Exclusive: Liberty attack tapes revealed

At 1:58 pm on June 8, 1967, Capt. Yiftach Spector lined up his Mirage IIICJ fighter jet above the USS Liberty and raked it from bow to stern with his armored-piercing bullets from his 30 mm guns.

Even now, 37 years later, the attack by the Air Force on the American spy ship on the fourth day of the Six Days' War fuels the fire of intrigue, conspiracy and cover-up theories. Nevertheless, what follows is powerful evidence that the attack was a tragic mistake.

The Israel Air Force archives have audiotapes of the radio transmissions made prior, during and after the attack. They have never been made public. The Jerusalem Post was allowed to listen to these tapes on an exclusive basis together with other Air Force historians. Here, for the first time, the actual transcripts of the radio transmissions between the pilot and ground station appear in the press.

Historians will be the first to say that raw material needs context. Therefore, it is important to present the entire unedited transcript of the attack to prevent Israel bashers from dissecting out the unflattering and incriminating comments and using them out of context.

This said, it is also vital that the text be annotated, translated from the jargon of 1967 Air Force language, to one that can be understood today.

There are a number of dramatic moments, including jockey calls by a pilot: that it would be a "mitzvah" to sink the ship before the Navy arrived and another says it was 'easier than MiGs.'

Another is when suddenly, in the middle of the attack, an unknown voice cuts in from the side: "What is this? What about the Americans?" And finally, the confusion over the identity is dwarfed by the split second decision making made by the chief air controller Col. Shmuel Kislev.

The pilots speak only before and after they act. There are full minutes of almost total silence and you know that men are being killed.

The only sound is of an automated female voice of the time being red out every 20 seconds. "The time is now 14 and two minutes."

There are two tapes, one of the radio transmissions between the pilots and controllers, and the other is of telephone conversations between the chief air controller and regional air controllers. The audiotapes themselves were not released. The following transcript is a mix of the two tapes into one transcript, which explains the time overlaps.

Cast of characters: Homeland - Air Controllers Kislev - chief air controller at general headquarters in Tel Aviv Menachem - chief air controller at Air Control South Yigal - Menachem's deputy Robert - chief air controller at Air Control Central Shimon - Robert's deputy L.K. - Capt. Lazar Karni, weapons system officer Kursa - two-ship formation of Mirage IIICJs commanded by Capt. Yiftach Spector Royal - two-ship formation of Super-Mysteres that made the second run on Liberty Nixon - two-ship formation of Mysteres armed with bombs for third strike Pagoda - three torpedo boats commanded by Lt.-Cmdr. Moshe Oren Migdal - one of the three torpedo boats that communicates with the pilots

Background: The Navy has just identified a mysterious vessel off El Arish possibly shelling the ammo depot on the beach. It dispatched three torpedo boats against it, but has asked the Air Force to intercept the ship.

13:50 KISLEV: Yigal, you have a ship at 26 (site designation). Take Kursa over there. If it's a warship then screw it.

13:51 UNKNOWN Wait a minute Kislev. The Navy says that our torpedo boats are in the area and are called Pagoda. They're on frequency 186.

KISLEV If it is a warship you can attack. There are two of our torpedo boats there and they want (the pilots) to either see them or contact them on frequency 186. (There were actually three boats) Robert, do you have Royal?

KISLEV Robert, take Royal along the coast so that if Kursa identifies then he'll be able to go in too.

13:52 KURSA What's the range? Seven turns, 040 degrees. Roger, I'll stay on 19 and 9 (frequencies). How do you call the torpedo boats? Pagoda? Kursa 9 and 3.

LK What is this? Americans? (the weapons system officer in the general headquarters blurted out in what he later testified was a hunch.)

13:55 KISLEV Menachem, if there are three torpedo boats, then this could be ours. (he is aware of the correct number of boats now)

KURSA Migdal from Kursa. Are you three? There is no need. Bring yourselves up some 10-15 kilometers from the ship. Is it in the direction of your home?

KURSA I see you on a right turn. Why are you turning? It's not in that direction.

KURSA She's running from you in the direction of El Arish, correction, Port Said. What is it? What is it? A destroyer? A patrol boat? What is it?

MENACHEM I told him that if it is a warship then he has authorization to attack. That was the last command.

KISLEV He does. If this is a warship then yes. Royal is to be directed to there.

