# The USS Liberty and Conspiracy Theories **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 15, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101 "2009-07-15T12:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/1 "2009-07-15T12:37:07Z")
[Wiki here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident) Apologise if this has been done before but I have searched and it kept timing out. Anyway I saw the doco today “Dead In The water” and it seemed very much like there has been a cover up. I am not clear about the reason but there seem little threads (and big ones) over the place. Tell me what you think. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/2 "2009-07-15T12:54:35Z")
I think that some Israeli fighter pilots, in wartime, overly stressed, in an area where they were told there were no neutral ships, saw a ship they mistook for an Egyptian freighter and attacked it. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/3 "2009-07-15T12:55:54Z")
Yes, we’ve done this before. [No, no cover up.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=369368&) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/4 "2009-07-15T16:16:55Z")
As FinnAgain has pointed out this has been done before. However, even if you just take a very broad view of the entire story, it just doesn’t make any sense that it would be a cover-up, for three reasons: 1. The official story - that the two sides, most notable Israel, simply screwed up - is wholly plausible and is supported by a lot of evidence. 2. No objective evidence of a cover up is known to exist, and 3. There’s no obvious benefit to Israel in attacking a U.S. Navy vessel. So there’s no motive and no evidence for a cover up, and a lot of evidence for a screwup. So what do YOU think is more likely? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/5 "2009-07-15T16:41:38Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] So what do YOU think is more likely? [/QUOTE] I think it’s a huge cover up. Basically it goes like this. The US government wanted to make it appear that the Israeli’s attacked the ship. So, they built a bunch of missiles shaped like Israeli fighters…and then they used nano-thermite attack the ship! They then simulated the Israeli fighters attacking the ship, but we all know that jet fuel simply can’t melt steel! Plus there were space weasels involved… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/6 "2009-07-15T17:06:04Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Yes, we’ve done this before. > [No, no cover up.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=369368&) Here…lemme fix that for you. [Yes, yes cover up](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=369368&) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/7 "2009-07-15T17:08:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > So there’s no motive and no evidence for a cover up, and a lot of evidence for a screwup. So what do YOU think is more likely? I am so not going to re-do this one. Finn and I went 20 rounds in the linked thread and its all there from my end if anyone cares. To answer this though I will cut and paste from one of my responses in that thread: > [@](#): > > - The Israelis overflew the Liberty at least 8 times prior to the attack (and as shown above there is evidence that they identified the ship as American) > > - The Israelis, according to your link, identified the ship as an Egyptian cargo freighter. Remember 8 overflights and look at [this picture](http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/u120000/u123118.jpg) of the ship. Note the antennae sprouting all over it not to mention a big satellite dish. Target recognition is trained to pilots and Israeli pilots are as good as they come. Not to mention that reconnaisance aircraft that overflew them are specifically meant to do just that. Add in the American flag and GTR-5 painted in big letters on the bow. They missed identified this how? > > - The attack spanned two hours. Not just one mistaken bomb but three jets, three torpedo boats and helicopters (although the helicopters loaded with armed troops did nothing as at that point the word was out and they thought the Sixth Fleet was responding). Gunfire, rockets, napalm, torpedoes…they beat the snot out of that ship. > > - The Israelis jammed all American emergency channels. > > - The torpedo boats at some point are reported to have been withing 50’ of the ship. > > - The Israelis shot the life rafts the crew threw overboard when the ship seemed lost (looked more like murder than war where you generally capture surviving seamen). > > - Once the ship got a call out the US Sixth Fleet launched planes in its defense. Robert McNamara recalled the strike. The fleet commander, thinking there may have been worry over the planes carrying nukes, launched a second sortie assuring no nukes were being carried. This was recalled as well by President Johnson. > > - After the incident the survivng crew was warned on pain of court martial or prison to not talk about the event. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/8 "2009-07-15T17:10:15Z")
I think the Wikipedia does a good job of summarizing the two sides of the story and overall I find the view that the Israelis knew it was an American ship quite persuasive. Apart from the details of the incident itself including the excellent visibility conditions and the large differences between the US and Egyptian ship, there seem to be a large number of senior US soldiers, diplomats and intelligence officials who have publicly expressed skepticism over the Israeli story. Admittedly some aspects of the story like the precise Israeli motives remain murky; various theories are discussed in the Wiki article. Ultimately we will probably have to wait for the full disclosure of classified documents at least on the US side before we understand the full story. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/9 "2009-07-15T17:16:47Z")
