USS Liberty incident 32071 225103393 2008-07-11T22:03:55Z Zorrobot 7218328 robot Modifying: [[he:תקרית ליברטי]] {{Refimprove|date=November 2007}} [[Image:USS Liberty.jpg|thumb|Help arrives next day after the Israeli attack on USS ''Liberty''.]] The '''USS ''Liberty'' incident''' was an [[attack]] on a [[U.S. Navy]] [[technical research ship]], [[USS Liberty (AGTR-5)|USS ''Liberty'']], in [[international waters]] [[north]] of the northern [[Sinai Peninsula]] [[coast]], about 25.5 [[nautical mile]]s [[northwest]] of the [[minaret]] at [[El Arish]]<ref>http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/liber00010.pdf</ref>(p.26), by [[Israeli Air Force|Israeli]] fighter planes and [[torpedo boat]]s on [[June 8]], [[1967]], during the [[Six-Day War]]. The attack, which killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded at least 173, was the second deadliest against a U.S. Naval vessel since the end of [[World War II]], surpassed only by the Iraqi [[Exocet]] missile attack on the [[USS Stark (FFG-31)|USS ''Stark'']] on [[May 17]], [[1987]], and marked the single greatest loss of life by the [[U.S. intelligence community]]. Shortly after the attack ended, Israel informed the U.S. that its forces had attacked the Liberty in error. An Israeli Board of Inquiry determined that the attack was caused by a chain of "misunderstandings and errors" by Israel Defense Force (IDF) personnel "during the course of hostilities." <ref name=IDFhistory>http://thelibertyincident.com/docs/israeli/IDF-history-report-en.pdf IDF History Report</ref>(p.20) The IDF says it asked the [[United States]] to inform them of any U.S. ships in the area but was not told of the ''Liberty's'' presence.<ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.22) The IDF air and naval forces, respectively, misidentified the ''Liberty'' as an unknown destroyer and the Egyptian cargo ship ''El Quseir''.<ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.15) Supporters of Israel's explanation say that no credible motive existed for Israel to initiate a surprise attack against an important ally and the possibility of such mistakes were inherent in the tense atmosphere of the [[Six-Day War]]. The United States government was concerned about such dangers and ordered the ''Liberty'' further away from shore but the order was not received in time due to a series of communication failures.<ref>http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/liber00010.pdf</ref>(p.21ff) The IDF report points out that "though the attack on the armed forces of a friendly nation is a most regrettable and painful occurrence, incidents of this kind do occur in war-time."<ref name=IDFhistory/> (p.38). ''See'' [[friendly fire|friendly fire incident]]. Others claim that the attack was premeditated and deliberate. They note that the ''Liberty'' was more than twice as large as the ''El Quseir,'' and was clearly designated with Latin rather than Arabic letters, and clearly displaying the American flag. Proponents include the surviving Liberty crewmen, <ref>"The surviving Liberty crewmen . . . believed the attack was deliberate." *[http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.magDtl&dtl=3&mid=2639 Mission Memorial: Remembering the USS Liberty] from the [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]] Magazine, June/July 2005.</ref> and some former U.S. government officials, including then-[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] director [[Richard Helms]] and then-[[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Dean Rusk]] as well as Admiral [[Thomas Hinman Moorer]], former [[Chief of Naval Operations]] and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both the Israeli and American governments conducted multiple inquiries into the incident, and issued reports concluding that the attack was a tragic mistake, caused by confusion about the identity of the USS ''Liberty''. On [[December 17]], [[1987]], the issue was officially closed by the two governments through an exchange of diplomatic notes. Israel eventually paid nearly [[United States dollar|US$]]13 million in humanitarian reparations to the United States and in compensation to the families of the victims.<ref>Bard, Mitchell. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/liberty.html The USS Liberty], [[Jewish Virtual Library]]. Retrieved January 29, 2008.</ref> The conclusions reached in these reports remain controversial, and some veterans and intelligence officials who were involved in the incident continue to dispute the official story.<ref name=trib>Crewdson, John. "[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,66005.story?page=1 New revelations in attack on American spy ship]". ''Chicago Tribune'', October 2, 2007.</ref> ==The attack on the ''Liberty''== USS ''Liberty'' was originally the 7,725-ton (light) civilian cargo vessel ''Simmons Victory'' (a mass-produced, standard-design [[Victory Ship]], the follow-on series to the famous [[Liberty Ship]]s which supplied the United Kingdom and Allied troops with cargo). She was acquired by the [[United States Navy]], converted to an [[AGTR|Auxiliary Technical Research Ship]] (AGTR), and began her first deployment in 1965, to waters off the west coast of [[Africa]]. She carried out several more operations during the next two years. ===Events leading up to the attack=== During the [[Six-Day War]] between [[Israel]] and the Arab nations, ''Liberty'' was sent to collect [[ELINT|electronic intelligence]] in the eastern [[Mediterranean]]. Due to concerns about her safety, several messages were sent to ''Liberty'' to change her allowable closest point of approach (CPA) to Egypt's and Israel's coasts from 12.5 nautical miles (23 km) and 6.5 nautical miles (12 km), respectively, to 20 nautical miles (37 km) and 15 nautical miles (17 km), and then later to 100 nautical miles (185 km) for both countries. Unfortunately, due to message handling and routing mistakes, the CPA change messages were not received until after the attack. On [[June 5]], at the start of the war, General [[Yitzhak Rabin]] (then IDF [[Ramatkal|Chief of Staff]]) informed Commander [[Ernest Carl Castle]], the American Naval Attaché in [[Tel Aviv]], that Israel would defend its coast with every means at its disposal, including sinking unidentified ships. He asked the U.S. to keep it ships away from the shore or at least inform Israel of their exact position.<ref name=IDFhistory/> (p.22) <ref>"The failure of the Israeli navy's attacks on Egyptian and Syrian ports early in the war did little to assuage Israel's fears. Consequently, the IDF Chief of Staff, Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, informed the U.S. Naval Attaché in Tel Aviv, Cmdr. Ernest Carl Castle, that Israel would defend its coast with every means at its disposal. Unidentified vessels would be sunk, Rabin advised; the United States should either acknowledge its ships in the area or remove them. Nonetheless, the Americans provided Israel with no information on the ''Liberty''. The United States had also rejected Israel's request for a formal naval liaison. On May 31, Avraham Harman, Israel's ambassador to Washington, had warned Under Secretary of State Eugene V. Rostow that if war breaks out, we would have no telephone number to call, no code for plane recognition, and no way to get in touch with the U.S. Sixth Fleet.'" [[Michael Oren|Oren, Michael B.]] [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/liberty1.html The ''USS Liberty'': Case Closed], ''Azure'', Spring 5760 / 2000, No. 9.</ref> Despite this, the United States did not give Israel any information about the ''Liberty'', which was by now in the eastern Mediterranean. (ibid). As war broke out Captain [[William McGonagle|William L. McGonagle]] of the ''Liberty'' immediately asked Vice Admiral William I. Martin at the [[U.S. 6th Fleet]] headquarters to send a destroyer to accompany the ''Liberty'' and serve as its armed escort and as an auxiliary communications center. The following day, [[June 6]], Admiral Martin replied: “Liberty is a clearly marked United States ship in international waters, not a participant in the conflict and not a reasonable subject for attack by any nation. Request denied.” He promised, however, that in the unlikely event of an inadvertent attack, jet fighters from the Sixth Fleet could be overhead in ten minutes. Meanwhile, at the [[United Nations]], United States Ambassador Goldberg announced, in response to Arab complaints that the U.S. and British were supporting Israel in the conflict, that the U.S. forces were hundreds of miles from the conflict.<ref name=NSAreport>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB24/nsa10.pdf Attack on a SIGINT Collector, the USS ''Liberty''] by William D. Gerhard and Henry W. Millington, National Security Agency, 1981. Originally Top Secret Umbra, partially declassified 1999, 2003.