noteworthy, but in some respects much more important than others. At that time, he was in command of the 6931^st Security Group of the USAF Security Services stationed on the island of Crete where his job was to act as the eyes and ears of the US intelligence community. What he and the others under his command heard that day obliterates the lie that has been foisted upon the people of the United States for the last 40 years that the attack was all the result of ‘mistaken identity’ and proves beyond any reasonable doubt that it was a deliberate and premeditated act of war.

‘We were getting the translations in real-time’ he said, speaking of the air-to-air and air-to-ground communications taking place between the pilots and C&C (command and control) on the ground in Israel. ‘They knew it was an American ship. We heard it with our own ears, several times. The story they have told for the last 40 yrs about the Liberty being mistaken for another ship is complete bull****.’

Like others who were material witnesses to the act of war that took place that day, Capt. Block was told in crystal clear terms that he was to keep his mouth shut concerning what he saw and heard. Shortly thereafter, individuals unknown to him showed up at his post, gathered up any documentation dealing with the Israeli intercepts and hauled them away to be destroyed. And lest anyone fall victim to the typical business that Israel’s defenders employ when attempting to cover up her crimes–namely that one man’s testimony is ‘insufficient’ evidence in refuting what has been the standard explanation for the last 40 years–keep in mind that he is not alone.

Two other individuals contacted by American Free Press for this story have related circumstances identical to those of Capt. Block, although (for obvious reasons) they insist upon remaining anonymous. According to their statements, they too heard the radio chatter between the Israeli pilots and those on the ground who were giving the orders to attack, and there was no doubt Israel knew unequivocally that it was an American ship and that it was her aim to sink the Liberty and leave no survivors, as dead men tell no tales. One individual interviewed for this piece told American Free Press that ‘bets were made’ amongst the men in his listening post as to which city in Israel was going to get ‘nuked first’ once the President was made aware of what took place.

As far as Capt. Block (who has remained silent these last 3 decades) the event prompting him to speak out was (as in the case of Capt. Ward Boston, chief legal council for the Navy’s Board of Inquiry) the publication of Jay Ahron Cristol’s book ‘The Liberty Incident’ which exculpated Israel of any wrongdoing. When Capt. Block was made aware of the contents in Cristol’s book and heard that the author was going to be at a book signing in a nearby town, he paid him a personal visit to speak his mind. In front of approximately 120 people there that day to hear Cristol run his mouth (including the upper-crust of the town’s intelligentsia and politicians) Capt. Block got up and said that the book was a pack of lies. ‘I was there the day that the Liberty was attacked, and you weren’t’ he told a shocked Cristol, whose drooling support for the Jewish state is well-known. ‘I got the raw milk of the intelligence and all you got was the processed cheese.’

Much to his surprise, nothing ill came of Capt. Block’s confrontation with Cristol. Capt. Block has his theories as to why, namely that right now what the ‘powers that be’ want (during a time when American support for Israel is crucial for her existence) is that no attention be drawn to the events of June 8, 1967. ‘In my opinion’ he told AFP ‘what they want is for all of us to just die off so that the whole Liberty thing will become forgotten history’.

For Capt. Block though, silence is no longer an acceptable option. ‘What I want is justice for those guys. What was done to them was an outrage. Personally I think it was divine providence the ship didn’t sink. I am not interested in any notoriety, just justice…justice for our men and for our flag. The bottom line is that this was an act of war perpetrated against the United States and the American people need to know about it.’

Many theories have been offered over the years concerning Israel’s motives for attacking the USS Liberty that day. Some say it was to cover-up her war crimes in the Sinai desert when she murdered over 250 Egyptian soldiers who had surrendered peaceably. Some say that it was because she was planning to take the Golan Heights in Syria and did not want the news of this impending attack to get out. When asked about what he thought Israel’s motives were, Capt. Block’s answer was simple–That Israel wanted to drag the United States into the war against the Arab countries so that the blood of America’s Christians would be spilled rather than that that of Israel’s Jews.

In interviewing other survivors of the USS Liberty, AFP has learned that some 15 years after the attack, an Israeli pilot approached some of the servicemen (as well as former Congressman Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey) and revealed to them that as the lead pilot in the attack that day he recognized the Liberty as American and informed his headquarters. Nevertheless, he was told to ignore the American flag and continue his attack. As a result of his refusal to do so he was immediately arrested after returning to base. Backing up his damning statements are those of former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dwight Porter who has also stated publicly that the Israeli pilot’s radio transmission was heard by US monitors in the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon.

