High Treason on the High Seas: The Betrayal of the USS Liberty
Pawns in the game...
“Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.”
― Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State (1973-1977) & Crypto-Mason
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Amidst the roiling expanse of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the morning of June 8th, 1967 unfolded with a deceptive tranquility for the 293 souls on board the USS Liberty.
The Liberty was an advanced signals intelligence (SIGINT) & research ship of the United States Navy, an inconspicuous player in the unfolding drama of the Six-Day War. In the weeks leading up to her fateful encounter with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the Liberty had been rushed into position by no less than President Johnson himself:
On May 23, 1967, Lyndon Johnson, acting through the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in concert with Robert McNamara, had ordered the Navy spy ship USS Liberty off its routine patrol on the West Coast of Africa and into what they knew would soon be a war zone off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula. At that point, they knew that things were starting to get “out of control,” thus the decision was made to order the Liberty into place on a “rush” basis instead of a more routine process as had been previously planned.
— Remember the Liberty!: Almost Sunk by Treason on the High Seas
At the time, the ship was under the control of Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., the father of future Arizona senator, John McCain.
This rushed journey is one of the many strange and incongruous events in the lead up to the attack on the Liberty, as noted by survivors:
The way we were suddenly ordered to proceed from our scheduled four-day “R&R” and maintenance stop in Abidjan, Ivory Coast after having just arrived there one day before, and being ordered to proceed at best possible speed to Rota, Spain was highly unusual, and alarming to all the crew.
— Ernest A. Gallo, USS Liberty Survivor
At approximately 0600 hours local time on June 8th, and for the next ~8 hours, a dozen Israeli aircraft began surveilling the Liberty: due to flying at 1,000 feet or less, these craft were easily identified by the crew. As the vessel arrived on station on the morning of the 8th, two crucial messages meant for the USS Liberty were mistakenly sent to the Philippines Naval Communication Station. Afterwards, they were forwarded to the Pentagon, intended for relay to Morocco to finally reach the Liberty. The Pentagon once again “mistakenly” misrouted these messages, failing to warn the Liberty to maintain a safe distance from the coastline of an active warzone.
— The patch of the USS Liberty.
— The USS Liberty.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, these serene waters were rent asunder by a calculated blitzkrieg, an attack as savage as it was meticulously orchestrated. The air was suddenly awash with the acrid scent of burning fuel, the coppery tang of blood, and the nauseating stench of human carnage — an hours long assault that belied any claim to mistaken identity or mere military miscalculation.
The Israeli government proffered profuse apologies, claiming the attack as an egregious error. They contended the fog of war had clouded their judgment, leading them to misidentify the Liberty as an Egyptian vessel that was half her size. Despite flying a conspicuous American flag and bearing distinct markings, the Liberty was ensnared in the calamitous jaws of perfidy. The incident was officially designated as a tragic miscalculation, a grievous error borne of the chaos of battle. President Lyndon Johnson downplayed the incident, and Congressional inquiries and naval investigations ensued that brushed the matter under the rug.
The specter of doubt lingers however, shrouded in the mists of time and the labyrinthine corridors of statecraft: they are mists we must delve through in order to arrive at the grim truth of the betrayal of the USS Liberty.
“I want that G-ddamn ship going to the bottom.
No help. Recall the wings.”
— President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Freemason
The USS Liberty was in international waters, flying an 8x5' American flag, and was effectively unarmed. At 1358, the first warplanes appeared on the horizon — unmarked aircraft, yet their origins were unmistakable to the trained eyes of the crew. The initial onslaught commenced as a strafing run of 30mm machine-gun fire raked the Liberty's deck and communications equipment with lethal precision, all whilst napalm bombs turned the ship into a fiery inferno (emphasis mine):
The precision of the later attack could only have been accomplished through such preplanning, specifically identifying the priority targets, starting with the gun mounts to render the ship defenseless, followed by all of the forty-five different radio antennae and related transmitting equipment.
— Remember the Liberty!: Almost Sunk by Treason on the High Seas
The thunderous cacophony of gunfire was soon accompanied by the shrill screams of the injured and the ominous wail of klaxons. Over the next hour, survivors recall at least thirty separate sorties flown against their vessel.