</ref>(p.21) At the time the statement was made, this was the case, since the ''Liberty'' was just entering the Mediterranean Sea <ref name=NSAreport/> but would ultimately steam to within a few miles of the Sinai Peninsula. On the night of June 7 Washington time, early morning on June 8, 0110[[Coordinated Universal Time|Z]] or 3:10 AM local time, the Pentagon issued an order to Sixth Fleet headquarters to tell the ''Liberty'' to come no closer than 100 nautical miles (185 km) to Israel, Syria, or the Sinai coast (Oren, p. 263). [http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/51668/3084841.pdf](pages 5 and Exhibit N, page 58). According to the Naval Court of Inquiry [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CourtOfInquiry.pdf] (page 23 ff, p. 111 ff) and National Security Agency official history <ref name=NSAreport/> (pp. 21-23), the order to withdraw was not broadcast on the frequencies that the Liberty crew was monitoring for orders until 1525 [[Coordinated Universal Time|Zulu]], hours after the attack, due to a long series of administrative and communications problems. The Navy said a large volume of unrelated high-precedence traffic, including intelligence intercepts related to the conflict, was being handled at the time and it also faulted a shortage of qualified radio men as a contributing factor to the failure to send the withdrawal message to ''Liberty'' in time.[http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CourtOfInquiry.pdf] (p.111 ff) During the morning of the attack, early [[June 8]], the ship was overflown by several [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF) aircraft including a [[Nord Noratlas]] "flying boxcar" and [[Mirage III]] jet fighters. <ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.7)<ref name=NSAreport/>(p.25) At least some of those flybys were from a close range. At 6:03 a.m. Sinai time ([[GMT]] +2) that morning, the Nord identified the ship as a U.S. supply ship. After the Nord landed and its naval observer was debriefed, the ship was further identified the USS ''Liberty'' based its "GTR-5" markings. Many ''Liberty'' crewmen gave testimony that one of the aircraft flew so close to ''Liberty'' that its propellers rattled the deck plating of the ship, and the pilots waved to the crew of ''Liberty'', and the crewmen waved back. The ship was marked as a neutral vessel on Israel's Central Coastal Command plot board, but at 11 am the ship was removed from the plot because information on its position was stale. At this time, the ship was readying to turn south towards the coast of the [[Sinai Peninsula]] from its previous eastern direction. According to author James Bamford, it would then turn east and patrol at 5 knots (9 km/h) in international waters, 13 nautical miles (23 km) off the Sinai Peninsula near El-Arish, just outside Egypt's [[territorial waters]]. [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CourtOfInquiry.pdf] This course took the ''Liberty'' approximately 45 kilometers from its last sighting by IAF pilots by 2 p.m. At 11:24, the Central Coastal Command received the first of several reports that El Arish, on the Sinai coast near the ''Liberty's'' position, was being shelled from the sea, and half an hour later sent three torpedo boats to investigate. At 1341, the boats detected a target on radar. Two boats independently calculated its speed as 28 and 30 knots, suggesting a combat ship, though, in fact, the ''Liberty'' was not capable of anywhere near that speed. <ref name=IDFhistory/> (p.8 ff) At 13:48 an air attack was ordered.<ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.12) ===The air and sea attacks=== Beginning about 2 p.m. the ''Liberty'' was attacked by several IAF aircraft, initially by two Mirage IIIs, firing cannon and rockets<ref name=NSAreport/> (p.26), followed by two [[Dassault Mystere]]s carrying [[napalm]]. One napalm bomb hit the ship.<ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.13) The leader of the Mirage formation identified the ship as a [[destroyer]], mistaking an antenna on its bow for a gun. After a series of passes by aircraft, one Israeli pilot, Rabin, who wondered why the ''Liberty'' had not returned fire, made a close pass and noted that the ship had Western, not Arabic, lettering. Rabin immediately feared that the ship was Soviet and ordered the planes and a three torpedo boat squadron which had been ordered into the area, to withhold fire pending positive identification of the ship, and sent in two helicopters to search for survivors. These radio communications were recorded by Israel. However, although the order was recorded in the ship's log, the commander of the torpedo boat squadron claimed never to have received it.<ref>"While Egyptian naval ships were known to disguise their identities with Western markings, they usually displayed Arabic letters and numbers only. The fact that the ship had Western markings led Rabin to fear that it was Soviet, and he immediately called off the jets. Two IAF Hornet helicopters were sent to look for survivors - Spector had reported seeing men overboard - while the torpedo boat squadron was ordered to hold its fire pending further attempts at identification. Though that order was recorded in the torpedo boat's log, Oren claimed he never received it." [[Michael Oren|Oren, Michael B.]] [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/liberty1.html The ''USS Liberty'': Case Closed], ''Azure'', Spring 5760 / 2000, No. 9.</ref> However, when the commander of torpedo boats could see the ''Liberty'', he immediately realized the ship was not a destroyer and ordered the attack stopped pending better identification "although this was difficult due to the billowing clouds of smoke which enveloped the vessel; only her bow, part of her bridge and the tip of her mast could be discerned." The commander attempted to signal the ship but got a reply asking him to identify himself. He also observed gun fire from the ship. He consulted an Israeli identification guide to Arab fleets and concluded the ship was the Egyptian supply ship ''El Quseir.'' Another of his boat captains reached the same conclusion. <ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.16) Based on that identification, the gun fire and what he considered an evasive response to his signal, the commander ordered the attack to proceed.(ibid. p.17) [[Image:u123754.jpg|thumb|''Liberty'' turns to evade Israeli torpedo boats.]] According to Captain McGonagle, commander of the ''Liberty,'' about twenty minutes after the aircraft attack, three torpedo boats approached bearing Israeli flags and identification signs. Initially, McGonagle, who perceived that the torpedo boats "were approaching the ship in a torpedo launch attitude,"[http://www.ussliberty.org/torpedo.htm] ordered a 0.50 caliber machine gun to fire on the boats. After recognizing the Israeli standard and seeing apparent [[Morse code]] signalling attempts by one of the boats (but being unable to see what was being sent, due to the smoke of the fire started by the earlier aircraft attack), McGonagle gave the order to cease fire. This order was apparently misunderstood in the confusion, and two 0.50 caliber machine guns on the USS ''Liberty'' again opened fire. One gun was fired accidentally due to exploding ammunition (Oren, 267). Subsequently, the Israeli boats responded with gun fire and launched five torpedoes at ''Liberty'' <ref name=IDFhistory/>(p.17). One hit ''Liberty'' on the [[starboard]] side forward of the superstructure, creating a 36 X {{convert|24|ft|m|sing=on}} hole in what had been a former cargo hold converted to the ships research spaces and killing 25 servicemen. That torpedo hit a main brace which absorbed much of the energy, crew members reported that if the torpedo had missed the brace the Liberty would have split in two. Russian linguist and Staff Sergeant Marine Bryce Lockwood later was to comment "I would never deny that it was God that kept the LIBERTY afloat!".<ref name=trib /> Most of the U.S. deaths and injuries in the incident were caused by the torpedo attack after the USS Liberty fired on the Israeli ships. According to some witnesses the torpedo boats then approached ''Liberty'' and [[strafe]]d crewmen (including damage control parties and sailors preparing life rafts for launch) on deck. (See [[#Details in dispute|disputed details below]].) ===Aftermath of the attack=== When the ship was confirmed to have been American, the torpedo boats returned to offer help; it was refused by the American ship. At about 4 pm, two hours after the attack began, Israel informed the U.S. embassy in [[Tel Aviv]] about the incident and later provided a helicopter to fly a U.S. naval attaché to the ship.<ref name=NSAreport/>(pp.32,34) Though ''Liberty'' was severely damaged, with a 39 foot wide by 24 foot high hole and a twisted keel, her crew kept her afloat, and she was able to leave the area under her own power. She was escorted to [[Malta]] by units of the U.S. 6th Fleet and was there given interim repairs. After these were completed in July 1967, ''Liberty'' returned to the United States. She was decommissioned in June 1968 and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]]. ''Liberty'' was transferred to [[United States Maritime Administration]] (MARAD) in December 1970 and sold for scrap in 1973. McGonagle received the [[Medal of Honor]], the highest U.S. medal, for his actions. It was awarded at the Washington Navy Yard by the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]].