The attack on the USS Liberty by the air and naval forces of Israel that resulted in the deaths of 34 of America’s young men was as much an act of war against the United States as was the sneak attack on Pearl harbor by the Japanese in 1941. The only difference between the two was that the Japanese did not have the machinery in place at that time to cover it up and lie about it as Israel has for the last 40 years. Rather than justice, what the American people have been given since that time is lies and further involvement in the tangled affairs of a gangster nation founded on duplicity, genocide and a mad thirst for world domination. As a reward for the murder of 34 sailors aboard the Liberty, Israel–rather than being given a declaration of war by the US Congress–has instead been given (by some accounts) over a trillion dollars with which to further endanger the liberty and security of the American people.

‘Better late than never,’ as the old saying goes, and with that in mind, being that the Congress of the United States refuses to execute its duty with respect to protecting and defending the people and interests of the United States, it is high time then that the American people themselves declare that a state of war exists between them and the Jewish state and take all steps necessary in prosecuting this war to a just conclusion. Anything short of this is national suicide, as events taking place today prove on a regular basis.

2007 by Mark Glenn

 Source

In Living Color–Israel’s Attack on America June 8, 1967

On this, the 45th anniversery of the fabricated regime of Israel’s cowardly, brutal and deliberate attack on a United States ship, USS LIBERTY, let us not forget the 34 Americans killed and 171 wounded by America’s “only ally” in the region.

 

 

 

 

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Death in the Afternoon: The USS LIBERTY, Israel and You

Prologue

Forty five years ago on June 8th, 1967, the USS LIBERTY was deliberately attacked by Israel and two thirds of those on board the LIBERTY were either killed or wounded. The cover up began that very day and continues now all these years later. Today’s post commemorates that solemn event and is in three parts.

The third part is by “Cat” who is a long-time supporter of the men of the USS Liberty and who has also produced two haunting songs about what happened on June 8th, 1967. Part 3  is followed by one her songs from youtube. The video and music together will affect the coldest of hearts.

The second part is a partial and lightly-edited transcript of an interview that USS LIBERTY survivor Phil Tourney did recently with a young American veteran of the war in Afghanistan. There’s lots to ponder in their conversation – two ordinary working class Americans neither of whom understood that they were about to be involved in extra-ordinary things nor why.  Lot’s to ponder. If you read nothing else in this post,  read that transcript.

The first part is an excerpt from Phil’s book about the USS LIBERTY entitled What I Saw That Day. It is his own personal account of the attack and its devastating impact on his life and the lives of others ever since.  It also will help explain Skulz’s depiction above of that awful day.

Part 1

As the [Israeli] helicopter hovered over us at about fifty feet above the deck, I could see that my worst suspicions had been proven correct. This was not a rescue helicopter. Instead, like a hornet-swollen hive there were commandos on board, special forces, armed with sub machineguns used for close-quarter combat.

I knew immediately they were not there to give us help. They were here to finish what their fellow assassins had been unable to accomplish. They were going to murder the entire crew of the USS LIBERTY. Then, once we were all dead and they were free to move about as they pleased, they would place explosives in strategic areas of the ship, detonate them and sink us all. The perfect crime, leaving no witnesses.

As the helicopter hovered for a moment, I saw that the troops inside were preparing to board the ship. From no more than 75 feet away, I stood like a dumb-ass in an open doorway where they had a clear shot at me. I locked eyes with one of my would-be assassins who was sitting on the floor of the helicopter. His legs were hanging out and he had one foot on the skid below as he waited for the order to repel down to the ship’s deck and finish us all off.

I stepped out of the hatch and stood on the deck of my battered and bloody ship. I thought about everything that had happened over the course of the last hour or so. My good friend, Francis Brown, his brains splattered all over the bridge. ..David Skolak, who was left in chunks of flesh, bone and internal organs. . .and all the other men whom I had never gotten to meet or know and who were now gone forever.

And so, the only thing I could do in that moment in letting my killers know what I thought about what they had done to my ship, to my friends and to my country, was to give them the finger. The one Israeli with whom I had locked eyes merely chuckled at the sight of something as impotent and harmless as my middle finger in the midst of all his machine gun-toting buddies, he simply smiled and gave me the finger back.