The Israeli fusillades were relentless, bullets piercing steel and flesh alike, transforming the once-proud vessel into a bloody charnel house. The unarmed Liberty was now ensnared in a battle for its very existence, each second an agonizing eternity. Risking his life, seaman Terry Halberdier was strafed with gunfire as he strung fresh communication wires in order for the embattled crew to send their urgent SOS message. He would suffer greatly for his efforts, having to hold in his intestines after an Israeli bullet ripped through his gut. Despite receiving the Liberty’s message, rescue operations were thwarted twice by the highest echelons of power (emphasis mine):
[F]earing conflict with Israel, the White House deliberately prevented the U.S. Navy from coming to the defense of USS Liberty by recalling Sixth Fleet military rescue support while the ship was under attack; evidence of the recall of rescue aircraft is supported by statements of Captain Joe Tully, Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, and Rear Admiral Lawrence Geis, the Sixth Fleet carrier division commander, at the time of the attack; never before in American naval history has a rescue mission been cancelled when an American ship was under attack;
The air was thick with acrid smoke as successive assaults rained devastation upon the unarmed crew: the smell of gunpowder now mingling with the sickly-sweet odor of burning flesh.
The very air now seemed thick with the miasma of death. The cries of the injured, the shouted orders, and the unending drone of the attackers' aircraft formed a cacophony that would haunt survivors long after the physical wounds had healed. Amidst this pandemonium, acts of valor stood out as luminescent beacons of bravery amidst the endless abyss of Israeli barbarity. Men like Chief Petty Officer Francis Brown braved the maelstrom to extinguish fires and rescue his shipmates, epitomizing the indomitable spirit that the USS Liberty’s crew would come to embody.
Men worked frenetically to extinguish fires, stanch the flow of blood, and restore some semblance of order amidst the pandemonium. The Liberty’s doctor, Dr. Richard F. Kiepfer, moved with preternatural calm, his hands slick with the blood of his comrades as he performed triage in conditions that defy comprehension. The wounded were everywhere — men missing limbs, disemboweled, burnt beyond recognition, or writhing in pain from shrapnel wounds. 171 of the 294 man crew would suffer injuries during the attack, with 34 killed in action.
— The aftermath of the Israeli torpedo strike on the hull of the USS Liberty.
Since these aerial bombardments were not sufficient to sink the Liberty, torpedo boats joined the fray at 1500 hours (emphasis mine):
The Star of David flags flying above these boats was quite a surprise and at first, I (again, mistakenly) assumed for a moment that they were there to come to our rescue. The delusion lasted only a minute, because I then saw the splash of several torpedoes that they dropped into the water as they headed toward us. …
We had been sent into that war zone for the purpose of helping them win their war and their payback for our loyalty, and the risks that we had taken to come to their assistance, was to intentionally attack us – clearly to purposely murder all of us – was this? I can’t speak for the rest of the crew, because I can’t read their minds, but for me, the knowledge that this had been done by a friend filled me with seething rage. …
But as angry as I was at the time, it was nothing compared to the anger I felt later, when I learned the terrible truth that we were betrayed not only by Israel, but by the highest levels of our own government.
— Phillip F. Tourney, USS Liberty Survivor
These mechanical predators closed in with methodical precision. Life rafts had been sent overboard to get the most seriously wounded out of harm’s way: Israeli boats machine-gunned these unarmed and wounded men as they closed in on the Liberty and her crew. The first four torpedoes fired at the vessel missed: the fifth torpedo, however, struck with cataclysmic force; a concussive blast that seemed to lift the ship from the water before slamming it back down with a shuddering crash. The detonation's reverberations were felt deep within the Liberty’s hull, as if the very fabric of the ship’s being were crying out in mortal agony.
The explosion wrought untold havoc. Compartments were instantaneously flooded, machinery shattered, and men were literally obliterated where they stood. Once a serene sapphire mirror, the sea now reflected only chaos — a hellish tableau of debris and dismemberment. As survivor Ron Kukal will testify, the torpedo's aftermath was a scene ripped straight from Dante's Inferno: body parts and wreckage mingled in the rush of the briny deep, while the stench of diesel fuel, viscera, and scorched metal permeated the air. Despite all this, the vessel and her crew refused to be broken.
At roughly 1600 hours, the crew spotted helicopters flying towards their ship. Israeli commandos were closing in to finish off their prey, the unarmed crew still desperately trying to break into the arms locker as the helicopters prepared to land. Yet, as abruptly as it began, the attack ceased and Israeli forces fled; leaving the Liberty a smoldering ruin adrift in a sea of unanswered questions. Either the appearance of a Russian ship or incoming American fighters surely saved the Liberty’s crew from an even more gruesome fate at the hands of the IDF.
— Rescue forces close in the USS Liberty. Source: Greg Knowles, USN.
