Brian’s Column: The (USS) Liberty Meme

Probably a major tool to hard stop the Men of the Power Sickness
By Brian R. Wright

Many of my readers know I have taken up another vital cause recently, at least to the extent of spreading the word for truth and encouraging justice for all parties: the USS Liberty incident of June 8, 1967… this being the 50-year anniversary of the blatant Israeli war crime that officials in Washington and their Israeli masters have hushed up. Let me first give you the context for further reading and viewing, then make the killer meme proposal and offer reasons why such a meme does promise to be killer:

Basically, I’ve done a lot of reading and writing, and discovery, so far, on the USS Liberty incident, and am in the process of becoming even more knowledgeable on the subject. Moreover, I have my own life’s mission and self-created universe in progress represented in my work and writings on the http://global-spring.org site. As individuals self-liberate by raising themselves as Independents—ref. my novel, The Truman Prophecy—it will be necessary to put an end to the Men of the Power Sickness (MOPS) once and for all. Continue reading

Book Review: Assault on the Liberty (1979)

The true story of the Israeli attack on an American intelligence ship
By James M. Ennes, Jr. (Fourth edition, Raintree, 2013)
Reviewed by Brian R. Wright

This is the second full book[1] I’ve read since coming into the fray of justice for the USS Liberty—justice (and recognition) for its victims and justice (and retribution) for its perpetrators—only recently. [I became aware in March or April of this year, 2017, that the 50th anniversary of the deliberate, unprovoked attack on the ship by the Israeli armed forces on June 8, 1967 was coming right up. I kicked myself for never adequately paying attention to the reality of this horrific war crime against American servicemen and resolved to catch up and pitch in to the cause.]

I’ve gotten to the point of having actually made a presentation to my local Oakland County, Michi-gan, Campaign for Liberty group. Video here courtesy John Irvine productions. [The online pdf of the presentation from which you may derive many useful links for further research is located here.] Further, from June 8-10, 2017, I attended the 50th anniversary event in Norfolk, Virginia, meeting several of the survivors and other supporters. I am working on a followup presentation to the C4L group, on that event, to which I shall provide links, when finished.

Assault is the first and, arguably, the most authoritative of the books on what happened that fateful day. The Liberty was an intelligence gathering ship, with a crew of 294 total, of which a major portion was devoted to secret or at least confidential intelligence work, mainly communications. Ennes was higher-level officer on the intelligence side, who had important line responsibilities for ship personnel and navigation. He was seriously injured during the initial strafing of the Liberty, and drew most of his information from extensive interviews with officers and crew, also from research with official agencies, libraries, and other public sources. Continue reading

Book Review: Attack on the Liberty (2009)

The untold story of the Israel’s deadly 1967 assault on a US spy ship
By James Scott, Reviewed by Brian R. Wright

From the Amazon product description:

“Notorious incident: In 1967 the spy ship USS Liberty was attacked by Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats in international waters during the Six-Day War. Thirty-four sailors were killed and more than 170 wounded, many critically. Israel claimed mistaken identity, which a U.S. naval court of inquiry confirmed, but that explanation is contradicted by the facts of the case.

“Based on new revelations: James Scott has interviewed Liberty survivors, senior U.S. political and intelligence officials, and examined newly declassified documents in Israel and the United States to write this comprehensive, dramatic account. He reveals that officers in Israel’s chain of command were aware of the Liberty’ s identity and shows how events in Vietnam prompted the American government to deemphasize the attack despite widespread disbelief of Israel’s story.

“The son of an attack survivor: Scott’s father, John, was an officer and engineer aboard the Liberty who was awarded the Silver Star for helping to save the ship from sinking.”

Review

I very much appreciate Scott’s book, and though I haven’t yet read all of the key books about the USS Liberty (Liberty), it is certainly among the best written, Scott’s journalism credentials show—Journalist of the Year per South Carolina Press Association in 2003. His descriptive prose on the attacks themselves shines: Continue reading