Author dismisses so-called revelations about USS 'Liberty'

There is nothing new in the controversial affidavit of former US Navy lawyer Ward Boston, said A. Jay Cristol, a US federal judge and author of The Liberty Incident.

On Wednesday, Boston spoke at a press conference in Washington, DC, claiming that former secretary of defense Robert McNamara and president Lyndon Johnson covered up a deliberate attack by Israel on the US intelligence-gathering ship.

Boston had taken testimony of witnesses for the US Navy Court of Inquiry, headed by Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, that examined the attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six Day War. On June 8, Israeli jets and torpedo boats struck the US vessel off the coast of El Arish – killing 34 sailors and National Security Agency (NSA) personnel.

"Both Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew," wrote Boston in his affidavit.

The government has long maintained that the attack was accidental: Following a false report of enemy naval shelling along the coast, the IAF mistook the US vessel for an old Egyptian transport ship. No American ships were supposed to be in the area. After the initial air force strafing, approaching torpedo boats were fired upon by the Liberty, and they responded in kind.

Eight days after the attack, the court of inquiry concluded that "available evidence combines to indicate [that] the attack on [the] Liberty on 8 June was in fact a case of mistaken identity."

Cristol, whose book supports the accidental attack thesis, insisted that he had interviewed Boston in July 1990 and December 1996, and that the navy attorney had stood wholeheartedly behind the court's findings. Likewise, the author said that the late Admiral Kidd had told him that "he firmly believed in the court."

"Cristol tried to get me to talk about the court of inquiry, but I told him that I was sworn to secrecy," said Boston. "I spoke to him about my personal background instead."

In June 2002, Boston broke his vow of silence and told Marine Corps Times reporter Bryant Jordan that the attack was deliberate. He said the recent publishing of Cristol'sThe Liberty Incident prompted him to speak out.

He now charges senior US officials with conspiracy to bury the truth about the event.

This past July, NSA tapes recorded by an American surveillance aircraft in 1967 were declassified. The tapes of conversations between IAF rescue helicopter pilots and ground controllers reveal confusion over the identity of the stricken intelligence ship. However, a number of Liberty survivors and supporters continue to claim that the Israeli attack was deliberate.

I suggest you obtain and study a photo of the USS Liberty and you will notice severau veru unique antennas installed. One such antenna was for TRRSCom using X band radar would bounce off the moon and be received in Virgina as was one of its top communications link for approximately four hours every day. It limited interception opportunities for the enemy.

Another fact: When you attack a vessel you either focus on the engineering or bridge on first pass and concentrate on the engineering to finally sink it. Why was the vast majority of the weapons concentrated on the area forward of the bridge? That is where Special Operations was located and they hoped to disable the vessel's CRITIC MESSAGE system capability. This system was designed to deliver a top secret message to the White House, Pentagon and other top entities within a 15 minute time period. They failed to silence it before sending their one and only Critic message.

Another fact: The vessel had been over flown just a few hours before without incident. The attack took two hours and they stopped only when they believed the vessel would now sink. They also shot up all the lifeboats and even the Sunday Ensign that was raised to replace the other that was shot down.

For anyone to believe that those pilots could not distinguish between the so-called Eyptian vessel and the Liberty, I have a nice lush green golf course at the north pole I would like to sell you.

They were afraid that we would alert others on what they were in the process of attacking on land.

EVery naval incident that resulted in lost of life prompted a naval court of inquiry except for this one. Why?

Why were the crew members treated they way they were?

I was stationed at NAVSECGRU had visited the Liberty earlier that year to resolve problems they were experiencing with their LPA antenna mounted on a 40MM gun pedestal.

EVery naval incident that resulted in lost of life prompted a naval court of inquiry except for this one.

False. It DID prompt a court of inquiry. The verdict was not what you liked.

Bottom line: the US government told the Israelis that we had no ships in the area. The Israelis were dumb enough to believe Uncle Sam without question.

USS Liberty Crewmen call Israel’s attack intentional

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/24_10_03/art26.asp

At the news conference in Boston, the Court’s Senior Legal Counsel, repeated assertions to the Navy Times last year about why he’d kept silent for so long about what he now calls a seriously flawed legal process. As a military man, “when orders come … I follow them.”

Boston charged that US President Lyndon Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara had ordered the court to arrive at conclusions that were not inimical to Israel. Moorer, who has long held that the attack was malicious, rhetorically asked: “Why would our government put Israel’s interests ahead of our own?”

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