SHIMON She's running away from this (he says this as he monitors the Liberty on his radar screen)

13:57 SHIMON Just a second, Kislev, we see the ship. (on radar) That's one hell of a ship.

ROBERT Menachem, I passing 105th (Super Mysteres squadron) to you on 19. Royal (over) El Arish at 20 (20,000 feet)

13:59 KURSA We've hit her a lot ...but maybe she is doing it (putting out smoke) on purpose, I don't know. Oil is spilling out into the water. I'm in eye contact. Great! Wonderful! She's burning! She's burning!

MENACHEM Did you hear? He's hit her a lot. There's a lot of black smoke. There's an oil leak into the water. He's continuing.

MENACHEM Shumlik, she's burning! The moment Kursa is finished we're sending in Royal.(he uses Kislev's first name Shmulik in his excitement)

14:00 ROYAL Eye contact with the target. Eye contact with Kursa. Royal requests 15 (15,000 feet)

KURSA OK, Kursa is coming in ..you a bit further in. I'll go in the direction OK (his comments are to his wingman)

KURSA I think she is putting out smoke on purpose. It's coming out of the smokestack. OK. I'm finished too. The ship is really burning. There is a large fire and a lot of black smoke.

ROYAL Homeland, can you hear? Call Homeland on 19. Ask if it's allowed to go in.

ROYAL I understand do not go in. Fine. We're circling above the ship at 15. (15,000 feet) Tell him that the Navy will be arriving before us. I can see.

ROBERT Pay attention. There is doubt as to the identification. (Robert consults with a naval liaison officer in his headquarters)

14:02 ROYAL Sausages, in the middle and up in one pass. Two together. (he instructs his wingman on dropping the napalm) We'll come in from the rear. Watch out for the masts. Don't hit the masts, careful of the masts. I'll come in from her left, you come behind me.

ROBERT Kislev, the Navy asks not to sink her completely. They want to get close and have a look.

UNKNOWN I don't know. Two (Royal wingman) hit the ship with (napalm) and now he's strafing.

14:08 ROYAL Homeland from Royal, how do you hear me? She has some kind of marking, P30 and something.

14:09 ROYAL Homeland, if you could have a two-ship formation with bombs (here) before the Navy arrives then it would be a mitzvah. Otherwise the Navy will be here in 10 minutes.

KISLEV In the meantime take formation 116 (Nixon). Who is checking this? (the mysterious markings on the ship)

KISLEV Look for a flag if they can see one. Have Royal look. See if they can identify her with a flag.

14:10 ROYAL Twelve o'clock ..look higher. Now left, slowly, slowly a bit faster so it will stay external, OK?

14:10 ROBERT Kislev, they (the Navy) are asking us not to do anything else about her. They want to take her. It's a pity to sink her. I want to receive an answer.

14:11 ROYAL Homeland from Royal, do you read me? Pay attention. This ship's markings are Charlie-Tango-Romeo 5. There is no flag on her! She looks like a minesweeper with that marking. Roger, I'm leaving her. I'm staying around one more minute. (the Liberty's correct markings were GTR-5)

KISLEV Leave her! (his flat tone changes dramatically as he realizes this was no Egyptian ship)

KISLEV Leave her. (he says tersely) Menachem report the approximate damage. (Redirect) 116 to its original mission.

14:13 ROYAL Homeland, there's external fire on her, a lot of hits on her upper parts. People are jumping into the water. She's not shooting at all. She has hardly any armaments on her. She's going full steam towards the north.

Coverup There are two negative stories about Israel-US relations that refuse to die and are raised periodically. One of them is the Pollard espionage affair and the other is the attack on the USS Liberty. They often are mentioned in the same breath.

Dozens of books have been written and documentaries made on the attack that killed 34 US sailors and wounded over 170. At least ten official US and three Israeli investigations concluded it was the result of a tragic mistake made in the heat of battle. But for some in the world it was inconceivable that the Israeli intelligence which orchestrated the enormous victory of the Six Days' War could have made such a gross mistake. There must be another explanation.

"There isn't," says Michael Oren, author of the acclaimed Six Days of War and senior fellow at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem. "Conspiracy theories in general live, and regarding Jews and Israel they are immortal."

"They don't die because they tap into the notion or belief of an international Jewish cabal, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion thing," he says. "The USS Liberty conspiracists all claim that Israel uses its lobbies and threaten to withhold support to anyone critical of the country. It is nefarious and sinister. It is anti-Semitism."