It would take over 18 hours for rescue forces to rendezvous with the Liberty and her wounded crew. Despite there being a drydock at Crete, a day’s journey away, the Liberty was sent to Malta, a 7 days trip — almost assuredly in the hopes that she would sink and take the rest of her secrets with her. Bloodied but unbowed, she would limp towards safety; her remaining crew burdened not only with their physical injuries, but with the heavy yoke of betrayal.
Despite the protestations of the American and Israeli governments, the lies surrounding that day continue to unravel. Admiral Thomas H. Moorer was the Chief of Naval Operations (1967–70) & Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1967-1974) during the Liberty affair. His inquiry in 2004 was marked by a relentless pursuit of truth, seeking to finally unveil the reality of what had transpired in the summer of 67’. His findings are nothing less than damning:
Israel attempted to prevent the Liberty’s radio operators from sending a call for help by jamming American emergency radio channels. Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned lifeboats at close range that had been lowered to rescue the most-seriously wounded. …
US military rescue aircraft were recalled – not once, but twice – through direct intervention by the Johnson administration. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s cancellation of the Navy’s attempt to rescue the Liberty, which I confirmed from the commanders of the aircraft carriers America and Saratoga, was the most disgraceful act I witnessed in my entire military career.
— Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
The jamming of international emergency frequencies by the IDF is a war crime, one of the many perpetrated by Israeli forces on June 8th. Speaking later on the incident, Admiral Moorer poses the most damning question of all: “if the Israelis thought that the frequencies they jammed were broadcast by the Egyptian ship, ‘why did they jam the American frequencies?”
The acrid smoke of that day may have dissipated, but the stench of its treachery lingers, an indelible stain on the conscience of a nation.
“I can tell you for an absolute certainty that the Israelis knew they were attacking an American ship.”
— Oliver Kirby, NSA Deputy Director (1964-68)
The official narrative was swiftly constructed, presenting the attack as a tragic case of mistaken identity. However, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, American officials and intelligence apparatchiks were almost unanimous in their belief that Israel had intentionally attacked the Liberty:
I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn't believe them then, and I don't believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.
— Secretary of State Dean Rusk
...the board of inquiry [concluded] that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the Liberty.
— CIA Director Richard Helms
These statements are entirely incongruent with the Federal government’s public stance: clearly, preconceived outcomes drove initial investigations into this attack. Captain Ward Boston, Jr. was the legal counsel to Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr., the head of the Navy’s first investigative inquiry into the Liberty attack. Under penalty of perjury, Captain Boston reveals who ordered that cover-up:
I know from personal conversations I had with Admiral Kidd that President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of “mistaken identity” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
— Ward Boston, Jr., Captain, JAGC, USN (Ret.) Senior Counsel to the USS Liberty Court of Inquiry
The Executive Branch and the US Navy continue to maintain that this was a horrible accident: a gross whitewashing of the true events which transpired on that fateful day in June.
— Aftermath of the attack on the USS Liberty.
Despite vociferous protestations to the contrary, evidence continues to mount that clearly show Israel’s intentional murder of American servicemen.
During the harrowing onslaught upon the USS Liberty, multiple crew members attested to fleeting glimpses of a periscope amidst the chaos. In February of 1997, a senior officer from the submarine USS Amberjack revealed to survivor Jim Ennes that he had clandestinely observed the entire assault through their periscope. When approached, four crewmen confessed that their proximity to the Liberty was so alarmingly close that they initially feared their own vessel was under attack. Official records from the Department of Defense confirm that, indeed, the Amberjack’s area of operations (AO) was within the territorial waters of the United Arab Republic (Egypt) from April 23rd to July 24th, 1967.
The IDF claimed that it was simply a case of misidentification — Admiral Thomas Moore obliterates that outrageous argument (emphasis mine):
I have never believed that the attack on the USS Liberty was a case of mistaken identity. That is ridiculous. I have flown over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, thousands of hours, searching for ships and identifying all types of ships at sea. The Liberty was the ugliest, strangest looking ship in the U.S. Navy. As a communications intelligence ship, it was sprouting every kind of antenna. It looked like a lobster with all those projections moving every which way. Israel knew perfectly well that the ship was American. After all, the Liberty’s American flag and markings were in full view in perfect visibility for the Israeli aircraft that overflew the ship eight times over a period of nearly eight hours prior to the attack.
— Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
The meticulous nature of the assault, the precision with which the attackers neutralized the Liberty’s communications equipment, and the prolonged duration of the engagement belie any such facile explanations.
