BREAKING BARRIERS IN HISTORY
When the attack was over, the Liberty was in horrible condition. There was a massive 39 x 24 foot hole left by the torpedo, and the keel of the ship had been twisted by the blast. With the bridge of the ship entirely destroyed, Captain William McGonagle lay on the deck of his ship and navigated by the stars toward a rendezvous with an American destoyer, all while bleeding profusely from wounds sustained during the attack.
When the USS Liberty rendezvoused with the American destroyer, the casualties were unloaded. 34 Americans lay dead, and 171 were injured from the combination of strafing, bombing, torpedo attacks, and napalming.
It took a long time for the news of the attack on the Liberty to reach the American public. Several days prior to the attack, Israel had launched a massive air and ground invasion on Syria and Egypt, which distracted Americans from learning about the attack on the Liberty. The news of the invasion shocked the world, and ended in the capture of massive amounts of territory for Israel.
When the ordeal was over, it took a long time to figure out what had happened and the truth probably will never be known. Israel claims that it was a simple case of mistaken identity. Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren says, "Thousands of pages of formerly classified documents on the Liberty have been declassified, both Israeli and American. None of those documents – I stress none – indicate that the Liberty was anything other than a tragic friendly fire episode." Oren continues, saying among the declassified documents "are the tapes made by Israeli pilots and the tapes intercepted by American intelligence. All of them indicate that the Liberty attack was an accident. Every once in a while, someone comes up with ‘new evidence,’ but it always falls short.” Several Israeli pilots claimed that they never saw a flag on the ship. Countless other Israeli and American politicians and officials have said the same thing, and the investigation into the attach found that the USS Liberty incident was no more than a tragic mistake of friendly fire, a mishap in the fog of war. Angered over the results of the investigation, many of the survivors of the Liberty attack started an organization called the USS Liberty Organization to try to find what they believe to be the “truth” of the attack. Many of the survivors dispute claims by the American and Israeli Governments about what happened during the attack.
United States Navy Seal
Two crewmen are adamant that the attack was done on purpose. CT1 Kukal says, “I believe it was done on purpose because they circled us all morning long that day, and they knew we were there, and we were about the ugliest ship in the Navy, and very easily identifiable. Admiral Thomas Moorer who was the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, even said the Liberty was the most easily identified ship in the Navy. They admitted they attacked but said it was a mistake. They said we were mistake [sic] for the El Quiser and Egyptian ship, that wasn't even seaworthy at the time. Wasn't even in the area. We flew our flag, during the attack, and they shot it down, we ran up another, that was the holiday flag, much larger then the regular flag. The flag was very visible, the name of the ship was on the fantail, our hull number very visible. There is no way, they didn't know who we were.”
Indeed, CIA documents show that an American aircraft flying nearby picked up an Israeli pilot calling off the letters on the hull into his radio. "There are markings on the hull. They say Charlie Tango Romeo Five."
Picture: Seal of the US Navy (US Navy)
His crewmate agrees. “Israeli planes had overflown us all day before the attack so they knew exactly who we were. The precise way they hit the ship and the coordination between the three different strike elements tells me they had this well planned out [beforehand]. There were also voice communications between the pilots and ground control indicating they saw the flag and were told to attack anyway. This was no Mistaken Identity by any means. They knew exactly what they were doing. The why is one of the reasons we survivors want Congress to open an investigation. That question has never been addressed and remains an issue for us. I believe Israel wanted to kill all of us and sink the ship before we could get our distress call out in hopes that the United States would believe Egypt had attacked us. The US would have then attached Cairo to kill Nasser which was part of the plan all along.”
The claim of mistaken identity is hard to hold up, considering several things. First, the ship flew a large American flag throughout the attack, which lasted a full hour and involved several different elements. More disturbing, an unarmed P-3 Orion aircraft several hundred miles away from the Liberty picked up the following transmissions from Israeli pilots:
"Israeli pilot to IDF war room: This is an American ship. Do you still want us to attack?
IDF war room to Israeli pilot: Yes, follow orders.
Israeli pilot to IDF war room: But sir, it’s an American ship - I can see the flag!
IDF war room to Israeli pilot: Never mind; hit it"
Those Israeli transmissions and other evidence reflect what many people believe to be the heart of the "conspiracy." Survivors of the incident claim that transmissions like that and other evidence prove that Israel purposely tried to sink the USS Liberty. Even after a massive public backlash and calls by congressmen for an investigation, the US refuses to investigate any further, as any revealing truth could damage the US-Israel relationship and could potentially cost a valuable ally in the Middle East. The official cause remains in flux, and may never be truly revealed to the general public.