BTW I hadn’t read the 2007 Chicago Tribune [article](http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,1050179.story?page=1)on the incident before. I found this bit interesting: > [@](#): > > The Johnson administration did not publicly dispute Israel’s claim that the attack had been nothing more than a disastrous mistake. But internal White House documents obtained from the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library show that the Israelis’ explanation of how the mistake had occurred was not believed. > > Except for McNamara, most senior administration officials from Secretary of State Dean Rusk on down privately agreed with Johnson’s intelligence adviser, Clark Clifford, who was quoted in minutes of a National Security Council staff meeting as saying it was “inconceivable” that the attack had been a case of mistaken identity. > > The attack “couldn’t be anything else but deliberate,” the NSA’s director, Lt. Gen. Marshall Carter, later told Congress. > > “I don’t think you’ll find many people at NSA who believe it was accidental,” Benson Buffham, a former deputy NSA director, said in an interview. > > “I just always assumed that the Israeli pilots knew what they were doing,” said Harold Saunders, then a member of the National Security Council staff and later assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/10 "2009-07-15T17:34:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As FinnAgain has pointed out this has been done before. > > However, even if you just take a very broad view of the entire story, it just doesn’t make any sense that it would be a cover-up, for three reasons: > > 1. The official story - that the two sides, most notable Israel, simply screwed up - is wholly plausible and is supported by a lot of evidence. > > 2. No objective evidence of a cover up is known to exist, and > > 3. There’s no obvious benefit to Israel in attacking a U.S. Navy vessel. > > So there’s no motive and no evidence for a cover up, and a lot of evidence for a screwup. So what do YOU think is more likely? This. No-one has ever advanced any plausible explaination for a deliberate attack. Friendly fire incidents are pretty frequent in war. No reason to prefer the elaborate consipracy theory (for what end?) then a simple screw-up. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/11 "2009-07-15T17:44:08Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I am so not going to re-do this one. You’ll evidently just repeat the same fictions. Evidently your user name fits well. For those curious, really do read along on the linked thread. Mole used arguments based on obvious lies and liars to make a tenuous case, and his points now continue the trend of citing people who are making things up. Claim: “They missed identified this how?” Truth: I pointed out several times in the thread that both the Israeli and US investigations found that they did indeed identify the flag as US but that due to the fog of war they believed it to be an Arab ship most likely flying under false colors. Claim: “three torpedo boats and helicopters (although the helicopters loaded with armed troops did nothing as at that point the word was out and they thought the Sixth Fleet was responding).” Truth: I pointed out the facts on this one too. The torpedo boats approached and did not fire, instead hailing the Liberty. They only returned fire once they were fired upon first. Likewise, these “armed troop” packed helicopters were sent to identify survivors and as the fog of war was still confusing things, incarcerate Arab survivors or take American survivors for treatment. Claim: “The Israelis jammed all American emergency channels.” Truth: Possible but not determined. I’d spend more time on this one but since Mole has already retreated from the thread, there’s no point. Claim: “The Israelis shot the life rafts the crew threw overboard when the ship seemed lost (looked more like murder than war where you generally capture surviving seamen).” Truth: I pointed out the fiction behind this claim to Mole earlier, he seems to enjoy using it though. The truth is that despite the fiction, there was nobody in the life boats, they were kicked overboard and had already been shot when they were on the ship, and the officers who testified mentioned not one word about this supposed “machine gunning” since it’s imaginary. Claim:“Once the ship got a call out the US Sixth Fleet launched planes in its defense. Robert McNamara recalled the strike. The fleet commander, thinking there may have been worry over the planes carrying nukes, launched a second sortie assuring no nukes were being carried. This was recalled as well by President Johnson.” Elaboration: The US had denied having any ships within hundreds of miles of the combat zone. That they’d refuse to start a war with an ally over it is, shall we say, unsurprising. Or, as Mole might argue, proof of a dastardly Zionist Conspiracy!!! Claim: "After the incident the survivng crew was warned on pain of court martial or prison to not talk about the event. " Truth: This is yet another fiction, and one I debunked. We’re evidently well into a real life game of whack a mole (at least with an appropriately named poster). Contrary to the fiction, no such thing ever happened. The crew were prohibited from revealing classified information before the inquiry. As soon as the inquiry was completed, those requirements were removed. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/12 "2009-07-15T17:48:45Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Ultimately we will probably have to wait for the full disclosure of classified documents at least on the US side before we understand the full story. You mean, like our intercepted spy tapes which clearly show exactly what the Israelis were thinking and saying and that they’d misidentified the ship as Arab? Hrm, that was a short wait. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/13 "2009-07-15T17:52:50Z")