Evan Toni, an Israeli fighter pilot who had taken part in the attack on the Liberty, told Congressman Pete McCloskey that he immediately recognized the ship as American. After communicating this information to headquarters, he was instructed to attack the ship regardless. This testimony would eventually be confirmed by the NSA’s revelation of intercepted Israeli communications, showing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this attack was no mere accident.
The captain of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, Captain Joseph Tully, Jr., was haunted by his inability to come to the aid of the Liberty and her crew. In the last years of his life, he would confess to numerous survivors that it was no less than President Johnson who had thwarted their rescue:
[Captain Tully] came up to me, and to several others, and apologized because he couldn’t save us from the onslaught of the IDF. He told me he tried, and then had to recall the planes. My understanding of Captain Tully’s story was that President Johnson knew all about the attack, even before it happened, and that was what had caused Captain Tully great personal grief. He had the look of a man beaten down.
— Ron Kukal, USS Liberty Survivor
Convicted by their conscious, American sailors who witnessed this perfidious betrayal continue to come forward, revealing the depths of the traitorous actions taken by The Regime.
— Battle damage seen on the USS Liberty.
Operation Cyanide remains amongst the starkest example of Machiavellian statecraft in American history.
This clandestine operation was birthed from the sordid union of American and Israeli intelligence, aiming to drag the United States into the Six-Day War through a series of calculated provocations. Uncovered documents reveal that, at least two months prior to the assault, a military committee had been apprised by Brigadier General Ralph D. Steakley (USAF) concerning the status of the broader scheme known as Frontlet 615 (a frontlet is a small, decorative headpiece worn by Jewish men). This was confirmed by the Liberty’s captain, William L. McGonagle, who intimated in the last year of his life that he was aware of a plot beforehand:
“‘Those SOBs [sons of bitches] really did us in, George.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ and then he told me that [it was] the President and McNamara – that he had straight information, through Fort Meade [NSA], that when they sent us up from over in Africa, we were there to have this happen.”
— Remember the Liberty!: Almost Sunk by Treason on the High Seas
Captain McGonagle’s precise role in this affair remains clouded, and with the captain’s passing in 1999, is likely to remain so.
Eyewitness testimonies and declassified documents paint a damning portrait of deception and collusion. The Liberty’s desperate cries for help — deliberately ignored — underscore the callous indifference of those orchestrating this dark opera from amidst the shadows. The presence of the USS Amberjack and the confession of Captain McGonagle further accentuates the intricate layers of this conspiracy. It becomes clear that the USS Liberty was a mere pawn in this grandiose gambit, always meant to be sacrificed on the altar of political ambition.
The attack on the Liberty was in reality a premeditated act of subterfuge designed to incite a larger conflict with Egypt, thus facilitating the broader Zionist agenda.
“President Johnson is not going to go to war or embarrass an American ally over a few sailors.”
— Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense (1961-1968)
The treatment of the survivors of the USS Liberty is without a doubt one of the most shameful episodes in the annals of American military history.
Sent off to die, abandoned during their hour of need, their government would add insult to injury upon their return home. The Liberty’s crew was interrogated by their superiors and threatened into silence, with jailtime “or worse” as a consequence of divulging the true events of that day. Their medals were awarded in secret, and the crew who remained in the service were scattered across the Navy.
Jim Ennes was the first crewmember to break the code of silence with his 1979 book, Assault on the Liberty: The True Story of the Israeli Attack on an American Intelligence Ship. Since 1982, the USS Liberty Veterans Association has kept the memory of their betrayed brethren alive while blowing the whistle on this duplicitous plot:
For 55 years, we've tried to honor the crew, with little to no support from our government, just like the lack of support we received when we were under attack. Our government has tried to cover the entire attack up as a mere accident. Nothing could be further from the truth.
— Larry. L Bowen, USS Liberty Survivor. 'We're Fed Up With It': Survivors of the USS Liberty Look for Answers 55 Years Later
It took forty-two years for Terry Halbardier to receive the Silver Star for his actions that day, the first citation that acknowledged Israel's aggression. At the Naval Academy, Bancroft Hall's memorial honor wall was long absent of the following graduates: Lt. Commander Philip Armstrong and Lt. Stephen Toth. Their deaths were dismissed as "accidental," denying them their rightful recognition until survivors lobbied for their inclusion.
The attack on the USS Liberty, and the continuing conspiracy to silence its survivors, serves as a powerful testimony to the pervasiveness of the Zionist ideology within the halls of power in America. It is an issue which I have expounded on previously, but bears repeating all the same:
Hardly a thing of the past, the Zionist influence upon American politics has become a stranglehold, with AIPAC ready to unleash $100 million in largely untraceable cash to influence the 2024 election. The biggest donor of AIPAC? The Jewish-American billionaire and digital pimp Leonid Radvinsky, the owner of OnlyFans — an enterprise that is tantamount to an online brothel. Amongst the most vociferous defenders of the ongoing Gazan genocide are those who have received the most funding from the Zionist lobby.
