Judge Cristol tells the Post how he set record straight on USS Liberty

Much propaganda is thrown against Israel in the "information war" but no subject is highlighted more than a tragic friendly-fire incident which occurred between Israel and the US almost 40 years ago.

US Florida Judge Jay Cristol was responsible for having successfully petitioned the NSA to release US data confirming the accident. Cristol believes that Israel's enemies have tried to use this incident for decades to create a wedge between Washington and Jerusalem.

Judge Cristol, in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post explains what happened to the USS Liberty and discusses the relevance of the new information released by the US National Security Agency.

Judge Cristol: "On the fourth day of the Six Day War, June 8, 1967, the USS Liberty, a U.S. Navy intelligence gatherer, failed to receive orders to stay clear of the combat zone and sailed into the middle of the Six Day War."

Cristol continues: "On the previous day, Israeli forces in the Sinai, near El Arish, had reported being shelled from the sea by a ship. Explosions around El Arish led the army to think it was happening again. They saw a grey warship near the horizon and reported it to headquarters (the Karya). The Israeli Navy sent motor torpedo boats to investigate. Through a series of additional errors, they determined that they could not overtake the ship which was steering toward Port Said. They called for air and the Israeli Air Force was sent to locate and attack a hostile warship off El Arish."

"Twelve or fourteen minutes into the air attack the flight leader of Royal Flight (2 Super Mystere) noticed the ship's hull markings were not in Arabic script. The Air Force stopped the attack. Soon thereafter the motor torpedo boats arrived. They stopped and began to signal the ship which was now smoking as a result of the air attack. The ship, the Liberty, began firing at the torpedo boats which convinced them she was hostile and commenced a torpedo attack. The ship was identified as hostile, Egyptian, Soviet, Egyptian again and ultimately American. The identification as American took place between 3:07 and 3:12 p.m. about 40 minutes after the attacks were over. The second Israeli helicopter pilot observed and confirmed an American flag," said Cristol.

"For years conspiracy theorists have claimed that audio tapes existed of the Israeli pilots identifying the ship as American before they attacked. There are other conspiracy claims that the Liberty radio compartment made such interceptions and that the U.S. submarine Amberjack had gathered damning evidence during the attack by means of its periscope."

"On July 2, 2003, as a result of my lawsuit using the Freedom of Information Act, the National Security Agency made two significant admissions. First, that there had been no radio intercepts made by the USS Liberty. Second, that there had been no radio intercepts made by the US submarine Amberjack. And finally, the National Security Agency released copies of the recordings it made from an EC-121 aircraft in the vicinity of the attacks during the time periods 2:30 p.m. Sinai time to 3:27 p.m. Sinai time. These tapes contain nothing to support the prior conspiracy claims and show that the helicopters were first dispatched to rescue Egyptians, and then demonstrate the confusion as to the identification of the target ship."

Cristol adds: "The tapes confirm that the helicopter pilot observed the flag at 3:12 p.m. This perfectly dove-tails with the audio tapes which the Israel Air Force released to Judge Cristol of the radio transmissions before, during and after the attack. The English translations of those tapes are published in Appendix 2, of Judge Cristol's book "The Liberty Incident". The NSA tapes are the last significant piece of evidence which remained classified until now. They clearly corroborates the Israeli Air Force tapes and support the decisions of ten official U.S. investigations and 3 or more official Israeli investigations, all of which concluded that the tragic event was a case of mistaken identity."

"As Admiral "Bud" Edney, former NATO supreme allied commander, Atlantic; and commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic command, stated, "Only those with an ulterior motive can still cling to the conspiracy theories after Judge Jay Cristol's excellent coverage documents each detail that led to the tragic mistaken attack."

The Jerusalem Post: Judge, what motivated you to get involved in this research project?

AJC: When I was appointed a federal judge I began taking courses in international affairs at the Graduate School of International Affairs at the University of Miami. My initial interest was in terrorism. One day Dr. Haim Shaked suggested that with my background as a naval aviator, navy lawyer, lecturer for the Department of Defense on law of naval warfare, civilian lawyer and federal judge, I was qualified to research and write on the Liberty incident. At first I resisted, arguing "that was more than 20 years ago". But I was soon shown how active the conspiracy theorists and hate mongers were about keeping the story alive. I started a one year project as a masters degree which developed into 10 years and a Ph.D. My doctoral dissertation is on file in the Library of Congress. I then spent 3 more years writing my book "The Liberty Incident". I now have 16 years on the project and the largest collection in the world of research materials on this subject. The Hoover Institution at Stanford University has requested my research material for their archives. I have gifted it to them and am in the process of sending it to them.