<ref>[http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0398/9803026.html Even as USS ''Liberty''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Heroic Captain Receives New Honor, Coverup of Israeli Attack on His Ship Continues], ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'', March 1998 Issue, Pages 26, 88</ref><ref>[http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/moh/moh20.htm#mcgonagle Navy Medal of Honor: Vietnam War (era) 1964-1975, citation for Captain William L. McGonagle, U.S. Navy], accessed [[May 15]], [[2006]]</ref> The Medal of Honor is generally presented by the [[President of the United States]] in the White House. This was not to be the case for the USS ''Liberty'' recipient.<ref>[http://www.cmohs.org/medal.htm Congressional Medal of Honor Society], accessed June 20, 2007</ref> ==Investigations of the attack== Several official US and Israeli investigations maintained the initially published conclusion that the event was a tragic mistake through misidentification. The scope of the Israeli investigations was to decide whether or not anyone in the Israeli Defense Forces should be tried on crimes (no criminal wrongdoing was found), accepting as a premise that the attack was a mistake. The scope and performance of U.S. congressional investigations and four other U.S. investigations subsequent to the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry did not satisfy some parties. The majority of those subsequent U.S. reports were issues such as communications failures rather than culpability. <!--this seems undisputed, likely, an actually, given how governments work, proper. In few places other than in WP is every argument total and identical and without bounds. -->[http://www.wrmea.com/archives/December_2003/0312014.html]. The Naval Court of Inquiry conclusions continue to be disputed (see below). According to Raymond Garthoff, nonetheless, US military and intelligence agencies are unanimous in finding that the Israeli attack was “deliberate and unprovoked.” <ref>Raymond Garthoff, ''A Journey Through the Cold War'' Washington, DC: 2001 p. 214.</ref> ===Israeli investigations=== Three subsequent Israeli inquiries concluded the attack was conducted because ''Liberty'' was confused with an Egyptian vessel and because of failures of communications between Israel and the U.S. The three Israeli commissions were: *Preliminary Inquiry by Colonel Ram Ron ("Ram Ron Report" - June 1967)[http://thelibertyincident.com/docs/israeli/ram-ron-report.pdf] *Inquiry by Examining [[Sgan-Aluf I. Yerushalmi|Judge Y. Yerushalmi]] ("Yerushalmi Report" -July 1967).[http://thelibertyincident.com/docs/israeli/yerushalmi-report-en.pdf] *"The ''Liberty'' Incident" - [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] History Department Report (1982) <ref name=IDFhistory/> [[Image:ussliberty.jpg|thumb|Torpedo damage to ''Liberty''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s research compartment ([[Starboard]] side).]] The Israeli military court of inquiry later acknowledged that their naval headquarters knew at least three hours before the attack that the ship was "an electromagnetic audio-surveillance ship of the U.S. Navy" but concluded that that information had simply "gotten lost, never passed along to the ground controllers who directed the air attack nor to the crews of the three Israeli torpedo boats". The Israeli government said three crucial errors were made: the refreshing of the status board (removing the ship's classification as American, so that the later shift did not see it identified), the erroneous identification of the ship as an Egyptian vessel, and the lack of notification from the returning aircraft informing Israeli headquarters of markings on the front of the hull (markings that would not be found on an Egyptian ship). As the general root of these problems, Israel blamed the combination of alarm and fatigue experienced by the Israeli forces at that point of the war when pilots were severely over-worked. ===American investigations=== Ten official American investigations are claimed regarding the ''Liberty'' incident, including:<!-- [It should be noted that none of these are investigations of the attack on ''Liberty''. The Office of the Historian of the United States Senate cannot find any record of any published or unpublished investigation of the attack. Neither can the Congressional Research Service]:--><!--According to whom is this the case?--> * [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CIAreports.pdf The CIA Report of 1967] * [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/clifford.html The Clark Clifford Report of 1967] * [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/JCSreport.pdf The Joint Chief of Staff's Report], on U.S. communications failures. * [http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/ The NSA Report of 1981] including recordings of intercepted Israeli military radio transmissions and translated transcripts of post-attack helicopter pilots. * [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/SenateInvestigation.pdf The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Testimony of 1967] * [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CourtOfInquiry.pdf The U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry] as released under FOIA (see below) Critics -- including an active group of survivors from the ship -- assert that five U.S. congressional investigations and four other U.S. investigations were not investigations into the attack at all, but rather reports using evidence only from the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry, or investigations unrelated to the culpability of the attack but rather discussing issues such as communications. In their view, the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry is the only investigation on the incident to date. They claim it was hastily conducted, in only 10 days, even though the court’s president, [[Isaac C. Kidd, Jr.|Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd]], said that it would take 6 months to conduct properly. The inquiry's [[terms of reference]] were limited to whether any shortcomings on the part of the Liberty's crew had contributed to the injuries and deaths that resulted from the attack. Because of time constraints, only 14 survivors of the attack and no Israeli personnel involved were questioned. The National Archives in College Park, Md., includes in its files on casualties from the ''Liberty'' copies of the original telegrams the Navy sent out to family members. The telegrams called the attack accidental. The telegrams were sent out June 9, the day before the Navy court of inquiry convened. [http://www.ussliberty.org/navytimes607.htm] ==Ongoing controversy and unresolved questions== Many intelligence and military officials dispute Israel's explanation: *"...the board of inquiry (concluded) that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the ''Liberty''."- Former [[CIA]] Director [[Richard Helms]]<ref>Richard Helms. '''Over My Shoulder'''. New York: Random House, 2003. ISBN 037550012X</ref>{{Dubious|date=March 2008}} *"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 "- Former US Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]]<ref>Dean Rusk. As I Saw It. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990. ISBN 0140153918</ref> Some of the survivors claim that this incident stands as the only peacetime attack on a U.S. naval vessel not investigated by [[Congress of the United States|Congress]], and want a full Congressional hearing[http://www.ussliberty.org/]. They claim that a proper investigation has never taken place and that all previous reports, including the ones by the U.S. Congress, are incomplete, mention the incident in passing, and either that they are intended to exonerate Israel or that they do not even question the culpability of the attack (instead, they hold, it focuses on other topics, such as American communication problems). In 2002 Captain [[Ward Boston]], JAGC, U.S. Navy, ended his own silence on the work of the court of inquiry, saying its findings were intended to cover up what was a deliberate attack by Israel on a ship it knew to be American. He has prepared and signed an [http://www.ussliberty.org/bostondeclaration.pdf affidavit (pdf)] in which he claimed that Admiral Kidd had told him that the government ordered Kidd to falsely report that the attack was a mistake, and that he and Kidd both believed the attack was deliberate. He wrote, in part: {{cquote|The evidence was clear. Both Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American sailors and injured 172 others, was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew. Each evening, after hearing testimony all day, we often spoke our private thoughts concerning what we had seen and heard. I recall Admiral Kidd repeatedly referring to the Israeli forces responsible for the attack as 'murderous bastards.' It was our shared belief, based on the documentary evidence and testimony we received first hand, that the Israeli attack was planned and deliberate, and could not possibly have been an accident.