Holocaust on the High Seas

<p>Phil Tourney provides an eyewitness account of Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS <em>Liberty</em>. While patrolling in international waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea on June 8 1967 the unarmed intelligence-gathering vessel confronted an enemy they never expected: Israel. In an unprovoked and vicious attack unmarked Israeli jets pounded the <em>Liberty</em> with cannon fire rockets and napalm while the American crew tried to make sense of what was happening as their friends and shipmates were blown apart by the Zionist state’s weaponry. After the jets murdered nine helpless Americans Israeli motor torpedo boats (MTBs) moved in for the kill firing machine guns and launching five torpedoes with one hitting its mark instantly blasting apart 25 <em>Liberty</em> crewmen. The MTBs continued firing upon the damaged ship hoping the hit the boilers as those aboard were unsure if they were on their way to a watery grave as the massive hole in the <em>Liberty</em> continued to let tons seawater in. Expending their ammunition the MTBs retreated and a new armed adversary approached the stricken vessel: Israeli troop helicopters with commandos aboard to finish the job. All the while the nearby U.S. Sixth Fleet hearing the <em>Liberty</em>’s cries for help launched fighter aircraft only to be recalled by the White House.</p>