AJC: The victims of the tragedy are typical of victims of friendly fire. They find it difficult to believe that they were wounded or their buddies were killed by mistake. In this case the victims have been imposed upon, used and abused by groups with their own agendas. First, are those who are on the Arab side of the Arab/Israeli conflict and who try to use the tragedy to drive a wedge into the otherwise excellent relationship between the United States and Israel. Next are those persons who are anti-Semitic or anti-Israel. And finally there are the conspiracy buffs. For the reasons indicated these three groups have continued to probe the wounds of the victims for their own purposes and are not concerned with healing or closure.

The Jerusalem Post: How important is the release of the audio tapes by the National Security Agency?

AJC: The release of the NSA tapes is extremely important because it provides additional evidence that has been solely in the hands of the United States and therefore cannot be challenged as having been modified or altered by Israeli intelligence services. In addition, it corroborates the Israeli Air Force tapes as the material dove-tails with the information on those tapes.

The Jerusalem Post: Why do many of the conspiracy theorists continue to demand a United States Congressional investigation and is such an investigation appropriate?

AJC: The goal is simply to provide a platform for propaganda. There have been ten official U.S. investigations. Five of them were Congressional. They all reached the same conclusion that the incident was a tragic mistake. Eight United States Presidents: Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton, and Bush (43) have supported and adopted these conclusions. In fact, the current President of the United States, George W. Bush, through White House staff, issued a letter in October 2002 indicating his position that no further investigation of this incident was needed.

The Jerusalem Post: Would you comment on the claims of author James Bamford that the Liberty was attacked to prevent the United States from learning of massacres of Egyptian prisoners in the Sinai?

AJC: Mr. Bamford provides as his source of this claim two Israeli journalists, both of whom have denied statements attributed to them by Bamford. First, it is literally impossible for an electronic intelligence gatherer to overhear murders taking place in a desert more than a dozen miles away. The Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1973. Egypt has made no claim that such murders took place. No mass graves have been located and no Egyptian soldiers from the '67 war are missing or unaccounted for. Mr. Bamford writings are much closer to fiction than to history.

The Jerusalem Post: Are all the former crew-members of the USS Liberty unanimous in their belief in conspiracy theories?

AJC: Absolutely not. The spectrum of opinions is quite varied from those who are rabid conspiracy theory supporters to others who accept the fact that the tragedy was the result of both Israeli and U.S. mistakes. I have been asked for the names of crew-members who accept the mistake theory but have declined to name anyone as I have no intention of creating animosity among shipmates.

The Jerusalem Post: The Liberty Veteran's Association appears to be very active in support of conspiracy theories. How is the association organized and are all former Liberty crew-members members of the Association?

AJC: There are many crew-members that have never joined the Association. The Association was founded with the assistance of two former United States Congressman, Paul Findley of Illinois, the first U.S. Congressman to espouse the PLO, and Paul N. "Pete" McCloskey, who is well known for his anti-Israel sentiments. McCloskey drafted the incorporation papers for the Association and also served as legal advisor to the Association. He has spoken at Holocaust denial organization conferences. He and Findley, together with three other former congresspersons, established the Council for the National Interest, CNI, an organization whose avowed purposes (according to their own press release) was to be an anti-Israel lobby.

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Are you saying that the findings brought forward by investigators are meaningless unless they were in the act they are investigating?

This is just like saying that a murder investigator doesn't know what he is talking about in his findings, simply because he wasn't at the scene of the crime when it happened.

Here is a rebuff to one of his "facts":

• Many who claim that the attack must have been intentional argue that the Israeli jets and torpedo boats could not have missed the Liberty’s US flag, and therefore must have attacked knowing the ship was American. James Ennes, Jr., a Lieutenant on the Liberty, and one of the leading conspiracy proponents, makes this point repeatedly in his book Assault on the Liberty.

It is therefore quite ironic that Mr. Ennes, who was extensively interviewed by the History Channel, also argues in his book it would have been impossible for Cdr. McGonagle to recognize the flags and markings on the Israeli boats:

McGonagle must have been mistaken about sighting the Israeli flag at this point in the attack. For one thing, it would have been practically impossible to identify a tiny and wildly fluttering Star of David a mile away, particularly since any flags displayed by the torpedo boats would have streamed back, away from McGonagle and out of his line of sight. (Assault on the Liberty, p 149; )

Cdr. McGonagle, who had binoculars, obviously did not agree.