Besides that, the incident includes terrific elements for conspiracies, Oren says.

"It involves a spy ship. It involves Israel committing an egregious error in the middle of a war where it was perceived to have been flawless. The combination of the NSA (National Security Agency) and the Israeli Air Force is a conspiracy theorists dream,"

Meanwhile, the survivors of the USS Liberty continue to gather to remember their friends, but also to perpetuate the conspiracy that not only were deliberately attacked, but that it was covered up at the highest American and Israeli levels.

Less than 20 of the hundreds of survivors came to this year's memorial held two weeks ago (May 22) in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

"We all believe we're finally getting to the point where the truth may be told and the world is ready to listen," says Cmdr. David Lewis, who oversaw intelligence on the ship and remembers most of the attack that left him with superficial burns and destroyed his eardrums.

The view from the cockpit Of the four pilots who took part in the attack, three are alive today. One died in 1979 during an aviation accident. For years their identities were classified. Last October, Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Yiftach Spector agreed to be identified and gave an exclusive interview on the attack to this reporter. Here are some of his comments.

"There was a mistake. Mistakes happen. As far as I know, the mistake was of the USS Liberty being there in the first place," said Spector, who at the time was deputy squadron commander of the 101st and used the code name "Kursa" during the attack.

"I did not fire on the Liberty as a human target. I was sent to attack a sailing vessel. This ship was on an escape route from the El Arish area which at that same moment had heavy smoke rising from it," said Spector.

"I was told on the radio that it was an Egyptian ship off the Gaza coast. Hit it. The luck of the ship was that I was armed only with light ammunition (30mm) against aircraft. If I had had a bomb it would be sitting on the bottom today like the Titanic. I promise you," Spector said.

"Every order is given by commanders and the last one to receive it has to decide whether he will pull the trigger or not. In this instance I was the fighter. I checked what I had to check (i.e. that it was a military ship and not one of ours) and pulled the trigger," Spector said.

"The crew should be thankful for their luck (that I was on an air-to-air mission and did not have any bombs) I'm sorry for poor Capt. (William Loren) McGonagle whose leg was wounded and the other guys who were killed and wounded."

"I'm sorry for the mistake. In war mistakes happen," Spector said. "But it wasn't my mistake."

He added he remained baffled that the conspiracy theories live on that Israel deliberately attacked the US intelligence ship. He suggested it might be due to anti-Semitism, or anti-Israeli sentiments. He has never in the past 37 years ever met with any of the Liberty survivors, but had no qualms about doing so now.

"These people never, ever spoke to me. Perhaps they are anti-Semites? Or these guys feel hurt and are looking for guilty parties, maybe to get compensation, or money? I am not afraid to meet them. Anyone who wants to meet with me is welcome. I don't have any claims against them. I don't want any compensation from them or anything. If they want they can look me up. And they best not deal with lies and deception since it won't help. It's best they tell the truth."

"They must understand that a mistake was made here," Spector said. "The fool is one who wanders about in the dark in dangerous places, so they should not come with any complaints."

Spector, 63, who went on to become a triple ace shooting down 15 enemy aircraft, base commander and took part in the infamous 1981 raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor, earned a place in the pantheon of Israeli fly boys. He has spent the past 20 years teaching new generation of fliers. He was dismissed from the IAF last year for signing a letter with other pilots protesting the policy of targeted killings.

Findings of the Independent Commission of Inquiry
into the Israeli Attack on USS Liberty,
the Recall of Military Rescue Support Aircraft
while the Ship was Under Attack, and the
Subsequent Cover-up by the United States Government

CAPITOL HILL, WASHINGTON, D.C.
OCTOBER 22, 2003

ADMIRAL THOMAS H. MOORER, UNITED STATES NAVY, (RET.)
FORMER CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

GENERAL RAYMOND G. DAVIS, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, (MOH)*
FORMER ASSISTANT COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

REAR ADMIRAL MERLIN STARING, UNITED STATES NAVY, (RET.)
FORMER JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL OF THE NAVY HH

AMBASSADOR JAMES AKINS, (RET.)
FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA

Chief Attorney of the 1967 Court of Inquiry
Captain Boston's Affidavit
Commonly Asked Questions about USS Liberty
Who are the Commissioners of this Independent Investigation?
We, the undersigned, having undertaken an independent investigation of Israel’s attack on USS Liberty, including eyewitness testimony from surviving crewmembers, a review of naval and other official records, an examination of official statements by the Israeli and American governments, a study of the conclusions of all previous official inquiries, and a consideration of important new evidence and recent statements from individuals having direct knowledge of the attack or the cover up, hereby find the following: **

1. That on June 8, 1967, after eight hours of aerial surveillance, Israel launched a two-hour air and naval attack against USS Liberty, the world’s most sophisticated intelligence ship, inflicting 34 dead and 172 wounded American servicemen (a casualty rate of seventy percent, in a crew of 294);

2. That the Israeli air attack lasted approximately 25 minutes, during which time unmarked Israeli aircraft dropped napalm canisters on USS Liberty's bridge, and fired 30mm cannons and rockets into our ship, causing 821 holes, more than 100 of which were rocket-size; survivors estimate 30 or more sorties were flown over the ship by a minimum of 12 attacking Israeli planes which were jamming all five American emergency radio channels;

3. That the torpedo boat attack involved not only the firing of torpedoes, but the machine-gunning of Liberty’s firefighters and stretcher-bearers as they struggled to save their ship and crew; the Israeli torpedo boats later returned to machine-gun at close range three of the Liberty’s life rafts that had been lowered into the water by survivors to rescue the most seriously wounded;

4. That there is compelling evidence that Israel’s attack was a deliberate attempt to destroy an American ship and kill her entire crew; evidence of such intent is supported by statements from Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Undersecretary of State George Ball, former CIA director Richard Helms, former NSA directors Lieutenant General William Odom, USA (Ret.), Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, USN (Ret.), and Marshal Carter; former NSA deputy directors Oliver Kirby and Major General John Morrison, USAF (Ret.); and former Ambassador Dwight Porter, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon in 1967;

5. That in attacking USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States;

6. That fearing conflict with Israel, the White House deliberately prevented the U.S. Navy from coming to the defense of USS Liberty by recalling Sixth Fleet military rescue support while the ship was under attack; evidence of the recall of rescue aircraft is supported by statements of Captain Joe Tully, Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, and Rear Admiral Lawrence Geis, the Sixth Fleet carrier division commander, at the time of the attack; never before in American naval history has a rescue mission been cancelled when an American ship was under attack;

7. That although Liberty was saved from almost certain destruction through the heroic efforts of the ship’s Captain, William L. McGonagle (MOH), and his brave crew, surviving crewmembers were later threatened with “court-martial, imprisonment or worse” if they exposed the truth; and were abandoned by their own government;

8. That due to the influence of Israel’s powerful supporters in the United States, the White House deliberately covered up the facts of this attack from the American people;

9. That due to continuing pressure by the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, this attack remains the only serious naval incident that has never been thoroughly investigated by Congress; to this day, no surviving crewmember has been permitted to officially and publicly testify about the attack;

10. That there has been an official cover-up without precedent in American naval history; the existence of such a cover-up is now supported by statements of Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, USN (Ret.), former Judge Advocate General of the Navy; and Captain Ward Boston, USN, (Ret.), the chief counsel to the Navy’s 1967 Court of Inquiry of Liberty attack;

11. That the truth about Israel’s attack and subsequent White House cover-up continues to be officially concealed from the American people to the present day and is a national disgrace;

12. That a danger to our national security exists whenever our elected officials are willing to subordinate American interests to those of any foreign nation, and specifically are unwilling to challenge Israel’s interests when they conflict with American interests; this policy, evidenced by the failure to defend USS Liberty and the subsequent official cover-up of the Israeli attack, endangers the safety of Americans and the security of the United States.

WHEREUPON, we, the undersigned, in order to fulfill our duty to the brave crew of USS Liberty and to all Americans who are asked to serve in our Armed Forces, hereby call upon the Department of the Navy, the Congress of the United States and the American people to immediately take the following actions:

FIRST: That a new Court of Inquiry be convened by the Department of the Navy, operating with Congressional oversight, to take public testimony from surviving crewmembers; and to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the attack on the USS Liberty, with full cooperation from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and the military intelligence services, and to determine Israel’s possible motive in launching said attack on a U.S. naval vessel;

SECOND: That every appropriate committee of the Congress of the United States investigate the actions of the White House and Defense Department that prevented the rescue of the USS Liberty, thereafter threatened her surviving officers and men if they exposed the truth, and covered up the true circumstances of the attack from the American people; and

THIRD: That the eighth day of June of every year be proclaimed to be hereafter known as

USS LIBERTY REMEMBRANCE DAY, in order to commemorate USS Liberty’s heroic crew; and to educate the American people of the danger to our national security inherent in any passionate attachment of our elected officials for any foreign nation.