Suddenly, without any apparent reason or warning, the helicopter hauled ass out of there like a vampire being exposed to sunlight. The sight of them scurrying off sent a wave of euphoria through the crew.

Phil Tourney

What I Saw That Day

Part 2

The following partial and lightly-edited transcript is from Phil Tourney’s April 7, 2012 interview with a young sergeant who served in Afghanistan. The interview took place on Phil’s show on RBN. In many ways it is much more important than Phil’s account of the murder and betrayal of Phil’s shipmates on the USS LIBERTY.  This story is one of the many sons (and daughters) of that betrayal.

Phil: Bryce I know that you are a person who went into the United States Army and a young man. What encouraged you to join the army at a time of war?

Bryce: Well, I wanted to serve my country. I wanted to do some good and I also wanted to make myself feel better and hopefully help eradicate who attacked the US.

. . .
Phil:  What were your feelings about going to war in Afghanistan? Were you thrilled, were you happy, were you ready to go?

Bryce: Well my original feelings were that I originally wanted to go to Iraq because that is where all the  hype and the media was – you know  was focusing their – the media attention was on Iraq – so I was a little upset that I didn’t go to Iraq. So I said “Well, you are going to Afghanistan, there’s really not much going on there. [That] was my initial feeling and then when I got there I was immediately reminded that this is still an active war zone and that there is a lot of things happening over there.

Phil: Okay Bryce, I don’t need to go into exactly what your MOS was, what you did. [Note: MOS = Military Occupational Specialty.] But I do know that you stood in, that you went on a lot of missions and you kicked in a lot of doors. Let’s start there. When you first got there did you get an initiation type of thing? Did you get right on the front lines? How did that work for you?

Bryce: Well, when I initially landed and I landed in Bagram, Afghanistan, in the airfield. It was on Christmas Eve, 2008. My first encounter in Afghanistan was the first 15 minutes. We stood on the flight line getting ready to in process into the base. And actually my first encounter there was a fallen soldier. We stood on the flight line and we saluted his body wrapped in an American flag as he drove by. That was my first 10 minutes in the country. . .

Phil: I believe you said you went out of country, excuse me not out of country, but out of Bagram. Where did you go from there?

Bryce: Well I headed south with my unit to a little place called (drops out) in Logar province.

Phil: What was that again Bryce, I didn’t quite get it?

Bryce: It was FOB Shank. [Note: Foward Operating Base Shank in Logar province.]

. . .
Bryce: We got there and it was immediately non-stop action from there.
Phil: Okay, now when you say “non-stop action” I take that to mean that you were pulling a lot of duty, going on missions and doing things like that is that correct?

Bryce: . . . But mainly I mean just the enemy, the rocket attacks,  the IEDs, the small arms fire. You know it was just constant. We would get rocketed three or four times a day.

Phil: . . . How do you know who is the enemy? . . . I can’t imagine the mental strain that was put on you every minute, every hour of the day not knowing who was going to blow you up, if it be a child or an old man or an old woman. How does a person handle that type of pressure?

Bryce: Well Phil the way I did was I treated everybody as the enemy.  I mean there really is no way to tell who is harboring the Taliban or who is the Taliban or who is planting the IEDs at night that you run over or who is shooting at us when we drive by, you know. I mean we did everything we could for those people. We built them a mosque, we gave them humanitarian aid. We’d teach them how to use the weapons, try to build up their army. But at the same time even their army (drops out) are embedded with Taliban. You cannot trust a single person over there. It was really really tough to distinguish friend from foe over there.

Phil: . . . Did you ever do that and try to help the kids? Were they a hindrance or were they helpful? How did that work out for you Bryce?

Bryce: The children actually were terrible. They would come up in hordes, I talking like an entire elementary school back home. They would come just rip every piece of clothing and equipment on you that wasn’t attached.  Then when you leave they throw rocks at you. They throw rocks, they just ask you for a Pepsi or a biscuit. You wanna help them out but at the same time these little kids are even [want] to throw rocks at Americans when they drive by. . .

. . .
Phil: . . . with the Afghan people and Bales. Now as I said before, I don’t condone what he did. As I didn’t condone the Mai Lai massacre . . . In your mind Bryce after being there, what were you there 14, 15 months?

Bryce: I was there for almost 13.

