[maestro]

Your# 7..........

Because otherwise it becomes a BIG problem for his reputation, because he was probably the guy who deliberately (and feloniously) cut the Liberty off from the US Navy chain of command, preventing them from getting the order to move away from the war zone.

?.............the US Navy chain of command?.............

'State'.........?

[aristeides]

If Bamford's account is correct, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had themselves -- highly unusually -- taken direct command of the movements and mission of the Liberty, and the NSA, as a component of the Defense Department, was just obeying their orders.

[Poohbah]

The Liberty was deliberately cut out of the Sixth Fleet chain of command by the NSA. The NSA did this by having orders issued to the Liberty that any signals to the Liberty had to go through certain NSA-approved channels before they could be acted on, and specifically forbade the Liberty from copying the Fleet Broadcast sent from NAVCAMS MED in Naples.