So, Ennis claims, the Israelis must have seen the US flag, but it was impossible that at exactly the same time the Americans could have seen the Israeli flag.

http://world.std.com/~camera/docs/alert/hchannel.html

I read James Ennes's book. The Free Republic comments I've read so far on this subject pretty much say, "Yeah, Israel, no matter what happened." James Ennes describes a vicious, intentional attack that came in waves over several hours. He also describes the heroic actions of Chief Engineer Golden who died on board the Liberty. Chief Golden also happened to be a Jew, but that won't stop some fools from labeling James Ennes as an anti-Semite Nazi.

The problem with the "the Israelis didn't see the US flag" argument is the fact that the attack came in waves lasting at least 2 hours..........but NO Israeli EVER caught a glimps of the US flag?

This does not mean that I blame Israelis for what some fool in the IDF did. I just believe in the truth and I don't feel comfortable simply dismissing James Ennes because his conclusions are "uncomfortable".

"First of all answer my question I raised before. Second of all, no one is disputing that Israel attacked the USS Liberty. The fact is it was an accident. Were the sailors on the boat able to hear the radio conversations between the IAF pilots and base?

The fact is: there can be no "facts" established, either way. It's been too long and there's too much "disinformatia" thrown at this subject. We'll know the truth, when we know what REALLY crashed at Roswell, NM in July, 1947.

"But I was soon shown how active the conspiracy theorists and hate mongers were about keeping the story alive."

So anyone who disagress with the Judge is a hate monger? If this is the attitude he started out with, his credibility is pretty well blown.

"Twelve or fourteen minutes into the air attack the flight leader of Royal Flight (2 Super Mystere) noticed the ship's hull markings were not in Arabic script. "

Maybe he should have noticed the US Navy battle ensign, a vey, very large Old Glory flying over the Liberty.

Sorry, but the JP can't have it both ways. Either the IAF pilots are supermen or stupid beyond belief.

It would be nice if Ennes could keep his story straight over time, never mind that many of the eyewitness accounts conflict with each other.

Also, Ennes had no way of knowing while he was on the ship what was in the IDF's collective mind during the attack, which all the evidence shows to be that they thought it was an Egyptian ship.

"It would be nice if Ennes could keep his story straight over time, never mind that many of the eyewitness accounts conflict with each other. Also, Ennes had no way of knowing while he was on the ship what was in the IDF's collective mind during the attack, which all the evidence shows to be that they thought it was an Egyptian ship."

Confussion is normal during combat. It's expected. It's also quite possible that the IDF were trying to destroy the only inteligence-gathering ship that could pick up IDF radio traffic that would indicate an Israeli pre-emptive attack on her Arab neighbors. That's what Ennes believes happened. Can he prove it? No. Can the IDF prove that they thought it was an Egyptian ship? No. The trail of evidence is cold and (worse) it's been muddied over the years by both sides. I take nobody's word for anything. Just like, "are there really flying saucers?" The only honest answer that can be given is: "We don't know." Does the Government know? We don't know if the Government knows. That's all that can be said about these nasty little mysteries.

"The war was already on when the Liberty was attacked. The Liberty incident happened after teh Egyptian Navy sank the Eilat As for pre-emptive, Egypt was blockading Israel (an act of war), and Egypt and Syria were shelling Israeli positions before the IDF retaliated."

I'm not sure that this is true. James Ennes does state that an Israeli aircraft (an American-made F-100 Delta Dart was used, I believe) made low level surveilance passes over the Liberty hours (several hours, I believe) before the attack.

I do not blame Israel for attacking the Arab States (pre-emptive, or otherwise). I only want to know about what happened with the USS Liberty. It seems to me that if the Israelis really did suspect the Liberty of being Egyptian ship, a call to the US Navy could have helped avoid an "accident".

Ennes, I believe, also uncovered some evidence from US military sources of a similar incident that occured months earlier against a US ship where the Israelis warned the US against having inteligence-gathering ships poking around the area. No shots were fired on that occasion. If this is true, then it would bolster claims that the Israelis knew exactly who the USS Liberty was.

Will we ever know and can we ever trust "new" documments that surface, magically to support one side, or the other? I seriously doubt it.

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