}} Still, there is no record of Kidd ever publicly expressing such opinions.<ref>"However, according to his own account, Boston's evidence of a cover-up derives not from his own part in the investigation but solely on alleged conversations with Admiral Kidd, who purportedly told him he was forced to find that the attack was unintentional. Kidd died in 1999 and there is no way to verify Boston's allegations. However, Cristol argues that the 'documentary record' strongly indicated that Kidd 'supported the validity of the findings of the Court of Inquiry to his dying day.'" [http://www.adl.org/Israel/uss.asp The USS ''Liberty'' Attack], [[Anti-Defamation League]], June 9, 2004.</ref> Critics of Boston believe that he is not telling the truth in regard to Kidd's views and any pressure from the government.[http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/boston-comments.pdf]. In particular, A. Jay Cristol, who also served as an officer of the Judge Advocate General in the U.S. military, suggests that Boston was responsible in part for the original conclusions of the Court of Inquiry, and that by later declaring that they were false he has admitted to "lying under oath." Critics also note that Boston's claims about pressure on Kidd were hearsay, and that Kidd was not alive to confirm or deny them. They also note that Boston did not maintain prior to his affadavit and comments related to it that Kidd spoke of such instructions to him or to others. Supporters of the intentional-attack theory believe that Boston's statement invalidates the conclusions of the Court, and that Boston would not have made such an accusation if he did not know it to be true. Israel stated that the attack was not deliberate using the following arguments: *The previous day, Israel's warplanes had erroneously attacked an Israeli armored column, demonstrating unintentional mistakes, where the IAF had even attacked Israel's own forces. *The incident took place during the [[Six Day War]] when Israel was engaged in battles with three Arab countries, creating an environment where mistakes and confusion were prevalent. For example, at 11:45, a few hours before the attack, there was a large explosion on the shores of El-Arish followed by black smoke, probably caused by the destruction of an ammunition dump by retreating Egyptian forces. The Israeli army thought the area was being bombarded, and that an unidentified ship offshore was responsible. (According to U.S. sources, ''Liberty'' was 14 nautical miles (26 km) from those shores at the time of the attack.) *Had Israel intended to attack the USS ''Liberty'', IAF aircraft would have been sent out with iron bombs, not 30mm rapid-firing cannons and napalm bombs, sinking the ''Liberty'' within the first few minutes of the incident. *The attacking aircraft used [[napalm]] bombs and rapid-firing 30mm cannons, and napalm is an ineffective armament for doing real damage to a steel-hulled ship — other than starting fires in combustibles. *''Liberty'' opened fire first on the gunboats. This, though, was after the aerial attacks. *No adequate benefit has been put forward that the Israelis would derive from the attack on an American ship, especially considering the high cost of the predictable complications that must inevitably follow such an attack on a powerful ally, and the fact that Israel immediately notified the American embassy after the attack. [[Image:h97478t.jpg|thumb|[[Amidships]] [[starboard]] [[hull (watercraft)|hull]] and [[superstructure]] attack damage.]] Some survivors of ''Liberty'', U.S. government officials and U.S. military officers have asserted that the attack was premeditated. (All sides agree that the IAF intended to attack a ship, and in that sense the attack was premeditated. The survivors argue, however, that when IAF jets and IDF boats attacked, they knew the ship was not Egyptian but American.) [[James Ennes]], a junior officer (and off-going Officer of the Deck) on ''Liberty'''<nowiki>s</nowiki> bridge at the time of the attack, has published a book titled ''Assault on the Liberty''. Ennes and Joe Meadors, another survivor of the attack, run a website that was built "with support and encouragement from the USS ''Liberty'' Veterans Association." Meadors states that the classification of the attack as deliberate is the official policy of the association, to which all known survivors belong. Other survivors run several additional websites. Several books and the BBC documentary ''USS ''Liberty'': Dead in the Water'' argued that ''Liberty'' was attacked in order to prevent the U.S. from knowing about the forthcoming attack in the [[Golan Heights]], which apparently would violate a cease-fire to which Israel's government had agreed.[http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/240/87/IMG/NR024087.pdf] Such a motive remains only speculation, however, and in fact the USS ''Liberty'' had no Hebrew translators on board, but was manned to monitor Arabic and Soviet radio traffic, although Israel may not have known this. Critics claim many of the books and documentaries include incorrect assumptions.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} For example, critics note that a document declassified in 1997 indicated that the U.S. Ambassador at the time had reported on the day of the ''Liberty'' attack that he "would not be surprised" by an Israeli attack on Syria, and that the IDF Intelligence chief had told a White House aide then in Israel that "there still remained the Syria problem and perhaps it would be necessary to give Syria a blow,"<ref>LBJ, National Security File, Box 104/107, Middle East Crisis: Jerusalem to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967; Barbour to Department, June 8, 1967; Joint Embassy Memorandum, June 8, 1967.</ref> which, the critics argue, indicate that Israel was not trying to conceal the planned invasion of Syria from the U.S. The 1981 book ''Weapons'' by Russell Warren Howe asserts that ''Liberty'' was accompanied by the [[UGM-27 Polaris|Polaris]] armed [[Lafayette class submarine]] [[USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619)|USS ''Andrew Jackson'']], which filmed the entire episode through its periscope but was unable to provide assistance. According to Howe: "Two hundred feet below the ship, on a parallel course, was its 'shadow'- the Polaris strategic submarine ''Andrew Jackson'', whose job was to take out all the Israeli long-range missile sites in the Negev if Tel Aviv decided to attack Cairo, Damascus or Baghdad. This was in order that Moscow would not have to perform this task itself and thus trigger World War Three." In 2003, journalist [[Peter Hounam]] wrote ''Operation Cyanide: How the Bombing of the USS Liberty Nearly Caused World War III'', which proposes a completely different theory regarding the incident. In an attempt to explain why there was no support by U.S. forces as backup, Hounam claims that Israel and U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] had secretly agreed on day four of the [[Six Day War]] that ''Liberty'' would be sunk with complete loss of life. The attack would be blamed on Egypt, allowing the U.S. in turn to attack Egypt, thus helping out Israel. However, according to Hounam's theory, because the ''Liberty'' did not sink after two hours, the plan was quickly reversed, Israel apologized for the case of mistaken identity, and a cover-up put into place. Likewise the BBC documentary (2002) claims that the ''Liberty'' incident provoked the launch of nuclear-armed planes targeted against Cairo from a US aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. It is claimed in the theory that they were recalled only just in time, when it was clear the ''Liberty'' had not sunk with all hands, and that Israel was responsible [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/06_june/08/uss_liberty.shtml]. From the early 1950s up to shortly before the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], Israel's primary military ally was [[France]]. The [[United States]], with a few exceptions, consistently refused requests for sales of offensive weapons to Israel until 1968. The height of French-Israeli cooperation was in the 1956 [[Suez Crisis|Suez war]], when France, [[Israel]] and the [[United Kingdom]] participated in a combined ground, sea and air offensive against [[Egypt]], despite stringent opposition from the United States and threats from the [[Soviet Union]]. The Johnson administration did not publicly dispute Israel's claim that the attack had been nothing more than a disastrous mistake. But internal White House documents obtained from the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library show that the Israelis' explanation of how the mistake had occurred was not believed[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,66005.story]. ==NSA tapes and recent developments== On [[July 2]], [[2003]], the National Security Agency released copies of the recordings made by an [[EC-121 Warning Star|EC-121]] aircraft that flew near the attacks from 2:30 p.m. to 3:27 p.m., Sinai time (1230 to 1337 [[Coordinated Universal Time|Z]]), and the resultant translations and summaries.