• 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
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".