Declassified documents show Israel's 1967 attack on USS Liberty was accidental

Israel Insider ^ | 7/10/2003 | Israel Insider

[Israel Insider]

New documents released this week by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) prove that Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty was accidental. The Israeli attack on the American surveillance ship during the Six Day War, which killed 34 U.S. servicemen and wounded 172, has been a controversial and disputed chapter in Israel's relations with the United States.

Last week, the NSA released additional information relative to the June 8, 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty. The information included three audio recordings, transcripts (in English), three follow-up reports, and a U.S. Cryptologic History Report entitled "Attack on a Sigint Collector, the U.S.S. Liberty."

The documents, originally classified as "top secret," were made public according to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and at the request of Florida Federal Judge Jay Cristol, who has been investigating the Liberty incident for years and published a book on the subject last year, Haaretz reported.

To find out more and read the NSA reports, click here

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Take this with a grain of salt.

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[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

If this was an accident, why were the documents classified in the first place?

[HenryLeeII]

If this was an accident, why were the documents classified in the first place?

Because of how the intercepts were made, and who made them. Regardless of the content, information gathered by particular sources and/or methods will be classified, and only de-classified after rigorous and thorough review by multiple parties. The system may be clunky and slow-moving, but its better than simply handing out state secrets a la Clinton.

[renosathug]

The initial attack MAY have been an accident, BUT, after reading this I can't believe the continued attack could have been an accident.

[DonQ]

A very serious question is why was this information - at least its gist - concealed by the US government for 35 years, through seven presidencies, while the suspicions and accusations against Israel fueled a significant amount of anti-Israel sentiment among many Americans. This concealment put Israel at a serious public relations disadvantage with the Congress and American public.

My guess is that this prolonged silence was deliberate, in order to injure Israel, and its revelation now is the Bush Administration's sop to Israel for pressuring it to make yet more concessions to the PLO.

An interesting question is whether information about these secret tapes was among the info that Jonathan Pollard conveyed to the Israelis.

[finnman69]

BS

read about how the Israelis knew well it was a US ship.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385499086/qid=1057844378/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-0806427-6390232

[kezekiel]

The initial attack MAY have been an accident, BUT, after reading this I can't believe the continued attack could have been an accident.

It's apparently clear that all the recordings are of pilots and controllers who thought the ship was Egyptian. What's your thesis--that they really knew the ship was American, but they said "Egyptian" on the radio to fool whoever might be listening?

The idea that they wanted to sink the ship to conceal information from us, and then concocted a plan whereby they would lie on the radio and pretend the ship was Egyptian, is just plain ludicrous. The Israelis screwed up and killed some friendlies. We do the same all the time, tragically.

[AdmSmith]

An interesting question is whether information about these secret tapes was among the info that Jonathan Pollard conveyed to the Israelis

From the article:

"According to Haaretz, the release of the tapes by the NSA last week was not the first time that they were made available to the public. The Israeli government presented them to the Thames television network in 1987."

How could they have these tapes?

[gaijin]

There is only one instance in which Congressional Medals of Honor have been awarded in secrecy, and that was to sailors who weathered the attack on the USS Liberty.

[yonif]

Ping.

[adam_az]

Not the SAME TAPES but tapes of the SAME EVENT recorded most likely at the IDF control tower or command center.

[AdmSmith]

In the article they write that it was the tapes from NSA.

[adam_az]

It's apparently too much these days to expect that journalists have basic competency in written English!

[AdmSmith]

Are you sure it was sloppy journalism?

It has been an official "secret" that the vessel was taken out in order to prevent LBJ from knowing and hence probably stopping the operation in Syria (Golan heights).

If the Israeli government wanted to dispute this they should have released their own tapes ASAP and not in 1987.

[husky ed]

BS

[luvbach1]

The hardest accusation to believe concerning the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty was that the Israelis were too stupid to realize they were attacking their best, and almost only, ally in an extended attack in broad daylight. Sorry, still don't buy it. I support Israel but 36(?) of our men were killed doing their duty in international waters.