Liberty!

This is coolbert:

The gadfly author James Bamford makes an interesting speculation about the Israeli attack upon the U.S.S. Liberty during the Six Day War of 1967. Bamford speculates that the attack upon the Liberty WAS an intentional Israeli attack intended to sink the Liberty! And that this attack was directly related to the massacre of the Egyptian prisoners at the hands of the Israelis mentioned in the previous blog.

Could this be the case? That Israel would intentionally attack and attempt to sink a warship of an erstwhile and most valuable ally?

Bamford's contention is that the Liberty, a signals intelligence vessel of the U.S. Navy, could have possessed radio intercepts of Israeli communications that revealed the massacre. These intercepts would naturally have been expected to been brought to the attention of U.S. authorities. Such evidence of Israeli atrocity would not have gone over well in U.S. leadership circles, so the story would go, and the Israeli attacked the Liberty to destroy the evidence, if indeed it did exist!

What is the evidence with regard to this assertion?

The U.S.S Liberty WAS off the coast of El Arish/Gaza at the time of the Six Day War.

Bamford asserts that the Liberty WAS on a signals intelligence mission. Whether the Liberty DID possess radio intercepts of Israeli communications that revealed the massacre of the Egyptian prisoners is not known to Bamford.

The Liberty WAS attacked by the Israelis, with the intention to sink the ship. First the Liberty was attacked by Israeli aircraft, and then further attacked by Israeli torpedo boats. The latter fired a torpedo "spread" referred to as a "kill shot". NO defense against the torpedo spread was supposed to be possible. This attack WAS intended to sink the Liberty. Only by the most careful maneuver was the damaged ship able to survive. [The Captain of the Liberty later got the Medal of Honor for his actions]. All this occurred even though the sailors of the Liberty maintain the ship was carefully marked as American!!

In the aftermath of the attack upon the Liberty, and the survival of same, miraculous as it was, recriminations and profuse apology on the part of the Israeli abounded.

So, was this attack upon the Liberty an attack to deliberately sink the ship and destroy possible evidence of the Israeli massacre of Egyptian prisoners?? No conclusive proof has ever been offered. It may be that the attack was an honest mistake. Any decision for a deliberate attack as part of an Israeli cover up would have HAD to been made at the highest level of the Israeli government authority, and after almost forty years all the familiars are probably now deceased!

What proof is there?

Well, maybe there is something? Bamford further maintains that in addition to the Liberty, a Navy EC-121 signal intelligence aircraft was also active at the same time in the area of El Arish/Gaza.




This aircraft, according to Bamford, could also potentially have overheard and recorded Israeli radio intercepts detailing the prisoner massacre. And perhaps even intercepts dealing with the attack upon the Liberty itself! If such info exists, however, no one is talking. C'est la guerre!

coolbert.