A screwup, followed by an attempt to cover up the screwup, should always be your default presumption. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/14 "2009-07-15T17:55:36Z")
Yah, except for those multiple investigations on both sides and the spy tapes and the facts and basic logic which shows that the CT of a “cover up” is fiction. The mistake was admitted, proven, and can only be challenged by cites like Mole’s who employ admitted liars claiming (only via hearsay after the relevant party luckily died) all sorts of things like that a US Navy inquiry was secretly modified so that people said the exact opposite of what they’d really said… and nobody noticed for 36 years. Or that a man who was a good friend of one of the debunkers of this CT really hated him and didn’t trust him (but lucky told nobody else and just luckily happened to die so that this ‘fact’ could be revealed). ~shrugs~ Folks really should see the linked thread. They can see how CT supporters like Mole have to go about supporting the fantasy and the lengths the CT has to go to in order to avoid the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/15 "2009-07-15T18:05:21Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > You’ll evidently just repeat the same fictions. Evidently your user name fits well. It’s all in the linked thread. I’m happy to let the evidence I produced in that thread stand as is. It’s a damnsight more than you provided in there. I’m in good company with my “fiction” though as these people agree with me: [ul] [li]Richard Helms, Director of Central Intelligence[/li] [li]Dean Rusk, Secretary of State [/li] [li]Clark M. Clifford, Counsel to the President[/li] [li]Paul C. Warnke, General Counsel for the Department of Defense[/li] [li]Captain Ward Boston, chief Navy attorney for the 1967 U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the Israeli attack[/li] [li]George Ball, Undersecretary of State[/li] [li]Captain Merlin Staring, Navy legal officer assigned to the inquiry (eventually became Judge Advocate General Of The Navy)[/li][/ul] Not sure if the following were directly involved in the incident/original inquiry but still of note as being on record that the Israeli attack was more than a simple mistake: [ul] [li]Admiral Moorer was Chief of Naval Operations when this event occurred and went on to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff[/li] [li]General Raymond G. Davis was Assistant Chief of Staff during this event and finished as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps[/li] [li]Lieutenant General William Odom, NSA director[/li] [li]Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, NSA director[/li] [li]Marshal Carter, NSA director[/li] [li]Oliver Kirby, NSA deputy director[/li] [li]Major General John Morrison, NSA deputy director[/li] [li]Ambassador Dwight Porter, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon in 1967[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/16 "2009-07-15T18:06:02Z")
Again from the Tribune article, there are several US Air Force analysts who say that there was clear evidence that the Israelis knew it was an American ship: > [@](#): > > The transcript published by the Jerusalem Post bore scant resemblance to the one that in 1967 rolled off the teletype machine behind the sealed vault door at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, where Steve Forslund worked as an intelligence analyst for the 544th Air Reconnaissance Technical Wing, then the highest-level strategic planning office in the Air Force. > > “The ground control station stated that the target was American and for the aircraft to confirm it,” Forslund recalled. "The aircraft did confirm the identity of the target as American, by the American flag. > > “The ground control station ordered the aircraft to attack and sink the target and ensure they left no survivors.” > > Forslund said he clearly recalled “the obvious frustration of the controller over the inability of the pilots to sink the target quickly and completely.” > > “He kept insisting the mission had to sink the target, and was frustrated with the pilots’ responses that it didn’t sink.” > > Nor, Forslund said, was he the only member of his unit to have read the transcripts. “Everybody saw these,” said Forslund, now retired after 26 years in the military. > > Forslund’s recollections are supported by those of two other Air Force intelligence specialists, working in widely separate locations, who say they also saw the transcripts of the attacking Israeli pilots’ communications. > > One is James Gotcher, now an attorney in California, who was then serving with the Air Force Security Service’s 6924th Security Squadron, an adjunct of the NSA, at Son Tra, Vietnam. > > “It was clear that the Israeli aircraft were being vectored directly at USS Liberty,” Gotcher recalled in an e-mail. “Later, around the time Liberty got off a distress call, the controllers seemed to panic and urged the aircraft to ‘complete the job’ and get out of there.” > > Six thousand miles from Omaha, on the Mediterranean island of Crete, Air Force Capt. Richard Block was commanding an intelligence wing of more than 100 analysts and cryptologists monitoring Middle Eastern communications. > > The transcripts Block remembered seeing “were teletypes, way beyond Top Secret. Some of the pilots did not want to attack,” Block said. "The pilots said, ‘This is an American ship. Do you still want us to attack?’ > > “And ground control came back and said, ‘Yes, follow orders.’” > > Gotcher and Forslund agreed with Block that the Jerusalem Post transcript was not at all like what they remember reading. I don’t believe these transcripts have been declassified. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/17 "2009-07-15T18:07:41Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > They can see how CT supporters like Mole have to go about supporting the fantasy and the lengths the CT has to go to in order to avoid the truth. Funny. See post #9 in addition to the list I just provided. Guess the NSA and Lyndon Johnson are CT loonies too then? ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/18 "2009-07-15T18:11:26Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It’s all in the linked thread. > > I’m happy to let the evidence I produced in that thread stand as is. It’s a damnsight more than you provided in there. > > I’m in good company with my “fiction” though as these people agree with me: > > [ul] > [li]Richard Helms, Director of Central Intelligence[/li] > [li]Dean Rusk, Secretary of State [/li] > [li]Clark M. Clifford, Counsel to the President[/li] > [li]Paul C. Warnke, General Counsel for the Department of Defense[/li] > [li]Captain Ward Boston, chief Navy attorney for the 1967 U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the Israeli attack[/li] > [li]George Ball, Undersecretary of State[/li] > [li]Captain Merlin Staring, Navy legal officer assigned to the inquiry (eventually became Judge Advocate General Of The Navy)[/li][/ul] > Not sure if the following were directly involved in the incident/original inquiry but still of note as being on record that the Israeli attack was more than a simple mistake: > > [ul] > [li]Admiral Moorer was Chief of Naval Operations when this event occurred and went on to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff[/li] > [li]General Raymond G. Davis was Assistant Chief of Staff during this event and finished as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps[/li] > [li]Lieutenant General William Odom, NSA director[/li] > [li]Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, NSA director[/li] > [li]Marshal Carter, NSA director[/li] > [li]Oliver Kirby, NSA deputy director[/li] > [li]Major General John Morrison, NSA deputy director[/li] > [li]Ambassador Dwight Porter, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon in 1967[/li][/ul] Like I said the sheer weight of senior US military and intelligence professionals who don’t believe the Israeli story is highly persuasive . I have never heard of any explanation for why they would say this if the Israeli story was in fact credible. Are they liars? Fools? Note that, for example, Clark Clifford was not only a highly respected public servant but a stalwart friend of Israel. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/19 "2009-07-15T18:24:08Z")
This is the conspiracy theory that, imho, has the most legs. Mostly due to the high level U.S. government officials that don’t buy the official story. A couple of issues that I would point out: **No Israeli motive** : This is not entirely true. The U.S. and Israel were certainly not allies at that point. In fact, the U.S. was closer to Jordan at that point. It is within the realm of plausibility that the U.S. would be passing intercepted tactical information to the Jordanians. Israel was in a fight for her life, and was swinging wild at that point. It is within the realm of possibility that they would have taken out a U.S. ship if they believed that it was passing intelligence to their enemies. There is also the possibility of Soviet interception of U.S. transmissions being passed to the Arabs. **Recalling the airstrike** : It was prudent to recall the air strike. First off, what exactly were they going to do? Shoot down a bunch of Israel’s aircraft in the middle of war? That could have led to Israel’s defeat, and I don’t think that’s something the U.S. wanted on their hands. Especially since a defeat would probably have led to a second holocaust. There is also the potential for the Soviets to misinterpret the purpose of the sortie as a strike on their allies. Plus, IIRC the flight time was ~2 hours to the Liberty. That is much too long to make a meaningful difference. Yes, friendly fire incidents happen in war time. However, this isn’t a “oops I dropped a glass” accident. This is a “oops I tripped and grabbed your boobs” accident. The first happens all the time. The second theoretically could happen, but it is very difficult to believe it’s an accident, even when it was. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101/20 "2009-07-15T18:38:54Z")
I just found out that there is a new book on the Liberty incident which received a positive [review](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071001682.html)in the Washington Post just a few days ago. The author, James Scott, has a nice piece on the Post [website](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/shortstack/2009/07/liberty_authors_response.html)which is worth reading. In particular I found this bit interesting: > [@](#): > > More importantly, as we now know from declassified Israeli documents, some Israeli personnel in fact knew the Liberty was an American ship. Early in the attack an Israeli pilot radioed in the Liberty’s hull number, and that information was passed to the Israeli Navy. Others inside Israel’s chain of command also later testified that they were aware of the ship’s identity before the torpedo strike. This is unfortunate, because had Israel stopped the attack at that point more than two dozen lives would have been saved. Based on this information, Israel’s ambassador to the United States in 1967, Avraham Harman, insisted that some of the attackers be prosecuted and that American journalists be invited to cover the trial, which unfortunately never happened. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uss-liberty-and-conspiracy-theories/503101.md?page=2)