NOVANEWS
By Victor Thorn
Despite receiving a cold shoulder from the Navy, State Department and Congress in regard to conducting an authentic investigation of Israel’s murderous 1967 attack on the USSLiberty, survivor Phil Tourney acknowledged a longtime ally.
“Ever since Willis Carto paid my way to speak at a conference in Washington sometime around 23 or 24 years ago, we’ve been friends,” said Tourney. “AFP and The Spotlight have been some of the only people to ever help us. They’ve always been—bar none—our strongest supporters.”
During a March 21 interview with this writer, Tourney described how he’s been brushed off for the past 30 years. Once, at a 2003 State Department conference that had cover-up artist Jay Cristol and three other Jewish individuals on its panel—as well as author James Bamford—Tourney rose to address the speakers during a question-and-answer session. But instead of hearing him out, the organizers cut off Tourney’s microphone. When other attendees objected, demanding, “Let him speak,” the conference abruptly ended.
“It was one of the biggest disappointments of my life,” Tourney confided. Fortunately, there did exist a silver lining, as Phil explained. “10 minutes before the conference began, Bamford received a faxed letter from Capt. Ward Boston, who said the naval investigation was a sham. In essence, Boston insisted that our crewmen were left out there to die in order to protect Israel.”
The 45-year news blackout extends all the way to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Tourney told AFP, “His father, John McCain Sr., demanded that Boston could not speak to any of the IDF pilots or torpedo captains.”
At this same conference, Tourney told of how the State Department’s Marc Susser repeatedly pushed the Board of Inquiry’s “mistaken identity” angle by claiming that Israel thought Liberty was actually an out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier, the El Quseir.
Of course, legitimate researchers have debunked this smokescreen long ago. Or, as Boston wrote in his October 2003 affidavit: “The evidence was clear. Both Adm. Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American sailors and injured 172 others, was a deliberate attack to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew.”
Despite the obstacles facing him, Tourney still refuses to quit. “I wrote to Colin Powell, but never heard back from him. This government right now is beholden to Israel, more than it’s ever been. The ADL and AIPAC are very demanding. They put a lot of pressure on Congress. Everyone is afraid to push back. At a USS Liberty Memorial Library ceremony, the Navy wouldn’t even send a color guard. A SWAT team had to protect the Liberty crewmen because they thought someone would kill them.”
Sadly, time is running out for these brave men.
“We’re getting older,” Tourney stressed, “and the government is just waiting for us to die off.”