[http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/] These revelations were elicited as part of a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] lawsuit by Florida bankruptcy judge and retired naval aviator [[Jay Cristol]]. Two linguists who were aboard the EC-121 when the recordings were made, however, have claimed separately that at least two additional tapes were made that have been excluded from the NSA releases up to and including a June 8, 2007 release.<ref name=trib /> English transcripts of the tapes -- recorded by U.S. warplanes -- indicate that Israel still believed it had hit an Egyptian supply ship even after the attack had stopped. [http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/audio_trans_104.pdf] [http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/audio_trans_130.pdf] After the attack, the rescue helicopters are heard relaying several urgent requests that the rescuers ask the first survivor pulled out of the water what his nationality is, and discussing whether the survivors from the attacked ship will speak Arabic. [http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/audio_trans_1054.pdf] The NSA reported that there had been no radio intercepts related to the attack made by the USS ''Liberty'' itself, nor there had been any radio intercepts made by the U.S. submarine [[USS Amberjack (SS-522)|''Amberjack'']]. Within an hour of learning that the ''Liberty'' had been torpedoed the Director, NSA, LTG Marshall S. Carter, USA, sent a message to all intercept sites requesting a special search of all communications that might reflect the attack or reaction. No communications were available. However, one of the airborne platforms, a U.S. Navy EC-121, had collected voice conversations between two Israeli helicopter pilots and the control tower at Hazor Airfield following the attack on the ''Liberty''.[http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/liber00007.pdf] The NSA-translated tapes show that the helicopters were first dispatched to rescue Egyptians (control tower to helicopter 815 at 1234Z: "The ship has now been identified as an Egyptian ship"), and that they demonstrate confusion as to the identification of the target ship. (e.g. control tower to helicopter 815 at 1310Z "The first thing is for you to clarify what nationality they are. Notify me immediately.") Cristol adds: "The tapes confirm that the helicopter pilot observed the flag at 3:12 p.m." (1312Z) which would coincide with the audio tapes the [[Israel Air Force]] released to Cristol of the radio transmissions before, during and after the attack. The English translations of the Israeli Air Force tapes<!--, though these have not been proven to exist,--><!--Obvious polemic POV--> are published in Appendix 2 of Cristol's book ''The ''Liberty'' Incident''. On [[October 10]], [[2003]], ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' ran an interview with Yiftah Spector, one of the pilots who participated in the attack [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1065773796483], and thought to be the lead pilot of the first wave of planes. Spector said the ship was assumed to be Egyptian. The interview also contains the transcripts of the Israeli communications about the ''Liberty''. [[As of 2006]], the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) has yet to declassify "boxes and boxes" of ''Liberty'' documents. Numerous requests under both declassification directives and the Freedom of Information Act are pending in various agencies including the NSA, [[Central Intelligence Agency]], and [[Defense Intelligence Agency]]. "... On June 8, 2007, the National Security Agency released hundreds of additional declassified documents on the Israeli attack on the USS ''Liberty'', a communications interception vessel, on June 8, 1967." [http://www.cryptome.org/nsa-liberty.htm] On [[June 8]], [[2005]], the USS ''Liberty'' Veterans Association filed a [http://www.ussliberty.org/report/report.htm "Report of War Crimes Committed Against the U.S. Military, June 8, 1967"] with the Department of Defense (DoD). They say [http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html/231101.htm Department of Defense Directive 2311.01E] requires the Department of Defense to conduct a thorough investigation of the allegations contained in their report. DoD has responded that a new investigation will not be conducted since a Navy Court of Inquiry already investigated the facts and circumstances surrounding the attack. Most recently, on [[October 2]], 2007, ''The [[Chicago Tribune]]'' published a lengthy special report into the attack. The newspaper's article pointed out that the USS ''Liberty'' survivors' "anger has been stoked by the declassification of government documents and the recollections of former military personnel, including some quoted in this article for the first time, which strengthen doubts about the U.S. National Security Agency's position that it never intercepted the communications of the attacking Israeli pilots - communications, according to those who remember seeing them, that showed the Israelis knew they were attacking an American naval vessel. The documents also suggest that the U.S. government, anxious to spare Israel's reputation and preserve its alliance with the U.S., closed the case with what even some of its participants now say was a hasty and seriously flawed investigation."<ref name=trib /> The ''Tribune'''s report is based on the declassified NSA documents as well as interviews with people with first-hand experience of the Israeli attack, ranging from ''Liberty'' survivors, to NSA analysts to US and Israeli journalists and politicians. The ''Tribune'' article's author, John Crewdson, mentions the ''Liberty'' survivors' disbelief that "Israeli pilots [could have] confused the U.S. Navy's most distinctive ship with an Egyptian horse-cavalry transport that was half its size and had a dissimilar profile." Frequently cited by those making the case for mistaken identity is Yiftah Spector, the first Israeli pilot to attack the ''Liberty''. In an interview with the Jerusalem Post in 2003, Spector states that, "I circled it twice and it did not fire on me. My assumption was that it was likely to open fire at me and nevertheless ''I slowed down'' [emphasis added] and I looked and ''there was positively no flag'' [emphasis added]." Spector's assertion about the absence of a US flag on ''Liberty'' is contradicted by every single one of the ''Liberty'''s survivors. This fact is confirmed by one of the declassified NSA documents which concludes that, "Every official interview of numerous ''Liberty'' crewmen gave consistent evidence that indeed the ''Liberty'' was flying an American flag - and, further, the weather conditions were ideal to ensure its easy observance and identification." The ''Tribune'' investigation also makes mention of a ''Jerusalem Post'' article from 2004 which carried a transcription of the Israeli Air Force tapes of the actual attack. The journalist who transcribed the tapes for that article, Arieh O'Sullivan, later confirmed that "the Israeli Air Force tapes he listened to contained blank spaces." ''The Chicago Tribune'' article also notes that, "The transcript published by the Jerusalem Post bore scant resemblance to the one that in 1967 rolled off the teletype machine behind the sealed vault door at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, where Steve Forslund worked as an intelligence analyst for the 544th Air Reconnaissance Technical Wing, then the highest-level strategic planning office in the Air Force." The paper goes on to quote Forslund as remembering that: "The [Israeli] ground control station stated that the target was American and for the aircraft to confirm it. The aircraft did confirm the identity of the target as American, by the American flag... The ground control station ordered the aircraft to attack and sink the target and ensure they left no survivors." Forslund's recollections are confirmed by, amongst others, James Gotcher, then with the Air Force Security Service's 6924th Security Squadron, an adjunct of the NSA, and USAF Captain Richard Block, then commanding an intelligence wing of more than 100 analysts and cryptologists monitoring Middle Eastern communications. Oliver Kirby, the NSA's deputy director for operations at the time of the ''Liberty'' attack, confirmed the existence of NSA transcripts of the actual attack - not just the aftermath - to ''The Chicago Tribune''. When the newspaper asked whether Kirby had personally read such transcripts, Kirby replied, "I sure did. I certainly did. They said, 'We've got him in the zero,' whatever that meant - I guess the sights or something. And then one of them said, 'Can you see the flag?' They said 'Yes, it's U.S, it's U.S.' They said it several times, so there wasn't any doubt in anybody's mind that they knew it." The ''Tribune'' also interviewed Michael Prostinak, a Hebrew linguist aboard a U.S. Navy EC-121 that was monitoring communications in the area at the time of the attack. Like Kirby, Prostinak confirms that recordings were made during the attack which had not been released by the NSA, and that those recordings mention an American flag during the attack. The linguist further noted that the numbering sequence of the tapes released by the NSA clearly indicate that at least two tapes that had once existed were not included in the NSA release. Even in the immediate aftermath of the attack, the widely-held view of US intelligence and military personnel was expressed succinctly by the then deputy director of the NSA, Louis W. Tordella, in response to the IDF Preliminary Inquiry into the attack: Tordella called it "a nice whitewash."