We, the undersigned, hereby affix our hands and seals, this 22nd day of October, 2003.

Thomas H. Moorer
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

General of Marines Raymond G. Davis, USMC, MOH*

Merlin Staring
Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, USN, Ret.,
Former Judge Advocate General of the Navy,

James Akins
Ambassador James Akins, Ret.,
Former United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia,

*IN MEMORIAM: General of Marines Raymond G. Davis, one of America’s most decorated military heroes (including the Congressional Medal of Honor), Vice Chairman of this panel and one of the principal members of this Independent Commission of Inquiry, passed away in Conyers, Georgia, on September 3, 2003.

** [1] Captain Ward Boston, USN, JAGC, Ret, the chief Navy attorney for the 1967 U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the Israeli attack, has recently come forward to repudiate the Court’s conclusion that the attack was “a case of mistaken identity”. Captain Boston has revealed that all available evidence, in fact, pointed in exactly the opposite direction – that it was a deliberate attack on a clearly identified American ship. In his affidavit dated October 9, 2003, Captain Boston states, “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. I am certain that the Israeli pilots that undertook the attack, as well as their superiors who had ordered the attack, were aware that the ship was American.” [See Exhibit attached]. Captain Boston stated that he has personal knowledge that Admiral Kidd found the attack to be “a case of mistaken identity” in 1967 only because he was under direct orders to do so by Defense Secretary McNamara and President Johnson.

[2] Lieutenant Commander David E. Lewis, USS Liberty’s chief intelligence officer (who was severely wounded in the attack) has reported a conversation with Admiral Lawrence R. Geis, the Sixth Fleet carrier division commander, who visited Lewis after he had been medically evacuated by helicopter to the aircraft carrier USS America. According to Lewis, “He (Admiral Geis) said that he wanted somebody to know that we weren’t forgotten…attempts HAD been made to come to our assistance. He said that he had launched a flight of aircraft to come to our assistance, and he had then called Washington. Secretary McNamara came on the line and ordered the recall of the aircraft, which he did. Concurrently he said that since he suspected that they were afraid that there might have been nuclear weapons on board, he reconfigured another flight of aircraft - strictly conventional weaponry - and re-launched it. After the second launch, he again called Washington to let them know what was going on. Again, Secretary McNamara ordered the aircraft recalled. Not understanding why, he requested confirmation of the order; and the next higher in command came on to confirm that…President Johnson...with the instructions that the aircraft were to be returned, that he would not have his allies embarrassed, he didn’t care who was killed or what was done to the ship…words to that effect. With that, Admiral Geis swore me to secrecy for his lifetime. I had been silent up until I found out from Admiral Moorer that Admiral Geis had passed away” [transcript from NBC’s Liberty Story, aired on national television 1/27/92]. This statement by Commander Lewis has recently been corroborated by Tony Hart, a Navy communications technician stationed at the U.S. Navy Base in Morocco in June, 1967. Mr. Hart connected the telephone conversation between Secretary McNamara and Admiral Geis and stayed on the line to keep them connected. Hart has been recorded as saying that he overheard Admiral Geis refusing McNamara’s order to recall the Sixth Fleet rescue aircraft while the ship was under attack. Mr.Hart reported that McNamara responded,“we are not going to war over a bunch of dead sailors.”

[3] New evidence of intercepted radio communications between attacking Israeli pilots and the Israeli War Room, recorded by a U.S. Navy EC-121 spy plane, in which the Israeli pilots report seeing Liberty’s American flag flying, has been collected by investigative author James Bamford - for 9 years the Washington Investigative Producer for ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings (and author of Body of Secrets, which includes a chapter entitled Blood about the attack on USS Liberty). A similar radio message was intercepted by the EC-121 from the Israeli motor torpedo boats. This corroborates statements by surviving crewmembers, by Ambassador Dwight Porter, and by senior National Security Agency officials concerning NSA intercepts of Israeli pilot communications identifying the ship as American.

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Jim Ennes and Joe Meadors

USS Liberty

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