Book Seeks Answers to 1967 Israeli Attack On U.S. Spy Ship

Miami Herald ^ | July 14, 2002 | Elinor Brecher

[gdani]

What really happened to the United States spy ship Liberty during the Six Day War?

Federal bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol never gave it much thought until he started dabbling in international studies at the University of Miami in 1986.

One of his professors suggested that as a former U.S. Navy lawyer and combat flier, Cristol might be ideally suited to write about the tragic incident 19 years earlier, when an Israeli fighter jet attacked the Liberty in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula.

[gdani]

I look forward to reading his book to see what he has to say.

I notice that he interviewed Rusk which I found interesting because I think Rusk is among the (now former) government officials who think Israel's actions were deliberate.

[Thane_Banquo]

The problem with the belief that the Liberty attack was deliberate is that no one has ever provided a motive backed up by independent sources and evidence.

[dennisw]

Where are the books investigating the Muslims who blew up the Marine barracks in Lebanon and killed 250 US marines? No one seems to give a crap about this.

Israel requested the US Liberty to leave but it never left. Israel considered the ship a spy ship that was sending intel to Washington that was somehow getting into enemy hands. Enemy being Syria and Egypt who were at war with Israel. Washington was also trying to force Israel into premature cease fire.....

Israel did what it wanted and ended up with the Golan Heights and more. Many Israelis died in this war that gave Israel much needed strategic depth.

[gdani]

The problem with the belief that the Liberty attack was deliberate is that no one has ever provided a motive backed up by independent sources and evidence.

There was a book released not too long ago that claimed that a U.S. plane with eavesdropping technology picked up Israeli communications that show they knew they were targeting a U.S. ship. However, I don't believe the source for the allegation was named in the book which presents obvious problems.

[NoLongerLurker]

The official Israeli line is that it was mis-identification. However, one interesting book (Secret War Against the Jews, by Loftus and Aarons) suggests that the Liberty was monitoring Israeli Army radio traffic in the Sinai and that an analysis of this, done by the British Middle East listening post in Cyprus, was reaching the Egyptians. According to these authors, this information was relayed to the Israelis by a spy they had in the Egyptian high command.

By the way, the above mentioned book is a virtual encyclopedia of intelligence matters relating to the Middle East. It takes a particularly pro-Israel position on everything, but I suspect that most of what is in there is true. This radio traffic analysis was telling the Egyptians which units were being pulled out of the Sinai and sent to the Syrian front. It was also telling the Egyptians where the holes in the Israeli line were opening. The Israelis supposedly asked the U.S. to pull out the Liberty, but they eventually attacked it when it became apparent that it was staying in the area.

The upshot of this was that the Egyptians, who had resisted all armistice efforts in the UN, sued for peace within twenty minutes of the attack on the Liberty. Also, the Egyptians did indeed identify a high ranking officer as an Israeli spy and executed him after the war.

This is the only explanation that makes sense to me because it explains why the Israelis might have decided to attack an American ship (which was flying an American flag and was clearly identifiable) and risk having to fight the U.S. air forces in the area at a time that they were already at war with three Arab countries. And it also explains why President Johnson ordered our carriers in the area to NOT come to the aid of the Liberty, since it would have been embarrassing for it to eventually come out that the U.S. ship had been involved in spying on behalf of the Egyptians.

[NoLongerLurker]

Please excuse the mis-placement of paragraphs in my previous post.

[spqrzilla9]

...(which was flying an American flag and was clearly identifiable)

As if the Liberty would have been the first ship mistakenly identified and attacked. Geez, read some history.

[SJackson]

I'll post a link to the article. If I'm not mistaken, the author, a former Navy lawyer and combat pilot as well as a judge, concludes that the USS Liberty was a victim of friendly fire, and that the idea that it was deliberate defies reason. His conclusion only, of course.

Book seeks answers to '67 Israeli attack on U.S. spy ship

[Numbers Guy]

Israel requested the US Liberty to leave but it never left. Israel considered the ship a spy ship that was sending intel to Washington that was somehow getting into enemy hands. Enemy being Syria and Egypt who were at war with Israel.

I'm about as pro-Zionist as anyone, but that's no justification for attacking, without warning, a ship of a non-combatant country. I'd like to see you explain to the families of the dead Americans why their deaths were justified if this indeed was a deliberate attack on an American target.

[Honestfreedom]

The idea that the US was actively siding with the Egyptians by providing intelligence data at the expense of Israel is an outrageous charge to make against the USA without proof.

[Hugin]

Personally I believe the evidence suggests it was a deliberate attack for the reasons stated by NoLongerLurker above. I think it was covered up because the Johnson adminstration did not want it known that they were leaking info to Egypt. Plenty of blame to go around between both Johnson and the Israeli leaders, primarily Golda Mier and Moshe Dyan. However since they are all dead now, I don't know what purpose flogging this partiular dead equine is going to accomplish.

[RCW2001]

FYI..

If you want to be added or removed from this "U.S.S LIBERTY" ping list...FREEPmail me.

[spqrzilla9]

If the ship was actually providing intelligence regarding troop movements to the Egyptians - a tale I do not believe - then it is not a "non-combatant" anymore but a legitimate target.

[AppyPappy]

If it was deliberate, why didn't the US government do something about it?

[Numbers Guy]

If the ship was actually providing intelligence regarding troop movements to the Egyptians - a tale I do not believe - then it is not a "non-combatant" anymore but a legitimate target.

And if I had some ham I'd have a ham sandwich, if I had some bread too.

[Scuttlebutt]

"If it was deliberate, why didn't the US government do something about it?"

You must have been smiling as you typed that because nobody could possibly ask that question with a straight face.

[Middle Man]

"[Cristol] says 'virulently anti-Semitic organizations' like the Liberty Lobby continue to 'fan the fires' about the Liberty to smear Israel..."

This statement alone makes the good judge's conclusions suspect. He doesn't sound from this quote like an impartial seeker of truth.

[griffin]

Bump

[spqrzilla9]

Your posting assumed that the tale was correct and then claimed that such didn't justify the attack. Given that assumption, you would be wrong. Ham sandwich or no.

[gdani]

"[Cristol] says 'virulently anti-Semitic organizations' like the Liberty Lobby continue to 'fan the fires' about the Liberty to smear Israel..."

This statement alone makes the good judge's conclusions suspect. He doesn't sound from this quote like an impartial seeker of truth.

That and a couple of other things in the article struck me the same way. Nonetheless, I will pick up his book & read through it as I find the USS Liberty incident fascinating and an incredibly overlooked piece of (relatively) recent U.S. history