U.S. agency confirms sinking of USS Liberty was accident

Haaretz ^ | 9/7/2003 | Nathan Guttman

[Courier]

U.S. agency confirms sinking of USS Liberty was accident

By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent

WASHINGTON - New documents released this week by America's National Security Agency support Israel's version of a long-festering controversy between the two countries: Israel's sinking of an American spy ship, the USS Liberty, off the coast of Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel has always said it had no idea the ship was American, but conspiracy theorists and anti-Israel propagandists still claim Israel sank the ship in the full knowledge that it was American.

The documents, originally defined as top secret, were made public by Florida Judge Jay Cristol, who

has been investigating the Liberty incident for years and published a book on the subject last year. On Monday, the NSA gave him a transcript of conversations held by two Israeli Air Force helicopter pilots who were hovering over the Liberty as it was sinking, and these tapes confirm Israel's claim that the sinking of the ship, which killed 34 American servicemen and wounded 171, was a tragic error.

After the Liberty was bombed by both the Israel Air Force and the Israel Navy, the two helicopter pilots were summoned from their base to assess the damage and evaluate the possibility of rescuing the surviving crew members. An American spy plane, which had been sent to the area as soon as the NSA learned of the attack, recorded their conversations, which took place between 2:30 and 3:37 P.M. on June 8, the third day of the war.

The spy plane also recorded the orders radioed to the pilots by their supervisor at Hatzor Base, which instructed them to search for Egyptian survivors from the "Egyptian warship" that had just been bombed - thus supporting Israel's claim that it had believed the ship was Egyptian when it ordered it attacked. "Pay attention. The ship is now identified as Egyptian," the pilots were told.

Nine minutes later, Hatzor informed the pilots that it was not an Egyptian warship, but an Egyptian cargo ship. Only at 3:07 were the pilots first informed that the ship might not have been Egyptian at all: Hatzor told them that if they found Arabic-speaking survivors, they should be taken to El-Arish, but if they found English-speaking survivors, they should be taken to Lod. "Clarify by the first man that you bring up, what nationality he is, and report to me immediately," the supervisor instructed, according to the transcript. "It's important to know."

Then, at 3:12, one of the pilots informed Hatzor that he saw an American flag flying over the wounded ship. He was asked to investigate and determine whether it was really an American ship.

This is not the first time such transcripts have been made public: Israel gave its own recordings of the pilots' conversations to the British television station Thames in 1987. But conspiracy theorists charged that Israel had doctored the tapes before handing them over to the station in order to hide the fact that it sank the Liberty intentionally. No such imputation can be made about these new transcripts, as they were never in Israeli hands.

Israel has always said it attacked the Liberty, which America sent to the region to gather intelligence on the progress of the war, because it believed it was an Egyptian supply ship ferrying supplies to the Egyptian troops that Israel was then fighting. When it discovered the error, it immediately informed the Americans, apologized and paid compensation to the victims' families.

The incident was investigated by inquiry commissions in both Israel and the United States, and both concluded that it had, indeed, been a tragic error. Nevertheless, the controversy never died. In 1979, one of the survivors, James Ennes, published a book accusing Israel of bombing the American ship deliberately. Ennes claimed an Israeli spy plane had hovered over the ship all morning and had surely identified it as American, since the American flag was clearly visible.

A later book, written by James Bamford, charged that Israel sank the ship in order to keep America from learning of its plans to attack Syria, and further claimed that the NSA had tapes of conversations among Israeli pilots that not only confirmed this, but also proved that the tapes released by Israel had been doctored.

Another claim that appears frequently on the dozens of Internet sites devoted to the affair is that Israel sank the ship to conceal a mass murder of Egyptian soldiers on the Sinai peninsula.

In its letter to Cristol, the NSA stressed that, contrary to the claims that often appear in such books and Web sites - that the agency has tapes from both the Liberty and from a nearby American submarine that confirm Israel's guilt - the only tapes that exist were those made by the spy plane and given to Cristol this week.

"It's the last piece of intelligence that remained classified, and every rational person that will read it will understand that there is no truth in these conspiracy theories against Israel," Cristol said Tuesday. But he added: "Those who hate Israel, who hate Jews, and those who believe in conspiracy will not be convinced by anything."

Cristol, a former U.S. navy pilot and legal officer, began investigating the Liberty incident 14 years ago. Since publishing his book, which vindicates Israel, he has received threats and been accused of being an Israeli agent. "I take this lightly, but I am saddened to learn that there is this kind of hate toward Israel," he said.

[E Rocc]

"Pay attention. The ship is now identified as Egyptian," the pilots were told.

If you take a look at the USS Liberty website you will see that they are claiming to have mistaken this:

for this:

even though the Egyptian El Quesir was in drydock.

It's just not credible. The IDF also claimed that the ship was flying no flag (it now is on display at Fort Meade)

Interestingly, the US Naval Institute has a different take:

Friendless Fire?