Phil: Okay 13 months in combat. You are a seasoned combat vet. And here we’ve got Bales that had spent three tours in Iraq and then they sent him to Afghanistan when they said they wouldn’t. Can you understand the stress and strain under a person – of his combat experience. Can you understand him going off like that or is there no excuse for it?

Bryce: Well I wouldn’t say there’s no excuse and I can’t say I can understand because being myself a disabled combat veteran I’ve learned that you can never understand what’s in someone else’s head. You know he must have been tormented and I don’t know what was going through his head or how he felt.  But at the same time I don’t condone it and I do feel bad for the guy because he (drops out) such extremes and I feel bad for the families because I’m sure they were innocent civilians – at least some of them. I can’t really say one way or the other. I do feel bad for him but at the same time I don’t know what was going through his head.

. . .
Bryce: I think the army didn’t give him sufficient help. Yes, I think he probably needs a lot of help.

Phil: Yes. Absolutely he needs a lot of help. Absolutely. . . . Now you can answer this if you want to Bryce. Did you kill anybody in the service of your country in Afghanistan?

Bryce: Yes.

Phil: Okay, okay. Uh, How do you feel about that? Does that work on you pretty hard?

Bryce: Um, you know, I ah, I’ve learned to kind of just block it out. and a – try to forget about it but you know there’s um, there’s times where it does bother me yes. Um, you know I guess it’s just part of the process. But it is difficult at times, yes.

Phil: How about your fellow soldiers? What do they feel about Afghanistan? And be as honest as you can Bryce about it. Do they feel it is worth fighting these wars? Or do they feel like hey, we got Obama, Obama – excuse me. Osama bin Laden. And I know who  killed him. I know who killed bin Laden and I’m not going to out the people that did it like the President of the United States and these other people to make headlines because I think it is disgusting, disgraceful, despicable, treasonous and dishonest to out the people that killed this guy. All they would have had to have done was say “Hey, we got him” instead of  instead of bragging about who did it, all for political gain. And not two or three weeks or a month later we lose some of our finest people in the world in a helicopter that was shot down. And I think you’ll agree with that won’t you Bryce?

Bryce: Well I definitely agree that that was a terrible tragedy but I don’t speak for any other soldier than myself. When I was over there the consensus was to kind of put the politics out of your mind because you had your friend to your left and right and yourself to look after. We didn’t really think about really why we were there. We thought about just continuing the mission, completing it and going home safe.

Phil: I understand that. Now that you are home and you are out of the army, I know that you spent 14 or 15 months in the wounded warrior program debriefing yourself back into civilian life.  As a sergeant honorably discharged twice out of the United States Army would you go back and fight in another war for a country that isn’t our country? And I mean that with all sincerity because I believe that in my heart and soul the two wars we were fighting with Iraq and Afghanistan is all for the benefit of Israel.  We have bases all around surrounding Iran right now. And we have our soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen all in harm’s way all for a foreign government.  What are your thoughts on that Bryce?

Bryce: My thoughts are I would not go back for any amount of money. I wouldn’t go back if it was – the only way I would go back to war is if it was on our shores. And meaning who we are fighting for – I can’t really say. But I know it’s not for the United States.

Phil: . . . And did the wounded warrior program after that – was it 15 months you spent in that trying to get yourself back together?
Bryce: It was 17 months.

. . .
Phil: Well Bryce, I honor you for your service. It is a blessing to America to have people like you that go (into) the military and do what they can for their country. What bothers me is when you go into the military and your country puts you in harm’s way as they did me and my shipmates and other people that we don’t even know about, put you in harm’s way to be murdered or slaughtered or blown up or just forgotten about. No I would never do it again either. . .

Bryce: . . . I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and when I was leaving my regular unit for the wounded warrior unit my commanding officer told me that he should have knocked me down to E-1 because I could no longer catch bullets for him.

Phil: Repeat that.

Bryce:  My commanding officer when he (found out) I was leaving his unit for the wounded warrior unit he told me he would have knocked me down to E1 because I could no longer catch bullets for him.

Phil: Boy that’s a nice way to leave army, isn’t it?

Bryce:  Yeah.

Phil: That’s a nice farewell, that’s a very nice farewell. Well, I’ll tell ya, I know your ears are messed up, your legs, your (psyche) and everything else. Bryce remember there’s people out there who love you and care about you   and honor you and respect you and always will – and always will for your service.  As well as all the other people that have served their country, dead, they are long gone, and the people will be long gone after you and I are gone and everybody else that has served this country. Let’s just pray that we don’t have to fight any more wars for Israel. . .