Within just the last week, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) has affirmed how deeply embedded this lobby is within DC:
Everybody but me has an AIPAC person… It’s like your babysitter… they basically got a buddy system with somebody who’s representing a foreign country…
[Israel] is the only country that does this.
Months before his death, Admiral Moorer bluntly spoke about what he saw as the largest obstacle to finding justice for the survivors of the Liberty:
I’ve never seen a President … stand up to Israel.
…If the American people understood what a grip these people have on our government, they would rise up in arms.
It is impossible to stress the gravity of the situation we now face. The genocide unfolding in Gaza is only possible with the collusion and support of the US military, a fact which CENTCOM has confirmed is currently ongoing. Whether from survivor testimony, military officials, or intercepted communications, it is demonstrably clear that the American government colluded with the IDF to intentionally sink an American ship in order to draw the US military into Israel’s wars: a scenario that is dangerously close to unfolding once again.
— High Treason, digital art, 2024.
The crew of the Liberty remains the most decorated crew to ever serve on an American naval vessel.
Cpt. William L. McGonagle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the Secretary of the Navy: he remains the only recipient to not have this medal publicly awarded by the President. Two Navy Crosses — the highest combat medal within the US Navy — were awarded. 38 Silver and Bronze Stars & 208 Purple Hearts were awarded. 34 warriors would give the ultimate sacrifice, including:
CT3 William B. Allenbaugh, USN
LCDR Philip M. Armstrong, Jr. USN
SN Gary R. Blanchard, USN
Allen M. Blue, NSA Civilian (CT2 Reserve)
SN Francis Brown, USN
CT2 Ronnie J. Campbell, USN
CT3 Jerry L. Converse, USN
CT2 Robert B. Eisenberg, USN
CT3 Jerry L. Goss, USN
CTI Curtis A. Graves, USN
CTSN Lawrence P. Hayden, USN
CTI Warren E. Hersey, USN
CTSN Alan Higgins, USN
SN Carl L. Hoar, USN
CT2 Richard W. Keene, Jr., USN
CTSN James L. Lenau, USN
CTC Raymond E. Linn, USN
CTI James M. Lupton, USN
CT3 Duane R. Marggraf, USN
CTSN David W. Marlborough, USN
CT2 Anthony P. Mendle, USN
CTSN Carl C. Nygren, USN
LT James C. Pierce, USN
ICFN David Skolak, USN
CTI John C. Smith, Jr., USN
CTC Melvin D. Smith, USN
PC2 John C. Spicher, USN
GMG3 Alexander N. Thompson, Jr., USN
CT3 Thomas R. Thornton, USN
CT3 Philippe C. Tiedtke, USN
LT Stephen S. Toth, USN
CTI Frederick J. Walton, USN
Sgt. Jack L. Raper, USMC
Cpl. Edward E. Rehmeyer, USMC
Since the end of World War II, the attack on the USS Liberty remains the deadliest naval assault upon American forces, with a casualty rate of nearly 70%.
Unlike any other attack on a Navy vessel, there has never been an official congressional investigation into the unprovoked attack of the USS Liberty.
“In attacking the USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States….
Those men were then betrayed and left to die by our own government.”
— Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
Further Research
Remember the Liberty!: Almost Sunk by Treason on the High Seas by Phillip F. Nelson
Erasing the Liberty: The Battle to Keep Alive the Memory of Israel’s Massacre on the USS Liberty by Phillip F. Tourney w/ David R. Gahary
The Attack on the Liberty: The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on A U.S. Spy Ship by James M. Scott
Blood in the Water: How the US and Israel Conspired to Ambush the USS Liberty by Joan Mellen
Every time I read about this my body reels. Scipio is both brave and on point to call this out because it is easy to want to avoid the pain.
I would like to take this chance to look at 2 quotes in the post;
-"I’ve never seen a President … stand up to Israel".
-"Those men were then betrayed and left to die by our own government.”
👉The Israeli Gov’t is not beholden to the Israeli people, and the US government is not beholden to Americans, there is no standing up to nor betrayal if you realize these structures are all invalid representations of their constituents and part of the same world crime syndicate-the entire system needs to be deconstructed.
Operation Gladio and the Liberty were the conspiracies that first cracked my eyes open 😳