Principally, the El Quseir lacked the U.S. ship's unique add-ons, which included, both topside, an 18-foot-wide satellite dish nearly as tall as the smokestack and a wading pool-sized microwave dish. The ship bristled, as well, with video capture antennae and other exotica found on no other vessel in the world, much less decrepit Arab transport ships.28 Ancillary reasons the "deliberate school" rejects Judge Cristol's El Quseir defense are as follows: The Egyptian craft:

Flew colors markedly dissimilar to the U.S. flag
Was one-quarter of the Liberty's tonnage and just nearly half her length
Had been out of service for many months
Was waiting to be scrapped in Alexandria
Was illustrated—along with the Liberty—in Jane's Fighting Ships, to which Israel had access

Sorry, but a single bombing or torpedo attack could be considered an "accident". A sustained strike like this? Bullclinton.

-Eric

[Rodney King]

These threads always bring 'em out. At least Illbay is gone, finally!

What happend to Illbay? Banned? How come?

[E Rocc]

Saying "murdered by Israel" removes the target cliche' and removes the ability to assail the claimant of being "anti-Semitic".

When I read "murdered by the Jews" I flinched myself, "murdered by Israel" is much more accurate. It still leaves one open to being assailed as "anti-semitic" by some. There are people around here who seem to think anyone more moderate than Arutz Sheva is an "anti-semite".

-Eric

[veronica]

Holy sh*t. I was gonna lurk on LibertyForum and watch the troglodytes tear their hair out, foam at the mouth, pee on every hydrant in sight and look for a few jooos to mangle when this article hit them. And I could have watched the whole Theatre of the Grotesque right here on Free Republic.

Well, you had to know this article would send Jewhaters and conspiracy nuts clean 'round the bend. :)

[E Rocc]

Maybee if the Isrealies really wanted it sunk then they would have come back to finish the job.

The USS Saratoga had scrambled a couple of F-4s to aid the Liberty (they were later recalled on the direct orders of Robert Strange MacNamara)and broadcast this fact.

-Eric

[Catspaw]

You forgot about the eye twitches and limbs flailing around--but that may go hand-in-hand with the frothing at the mouth stuff.

[krb]

I didn't think it sank???

[veronica]

This best sums up their reaction to anything about Israel and or Jews, that does not suit their twisted "world view."

;)

[af_vet_1981]

The NSA's own intercepts disagree with you.

They will claim the NSA is lying or withholding information. They are consumed by one overwhelming spirit, the spirit of the adversary who hates Israel with all his being.

Reason cannot reach them.

[msdrby]

Why doesn't someone poll the survivors? At this late point most are no doubt out of the military and free to tell their individual stories.

It doesn't get any better than first person accounts.

Even when you're out of the military, you can't talk about classified material. It is a big deal that NSA has declassified this information. Now people can finally talk about it with some authority. Unfortunately, those who would have probably known best what was happening are not here to tell the truth of what happened.

[SJackson]

Shocking, isn't it.

[adam_az]

After the US Navy denies that any US warships were east of Cyprus, why would Israeli pilots have suspected the Liberty?

Ironically when the Israelis first discovered they had wrongly identified the ship, they were concerned they had attacked a SOVIET ship!

[adam_az]

They were F-104's, and were recalled by Vice Admiral Martin because the 104's were armed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS and sinced he was worried the attackers were Soviet, he didn't want to start a nuclear war.

[ASA Vet]

Here's my response.

The USS Liberty was not SUNK.

If the article is as accurate as the headline why read further?

[E Rocc]

They were F-104's, and were recalled by Vice Admiral Martin because the 104's were armed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS and sinced he was worried the attackers were Soviet, he didn't want to start a nuclear war.

The F-104 was an air force interceptor. I don't believe they were carrier capable. The Navy had a few, but I can't find any record of them deploying off carriers. The F-4 was the "all-purpose" US Navy carrier plane of the time and that's what would have been scrambled against an combined air-sea threat, and indeed was.

-Eric

[Courier]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/942986/posts

[doc]

What is really sad is the ability of the governments to lie and coverup this tragedy.

[doc]

Being called an anti semite over this issue is the same as being called anti hispanic because your against illegal immigration.

[adam_az]

I am quoting this article

http://www.shalem.org.il/azure/9-Oren.htm

with this reference:

27. LBJ, Country Files, Box 104/107, The National Military Command Center: Attack on the USS Liberty, June 9, 1967. See also Cristol, Liberty Incident, p. 55.

...in other words it's reference is the primary source material available.

You, on the other hand, are speculating.

[Oztrich Boy]

I don't believe they were carrier capable. I can't find any record of them deploying off carriers

No way. 200kt take-off speed. If you rigged them to catapult you might just get them off the deck if you ran the ship at top speed into a strong headwind.

But with a 180 kt landing speed and a very flat final there is no way you could get them on deck again.