. . .
Phil: . . . What struck was that you said you had to relearn things, learn how to sleep again. How is that going for you?

Bryce: Well, it’s an ongoing battle that I’m dealing with. You know with suicidal tendencies and regrets. You know relationships that I have in my life are being affected. Every aspect of my life is being affected.

. . .
Phil: Welcome back folks. Here we go with the last few minutes of “Your Voice Counts” and I wanted to thank Bryce, Bryce Evan Tourney, my son, for your service, your honor, your dignity. I never knew the day you were born that you would still be fighting the war that I fought back in 1967 but you are. And I honor you son. Stay well, your family loves you and your country appreciates what you do, the country that really cares. Bryce we have another caller . . .

Part 3

Below is a copy of a comment Cat made to an earlier post on this blog. Treason seems to cross generations.

THIS IS A STORY YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CONCERNING THE USS LIBERTY!

http://america-hijacked.com/2012/05/30/john-mccain-calls-american-patriot-a-jerk-for-questioning-him-about-uss-liberty-cover-up/

One Response to “John McCain Confronted About USS Liberty Cover-up Memorial Day 2012”

Cat says:

May 31, 2012 at 12:47 pm

This so-called “heckler” is a true American patriot–who has dedicated a big part of his life–for many years– fighting for the Liberty crew, to get their truths out, and to help them finally get their justice! He was not “heckling”, he was asking a question, and speaking up for the USS Liberty survivors, and for the men that died who cannot speak for themselves!

The only “jerks” in this story are John McCain (http://america-hijacked.com/2011/09/02/john-mccain-praises-fathers-whitewashing-of-israels-attack-on-the-uss-liberty/), and all the people who booed James, didn’t stand up for him or let him ask his question, or tell his story–and also the people in the media who never even bothered to ask what the “heckler” was saying! They know nothing of the USS LIBERTY ATTACK, know nothing of the 34 brave young men who were killed that day, know nothing of the 171+ who were wounded that day (many severely), and they know nothing of the coverup of the attack, and of the threats made to these men if they told what they knew! They have gone through all of these 45 years being ignored, pushed aside, called conspiracy theorists, threatened, and called many other things that these ignorant people use when they are still living under their rocks, who turn away when anyone mentions the Liberty, and those who still stand by Israel–who is fooling and bullying far too many! Lyndon Baines Johnson wanted the Liberty “sunk to the bottom: “Two groups of fighter aircraft were sent to defend the Liberty but unbelievably they were recalled by the White House. The Admiral in Command of the sixth fleet called Washington to confirm the recall order. Secretary of Defense MacNamara came on the line followed by the president himself who told the Admiral, “I want that God-Damn Ship going to the bottom” One of the Navy bigwigs pushing hard for a sanitized Liberty inquiry was none other than Sen. McCain’s father, Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., Commander-in-Chief, Naval Forces Europe. He wanted the investigation done in less than a week. Boston said a “proper inquiry would take at least six months.” Admiral McCain also wouldn’t permit Admiral Kidd to travel to Israel or to contact any potential Israeli witnesses. In fact, according to Boston, the written affidavits of 60 witnesses from the Liberty itself, who were hospitalized at the time of the restricted Inquiry, were also excluded from the final report and not considered as part of the evidentiary record. Boston is convinced, too, that the Israelis’ machine-gunning of the Liberty’s lifeboats, while the crew was trying desperately to assist their colleagues that were seriously wounded, was “a war crime.” Boston said higher ups wanted “to put a lid on everything” concerning the Liberty. THIS IS NOT OLD NEWS OR ANCIENT HISTORY–PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE UP, LEARN ABOUT THE LIBERTY, AND IT IS NOW TIME TO BE GIVEN A LEGAL PROPER INVESTIGATION, INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT ONE THAT WAS DONE IN 1967! THE TIME HAS COME TO GIVE THESE MEN THE JUSTICE THEY HAVE WAITED FOR FAR TOO LONG!!

http://www.thecheers.org/Politics/article_3097_GIVE-US-THE-USS-LIBERTY.html#commentbox

Epilogue

Listen to reed flute, how it tells its tale of separation 

From the Masnavi of Jalal al-Din Rumi

 Source

Gaza: The Shining Sea

Photo Blog by Shuaib Abu Jahal

A glorious sunrise signals a final end to days of stormy weather. The gusting winds gradually begin to die down and then stop completely, as though taking a break along with everyone else after a hard week’s work.