<ref>William D. Gerhard and Henry W. Millington, National Security Agency, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB24/nsa10.pdf Attack on a SIGINT Collector, the USS ''Liberty''], 1981. Top Secret Umbra. See page 41 of the report, page 49 of the pdf; see also footnote 4 on same page.</ref> ==Details in dispute== Many of the events surrounding the attack are the subject of controversy: *''US Crewmen's Perceptions of Israeli Intent:'' Perhaps more than any other detail, this issue remains in dispute because the surviving crew of the Liberty report their subjective perception that Israel's attack on the ship was "deliberate" and in full knowledge that the vessel was American. Yet, Israel agrees that the attack was deliberate -- but against the wrong ship. Israel agrees that its jets acted as if they intended to deliberately attack a ship. Israel responds that its attack was directed at its Egyptian enemies, and not at the United States, its most important ally. *''Distinctiveness of USS Liberty's Appearance:'' One major dispute is whether the Liberty would have been immediately recognized as a different ship from the Egyptian ship ''El Quseir''. Critics of the Israeli attack argue that the Liberty was distinctive, and "bristling with antennae." Admiral Tom Moorer stated that the LIBERTY was the most identifiable ship in the US Navy. Israel says the identification as the ''El Quseir'' was made by the torpedo boats while the ''Liberty'' was enveloped in smoke and was based on a guide to Arab fleets that did not include U.S. vessels. Those who believe the attack was intended against a different ship point out that the Liberty was a mass-produced [[Victory Ship]] of standardized design, built as a cargo ship -- the Egyptian ship ''El Quseir'' was a cargo vessel. ([http://usslibertyinquiry.googlepages.com/essay3 Web site with images of both ships]) *''Visibility of ensign:'' The most vehemently debated point is the visibility of the American flags that the ship was flying; Americans claimed the flags were clearly visible in the wind. The survivors uniformly agree that the Liberty was flying the Stars and Stripes before, during and after the attack, except for a brief period in which one flag that had been shot down was replaced with another, larger flag that measured {{convert|13|ft|m}} long. The Israeli pilots claimed they did not see any flag. The Court of Inquiry found that the ''Liberty'' was cruising at 5 knots (9 km/hour) on a calm day, [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CourtOfInquiry.pdf] so that the flag would have been furled or fouled, and could not be seen. NSA documents declassified on June 8 2007 state "''Every official interview of numerous Liberty crewmen gave consistent evidence that indeed the Liberty was flying an American flag and, further, the weather conditions were ideal to ensure its easy observance and identification.''" *USS ''Liberty'' bore an eight-foot-high "5" and a four-foot-high "GTR" along either bow, clearly indicating her hull (or "pendant") number (AGTR-5), and had 18-inch-high letters spelling the vessel's name across the [[stern]]. These markings were not cursive [[Arabic script]] but in the [[Latin alphabet]] (used in European or English languages). Israeli pilots claim initially they were primarily concerned with making sure the ship was a warship not Israeli and that they called off the attack when they noticed the Latin alphabet markings.[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/liberty.html] *''Israeli Jets Not Armed for Attacking a Ship:'' Advocates question why Israeli jets flew out to the Liberty armed only with 30mm rapid-firing cannons and napalm bombs -- instead of iron bombs -- as these weapons were incapable of sinking a US warship. Israel says the aircraft involved were diverted from ground support roles. *''Israeli Terminates Attack:'' Critics of Israel maintain that Israel intended to attack and sink the USS Liberty. Those arguing that Israel attacked the wrong ship point out that Israel did not in fact sink the Liberty, but terminated the attack... leaving witnesses and survivors. It remains unknown why Israel would begin to attack a US ship but then leave the Liberty afloat with witnesses aboard. *A [[James Bamford]] book, published in 2001, claimed that secret NSA intercepts recorded by an American reconnaissance aircraft indicate that Israeli pilots had full knowledge they were attacking a U.S. vessel.<ref> CNN report by David Ensor, [[CNN]], April 23, 2001. Report cites material from: ''Body of Secrets'', by James Bamford, Doubleday, 2001 (ISBN 0-09-942774-5)</ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/04/23/liberty.attack/]. This 2001 proposition has played a significant role in the on-going controversies about the incident, and continues to be widely cited. However, the tapes were later released by the National Security Agency in 2003 as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Judge and author A. Jay Cristol. These tapes record communications after the attack was over with Israeli helicopter pilots who were not involved in the attack and who were sent to provide assistance. These pilots noticed an American flag flying from the ship.[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/09/uss.liberty.tapes/index.html] and informed their control tower. See [[USS Liberty incident#Other sources|other sources]] for a link to the [[NSA]] website with complete transcripts. The NSA Website denies that there were any U.S. recordings of the attack itself although this is disputed by several intelligence specialists who claim to have read the original transcripts. *''Israeli aircraft markings:'' Some American survivors of the attack assert that the Israeli aircraft were unmarked. However, aircraft markings are not required by the [[laws of war]] and two of the attacking aircraft were highly distinctive [[Dassault Mirage III]] aircraft, flown only by Israel in that region. *''Jamming:'' Both ''Liberty'' and USS ''Saratoga'' radio operators reported hearing the distinctive buzzing sound usually indicative of radio frequency jamming. However, the Navy Court of Inquiry found that the Saratoga in fact received radio reports from the Liberty and successfully relayed these to the Sixth Fleet. [http://www.thelibertyincident.com/docs/CourtOfInquiry.pdf] (see page 28). According to a book by Russell Warren Howe (see below), Captain McGonagle testified that the jamming of his transmissions had been on American, not Egyptian, frequencies, suggesting that someone was aware of the nationality of the ship. However changing frequency is a standard technique to avoid [[radio jamming]] and jamming equipment is often designed to find the actual frequencies in use. *''Probability of identification:'' Americans claim the thirteen closer flybys of the previous two days should have been sufficient for identification. Israel acknowledged the ship had been identified as American and neutral that morning; however, it claims that at 11 a.m., the ship was removed from the command status board. Later that morning, when explosions were heard in El-Arish, Israel claims to have reacquired the ship without being aware that it was the same one that was flown over earlier in the day. *''Effort for identification:'' The American crew claims the attacking aircraft did not make identification runs over ''Liberty'', but rather began to strafe immediately. Israel claims several identification passes were made. *''Speed of the vessel:'' According to Israeli accounts, the torpedo boat made (admittedly erroneous) measurements that indicated the ship was steaming at 30 knots (56 km/h). Israeli naval doctrine at the time required that a ship traveling at that speed must be presumed to be a warship. A second boat calculated ''Liberty's'' speed to be 28 knots (52 km/h) The maximum sustained speed of ''Liberty'' was only 17.5 knots (32 km/h), 21 knots (39 km/h) being attainable by overriding the engine governors. According to ''Body of Secrets'', by James Bamford, and ''Liberty'' crewmen (including the Officer-of-the-Deck), the ship was steaming at 5 knots (9 km/h) at the time of the attack. *''Visual communications:'' Joe Meadors, the signalman on bridge, states that "Immediately prior to the torpedo attack, he was on the Signal Bridge repeatedly sending 'USS ''Liberty'' U.S. Navy Ship' by flashing light to the torpedo boats." The Israeli boats claim to have read only the signal "AA", which was exactly the signal dispatched by the Egyptian destroyer Ibrahim Al-Awal when it was engaged by the [[Israeli Navy]] eleven years earlier. Meadors claims he never sent "AA" (which would require him to identify himself as well); this disagreement may be settled by considering the fact that ''Liberty'' was unable to read signals sent from the boats due to smoke. [[Image:H97474.jpg|thumb|Commander W.L. McGonagle in his damaged cabin after the attack.]] *''Israeli ships' actions after the torpedo hit:'' Some of the crewmembers claim that after the ''Liberty'' had been torpedoed, Israeli boats circled the ship firing 0.50 caliber machine guns at descended (unmanned) life rafts and sailors on board the ship. Israelis claim they recognized the ship as American immediately after it was hit and ceased fire. Two survivors [http://ussliberty.org/report/exhibit%252010.pdf Lloyd Painter] and [http://ussliberty.org/report/exhibit%252011.pdf Glenn Oliphant] claim to have seen the life rafts being fired upon, but the ship's captain and others on deck made no mention of this. Oliphant said the life rafts were about {{convert|150|yd|m|-1}} behind the ship, Painter said the life raft he saw getting shot “had been cut loose and was floating in the water”. Captain Ward Boston, senior counsel to the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry, supports Painter’s claim that his testimony about the life rafts being shot at was removed from the court’s report. [http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/boston.html] [[Image:USS Liberty second ensign 2.jpg|thumb|There are conflicting accounts as to whether the ''Liberty'' was flying its flag during parts of the attack]] *''Israeli offers of help:'' Reports differ regarding whether the Israeli boats offered help. Some crew members claim the torpedo boats simply withdrew, while the captain and the Israeli crew report that help was offered; the captain testified before the court of inquiry that he had asked the Israeli boats to stay away by the means of signal flags. Ennes acknowledges the Israelis offered help but [http://www.ussliberty.org/report/exhibit%252012.pdf claims they only did so at 4:30], the same time cited in the Israel Defense Force's History Report about the attack. *''U.S. rescue attempts:'' At least two rescue attempts were launched from U.S. [[aircraft carrier]]s nearby but were recalled, according to David Lewis, [[officer of the deck]] (OOD) during the attack. [http://home.earthlink.net/~donpageler/Controversey.html Lewis wrote] and made an [http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/liberty/lewis_ra.htm audio recording] about a meeting 6th Fleet Rear Admiral Lawrence Geis requested in his cabins: "He told me that since I was the senior ''Liberty'' survivor on board he wanted to tell me in confidence what had actually transpired. He told me that upon receipt of our [[SOS]], aircraft were launched to come to our assistance and then Washington was notified. He said that the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] ([[Robert McNamara]]) had ordered that the aircraft be returned to the carrier which was done. RADM Geis then said that he speculated that Washington may have suspected that the aircraft carried nuclear weapons so he put together another flight of conventional aircraft that had no capability of carrying nuclear weapons. These he launched to assist us and again notified Washington of his actions. Again McNamara ordered the aircraft recalled. He requested confirmation of the order being unable to believe that Washington would let us sink. This time President Johnson ordered the recall with the comment that he did not care if every man drowned and the ship sank, but that he would not embarrass his allies. This is, to the best of my ability, what I recall transpiring 30 years ago." ==Names of fatalities== {| style="background-color: transparent; width: {{{width|100%}}}" | width="{{{width|}}}" align="{{{align|left}}}" valign="{{{valign|top}}}" | *Cryptologic Tech 3rd Class William B. Allenbaugh, USN *Lt Cmdr. Philip M. Armstrong Jr., USN *Seaman Gary R. Blanchard, USN *Cryptologic Technician 2nd Class Allen M. Blue, NSA *Quartermaster 3rd Class Francis Brown, USN *Cryptologic Tech 2nd Class Ronnie J. Campbell, USN *Cryptologic Tech 2nd Class Jerry L. Converse, USN *Cryptologic Tech 2nd Class Robert B. Eisenberg, USN *Cryptologic Tech 2nd Class Jerry L. Goss, USN *Cryptologic Tech 1st Class Curtis L. Graves, USN *Cryptologic Tech Lawrence P. Hayden, USN *Cryptologic Tech 1st Class Warren Hersey, USN *Cryptologic Tech 3rd Class Alan Higgins, USN *Seaman Carl L. Hoar, USN *Cryptologic Tech 2nd Class Richard W. Keene, USN *Cryptologic Tech James L. Lenau, USN *Chief Cryptologic Tech Raymond E. Linn, USN | width="{{{width|}}}" align="{{{align|left}}}" valign="{{{valign|top}}}" | *Cryptologic Tech 1st Class James M. Lupton, USN *Cryptologic Tech 3rd Class Duane R. Marggraf, USN *Cryptologic Tech David W. Marlborough, USN *Cryptologic Tech 2nd Class Anthony P. Mendle, USN *Cryptologic Tech Carl C. Nygren, USN *Lt. James C. Pierce, USN *Sgt. Jack Raper, U.S.M.C. *Cpl. Edward Rehmayer II, U.S.M.C. *Interior Comms Electrician David N. Skolak, USN *Cryptologic Tech 1st Class John C. Smith Jr, USN *Chief Cryptologic Tech Melvin D. Smith, USN *Postal Clerk 2nd Class John C. Spicher, USN *Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Alexander N. Thompson, USN *Cryptologic Tech 3rd Class Thomas R. Thornton, USN *Cryptologic Tech 3rd Class Phillipe C. Tiedtke, USN *Lt. Stephen S. Toth, USN *Cryptologic Tech 1st Class Frederick J. Walton, USN |} Note: The rating "cryptologic technician" reflects current usage. In 1967, the rating was called "communications technician."[http://www.usncva.org/ctRatingHistory.shtml#fn1] ==See also== *Other international incidents involving the U.S. military: **[[USS Maine (ACR-1)|Sinking of the USS Maine]] (1898) **[[Panay incident|USS Panay incident]] (1937) **[[French submarine Surcouf]] (1942) **[[Bombings of Switzerland in World War II]] (1944-1945) **[[Gulf of Tonkin Incident]] (1964) **[[USS Pueblo (AGER-2)#Activity and conflict near the DPRK|USS ''Pueblo'' incident]] (1968) **[[Mayagüez incident|SS ''Mayagüez'' incident]] (1975) **[[Axe Murder Incident]] (1976) **[[Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)]] and [[Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)]] - two incidents involving F-14 Tomcats of the U.S. Navy and warplanes of the Libyan Air Force. **[[Iran Air Flight 655]] (1988) **[[Cavalese cable-car disaster#1998|Cavalese cable-car disaster]] (1998) **[[Hainan Island incident]] (2001) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Books== *''A History of Israel'' by [[Ahron Bregman]] contains extracts from the tapes. (ISBN 0-333-67631-9) *{{cite book| author=Cristol, A. Jay| title=[http://www.thelibertyincident.com The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship]| location=Dulles, Virginia | publisher=Brassey's| year=2002| id=ISBN 1-57488-414-X}} *[http://www.salon.com/books/int/2002/06/12/oren/ ''Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East''], by Michael B. Oren, Oxford University Press (ISBN 0-19-515174-7) *[http://ussliberty.org/jimsbook.htm ''Assault on the ''Liberty'': The True Story of the Israeli Attack on an American Intelligence Ship''], by James M. Ennes, Jr. (ISBN 0-9723116-0-2) Currently in its 9th printing. * ''The Puzzle Palace'', by James Bamford, Penguin Books, 1982, has a detailed description of the Israeli attack on the SIGINT ship USS ''Liberty'', and the events leading up to it, on pages 279-293. *''Body of Secrets'', by James Bamford, devotes a detailed chapter to the incident, and concludes it was deliberate. Doubleday, 2001 (ISBN 0-09-942774-5) *[[Peter Hounam]], ''Operation Cyanide: Why the Bombing of the USS Liberty Nearly Caused World War III'', Vision Paperbacks. 