There is a fair amount of early morning activity on the beautiful sandy beach. A group of young people are seated in a circle, a man strolls along the shore accompanied by a young child, and some boys kick a football about. A pleasing sense of calm, gentle weather, and pure air. The sea is indeed Gaza’s lung.

A donkey pulls a cart over the sand. Donkeys and horses abound in Gaza, as conveyors of both passengers and goods. There are carts and horses wherever you go. They are even depicted on traffic signs to alert motorists that they may be crossing. These are no short-term expedients.

■Text from an article by Doha Shams. Continue Reading

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

 

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

(Photo: Shuaib Abu Jahal)

Thaer Halahleh: Making His Own Palestinian Destiny

Thaer Halahleh narrowly skirted death when Israel agreed to a deal that ended his 78-day hunger strike (photo: AFP -Gali Tibbon)

 

By: Antoun Issa, Pascale Menassa

 

Published Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Thaer Halahleh narrowly skirted death when Israel agreed to a deal that ended his 78-day hunger strike, returning home on Tuesday night after languishing behind Israeli bars without charge for over two years.

“I had been in detention for 25 months, and in solitary confinement for 78 days, which is the hunger strike period,” Halahleh, his speech frail after the ordeal, told Al-Akhbar.

There was concern Israel would renege on its promise – as it has so often done in 64 years of its occupation of Palestine – and renew Halahleh's detention once again.

“I threatened the authorities with going on a silent hunger strike in case they didn't release me,” he said.

Israel has already renewed dozens of administrative detention sentences despite having made a deal with 2,000 Palestinian hunger strikers, pledging their release at the end of their current terms.

The Jewish state has also maintained a prohibition on family visits to a number of detainees, again in violation of the deal.

Halahleh's hunger strike has left him weak and thin, but is on the road to recovery.
“I am at al-Khalil hospital and staying there to take the necessary tests. Although I still feel pain when I eat sometimes, I am getting better,” he said.

Thaer, whose name means “rebel”, expressed deep joy at seeing his family, including his two-year-old daughter, Lamar, whom he barely knows thanks to Israel's stringent restrictions on family visits.

“I want to spend time with my only daughter who still doesn't know me and refused to acknowledge my presence until now,” he said bitterly, demonstrating deep resentment at the Israeli occupiers that robbed him of two years of his daughter's life.

But despite winning his own freedom, Halahleh could not contain the sadness at the thought of the many friends he left behind.

“I am overwhelmed with happiness and I am so glad to see my family again with their warm welcome. At the same time, I feel sad to have left my fellow detained brothers who hold the same mission,” he said.

Israel's draconian administrative detention policy dates back to the British mandate era of historic Palestine.

The policy enables Israel to detain Palestinians indefinitely without charge, and without disclosing the evidence supposedly gathered against them.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have slammed the policy as a violation of international humanitarian law.

Hundreds of Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons under the policy, which is just one of the many injustices Palestinian people suffer from under Israeli rule.

Halahleh described the inhumane conditions of the Israeli prison.

“The conditions in the jail were extremely harsh. They aren't fit for a human to live in. I was under the grip of the [Israeli] occupation which has all the means to provoke and pressure me.”

Halahleh has spent much of the past 15 years behind Israeli bars. The first time the 33-year-old was arrested by the Israeli occupation army was just before his senior year in high school.

Due to his frequent arrests and time spent in prison, Halahleh only managed to study for one year at Hebron University. He later managed to open a used furniture store.

He expressed hope in returning to his studies and continuing his furniture store business.

“I still haven't graduated from university. I think I will pursue my Quran and Islamic Sharia studies which I had started before I was detained. I will also handle the management of the furniture store I own,” he said.

Halahleh wrote the following to his daughter on the final days of his hunger strike, concerned that his non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation would take his life.

”My Beloved Lamar, forgive me because the occupation took me away from you, and took away from me the pleasure of witnessing my firstborn child that I have always prayed to God to see, to kiss, to be happy with. It is not your fault; this is our destiny as Palestinian people to have our lives and the lives of our children taken away from us, to be apart from each other and to have a miserable life.”

 

The letter describes the pain that Palestinian people must endure, and the misery Israel is bent on imposing upon them. But in Halahleh's case, his strength won him his freedom.


Source