2003, ISBN 1-904132-19-7, *Anthony Pearson, ''Conspiracy of Silence: The Attack on the USS Liberty'', 1979 ISBN 0-7043-2164-5 *John Borne, ''The USS Liberty, Dissenting History vs. Official History'' *{{cite book| author=Thomas, Baylis| title=How Israel Was Won: A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict| location=Lanham, Maryland| publisher=Lexington Books| year=1999| id=ISBN 0-7391-0064-5}} In Chapter 15 on "The Six Day War and Its Consequences", dissects the sequence of events and concurrent attacks on Arab towns and explores the possibility that the attack on this U.S. spy ship was an intentional act to prevent U.S. monitoring of Israeli military actions, and that the intent was to kill all US personnel on board before any kind of communications could be sent out. ==External links== ===U.S. government sites=== *[http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/liber00010.pdf Attack on a Sigint Collector, the U.S.S. ''Liberty,''] by William D. Gerhard and Henry W. Millington, U.S. Cryptologic History series, National Security Agency, 1981, partially declassified 1999, 2003. *[http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/ Additional information released by the National Security Agency on July 2003], including audio recordings (mostly in Hebrew) of conversations between two Israeli helicopter pilots and their control tower following the attack, transcripts of the recordings (in English), and follow-up reports. *[http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-l/agtr5.htm Naval Historical Center], featuring photographs of the ship and crew, and the aftermath of the attack. *[http://www.nsa.gov/memorial/index.cfm National Security Agency's Memorial Wall], including list of names inscribed on the wall. ===Other sources=== *[http://www.usni.org/proceedings/Articles03/PROwalsh06.htm Naval Institute Proceedings interviews key intelligence officers in 2003] *[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/09/uss.liberty.tapes/index.html USS ''Liberty'' attack tapes released] by David Ensor, [[CNN]]. *[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,1,2759919,full.story?ctrack=2&cset=true Chicago Tribune Article 2007] *[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/909552.html Israeli communications said to prove IAF knew Liberty was U.S. ship], Yossi Melman, Ha'aretz, October 4, 2007. ===Sources claiming attack was a mistake=== *[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/356866391.html?dids=356866391:356866391&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+10%2C+2003&author=JANINE+ZACHARIA&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=05&desc=US+tapes+confirm+Israel%27s+%2767+attack+on+%27Liberty%27+was++accidental US tapes confirm Israel's '67 attack on 'Liberty' was accidental ] *[http://www.thelibertyincident.com/documents.html The ''Liberty'' Incident], by Naval Aviator and JAG A. Jay Cristol. Includes original documents, as well as rebuttals to various theories and articles that hold that the attack was deliberate. *[http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/libertytoc.html Pages devoted to USS ''Liberty'' Incident] maintained by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, including a collection of contemporaneous diplomatic documents and telegrams. *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/liberty1.html The USS ''Liberty'': Case Closed] [http://www.azure.org.il/ Azure] article by [[Michael Oren]] * Michael Oren's "[[Six Days of War]]." Ballantine Books, 2003, p. 263-271 *[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=315949&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Memos show ''Liberty'' attack was an error] ''[[Haaretz]]'' article by Nathan Guttman *[http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/Return_of_the_USS_Liberty.asp Return of the USS ''Liberty''] Critique of Bamford's "Body of Secrets" from [[Honest Reporting]] *[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=23&x_article=181 Bamford Bashes Israel: Conspiracy Theorist Claims Attack on USS ''Liberty'' Intentional] from the [[Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America]] *[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=51&x_article=170 Viewers’ Guide to the History Channel’s Cover Up: Attack on the USS ''Liberty''] from the [[Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America]] *[http://www.adl.org/Israel/uss.asp The USS ''Liberty'' Attack] from the [[Anti-Defamation League]] *[http://www.jewishpublicaffairs.org/community_relations/newsanalysis/USSLiberty-8-13-01.html Response to the History Channel Program on the USS ''Liberty''] prepared for the [[Jewish Council for Public Affairs]] by A. Jay Cristol *[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=46364 Declassified Documents Show Israel's 1967 Attack On USS ''Liberty'' Was Accidental] from the Israel National News *[http://hnn.us/articles/369.html USS ''Liberty'': Israel Did Not Intend to Bomb the Ship] by A. Jay Cristol *[http://www.sixdaywar.org/uss-liberty.asp USS ''Liberty''] on www.sixdaywar.org *[http://pnews.org/art/ussliberty.shtml Hank Roth: Truth about U.S.S. ''Liberty'']--> <!--*[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-02/07/content_803251.htm US Pilot weeps after accidentally killing British soldier in Iraq] *[http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu7iGGAVH9AwBDGpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTExbTV0dDR1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAwRsA1dTMQ--/SIG=15f9pudup/EXP=1191602694/**http%3a//www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/09/05/mistaken_us_strike_kills_nato_soldier_in_afghanistan/%3frss_id=Boston%2bGlobe%2b--%2bWorld%2bNews US Warplanes accidentally kill Canadian troops in Afghanistan] *[http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu7iGGAVH9AwBDWpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTExN3BqYWMwBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAwRsA1dTMQ--/SIG=12qj49d0v/EXP=1191602694/**http%3a//ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070825/world/afghanistan_unrest_nato_us US Warplanes accidentally kill Canadian troops in Afghanistan]--> <!--*[http://www.tnr.com/072301/oren072301_print.html The New Republic: Unfriendly Fire] by [[Michael Oren]]--><!--Dead link.--> *[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/524753111.html?dids=524753111:524753111&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+13%2C+2004&author=JANINE+ZACHARIA&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=01&desc=USS+%27Liberty%27+hit+was+unintentional%2C+says+CIA USS 'Liberty' hit was unintentional, says CIA] ===Sources claiming attack was deliberate=== '''Survivors of the attack''' *[http://www.ussliberty.com The website of the Veterans of USS ''Liberty''], run by survivors Jim Ennes and Joe Meadors. This site includes a wide variety of documents, photographs, and responses to authors who argue that the attack was a mistake. *[http://www.usslibertyinquiry.com The USS ''Liberty'' Inquiry website], run by USS Liberty survivors Jim Ennes, Joe Meadors and John Hrankowski and maintained by researcher Andrew Nacin. This contains hundreds of documents and evidence on the attack, as well as a public forum.. *[http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/liberty/ USS Liberty], by John Gidusko, Communications Officer aboard the USS Liberty *[http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0693/9306019.htm Assault on ''Liberty'' Still Covered Up After 26 Years] by Jim Ennes at Washington-Report *[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7267134620652018859 Loss of Liberty] Film, featuring multiple survivors who claim they were set-up *[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6595846710992512471&q=uss+liberty&hl=en Dead in the Water] BBC documentary (2002). *[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html Eric S. Margolis article on the Lew Rockwell page: ''America's Most Shameful Secret''] '''Other sources''' *[http://www.electricpolitics.com/podcast/2007/06/memory_and_national_identity.html Captain Ward Boston (USN, Ret.), chief counsel to the Navy's Board of Inquiry interviewed on Electric Politics June 29, 2007] *[http://www.usslibertyinquiry.com/law/jacobsen.pdf A Juridical Examination of the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty] by Lieutenant Commander Walter L. Jacobsen, JAGC, USN *[http://www.logogo.net/01quest.htm USS ''LIBERTY'': Public History vs. Dissenting History], by [[John Borne]] *[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html Possible strategic and political backgrounds] by [[Eric Margolis]], foreign correspondent for the ''[[Toronto Sun]]''. *[http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=10&article_ID=2749&categ_id=15 Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Israel Deliberately Attacked US Ship], ''[[Daily Star (Lebanon)|Daily Star]]'', [[January 21]] [[2004]]. *[http://www.usni.org/proceedings/Articles03/PROwalsh06.htm Naval Institute Proceedings: Friendless Fire?] by [[David Walsh]] *[http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040328/news_mz1e29libert.html San Diego Union-Tribune: Lifting the "fog of war"] by [[David Walsh]] * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/dead_in_the_water.shtml BBC Documentary ''Dead In The Water''] * [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm U.S. Navy and Marine Casualties in Wars, Conflicts, Terrorist Acts, and other Hostile Acts] * [http://www.ussliberty.org/navytimes607.htm Telegrams Cast Doubt on ''Liberty'' Report, Navy Times, June 4, 2007] by Bryant Jordan * Conflicting comments rekindle Liberty dispute, Marine Corps Times, June 26, 2002, by Bryant Jordan * [http://www.counterpunch.org/weir06232007.html Alison Wier article from Counterpunch June 22, 2007] {{Conspiracy theories}} [[Category:1967]] [[Category:Combat incidents]] [[Category:Espionage scandals and incidents]] [[Category:History of cryptography]] [[Category:History of Israel]] [[Category:International maritime incidents]] [[Category:Military history of the United States 1900-1999]] [[Category:National Security Agency]] [[Category:Signals intelligence]] [[Category:United States-Israeli relations]] [[fr:Incident du USS Liberty]] [[id:Insiden USS Liberty]] [[he:תקרית ליברטי]] [[ja:リバティー号事件]] [[no:USS «Liberty»]] [[tr:USS Liberty olayı]]