On June 8, 1967, on the fourth day of the Six Day War, the United States naval ship USS Liberty was attacked by the Israel Defense Forces.
Thirty-three US sailors and one civilian employee of the National Security Agency were killed. 174 sailors and National Securities Agencies employees were wounded.
While the attack on the USS Liberty had little impact on the outcome of the war, it is a dramatic example of the fog of war, the duplicity of nation states, the predominance of ego over patriotism by national leaders, and most interesting other than the tragedy of lost lives, the belief by Israel that they could control the behaviour of the United States in the Middle East.
The USS Liberty was built as a cargo ship refitted to collect signals intelligence -- the radio communications of other armies and governments. The Liberty had been ordered to proceed to the eastern Mediterranean to intercept Russian and Arab radio transmissions.
The accounts of what happened during the attack give meaning to the expression the fog of war. Actions taken by Israelis and Americans were confusing, communications were delayed or not sent to the correct place. People remembered things in different ways. Documents were lost or hidden.
Despite great public attention, key documents are not yet declassified. Official reports were doctored for political objectives. Despite this fog, researchers have managed to reconstruct an accurate picture of what happened.
Was the attack deliberate?
All of the official reports claim the attack was accidental and the Israeli Defense Force mis-identified the USS Liberty as an Egyptian ship. Both American and Israel official reports are believed by senior American officials to be false. All living members of the Liberty crew say the official reports are false. There is no doubt -- the attack was deliberate.
The Israeli Air Force tracked the ship the morning of the attack. The air attack began at 2:00pm. This crippled the ship with repeated cannon and machine gun fire. Napalm was dropped on the ship. However, fighter airplanes have difficulty sinking large ships with machine guns and rockets, and were not able to do so.
Three Israeli torpedo boats attacked in the afternoon. One out of six torpedoes fired hit the Liberty. The American flag continued to fly. The Liberty flew the American flag all through the day and through the attack. Somehow the Israelis managed to not see this flag.
(In a recent book by an American judge (acting as an agent of Israel) that defended the “accident” explained Israeli intelligence planted a picture allegedly taken from the gun cameras of the Israeli fighters; in the picture the US flag was a small flag flying from the stern. This in fact was a photograph of the Liberty in dry dock with the surrounding facilities blocked out. US naval ships fly the flag from the stern when in port but from the middle of the ship while at sea. This very effort of the Israelis to cover up three years ago indicates how sensitive they are and how determined to conceal the truth.)
Intercepts of communication between Israeli pilots and their ground controllers revealed the ship was clearly known to be American, yet the attack continued. Testimony of an Israeli pilot in the attack confirmed the same; he knew who he was attacking. An American submarine observed the attack through its periscope; the officer who observed said the flag was clearly visible. The photographs have never been released.
Here are statements by American officials.
"I can tell you for an absolute certainty (from intercepted communications) that the Israelis knew they were attacking an American ship." -- NSA Deputy Director Oliver Kirby.
Or again from a very senior official:
"That the attack was deliberate "just wasn't a disputed issue" within the National Security Agency" -- Former NSA Director retired Army Lieutenant General William Odom on March 3, 2003.
The legal counsel of the Naval Court of Inquiry reached the same conclusion:
"The evidence was clear. Both Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack...was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew.... It was our shared belief. . .that the attack. . .could not possibly have been an accident.... I am certain that the Israeli pilots [and] their superiors. . .were well aware that the ship was American." -- Captain Ward Boston, JAGC, US Navy (retired), senior legal counsel to the US Navy Court of Inquiry.
(Some dispute this as Admiral Kidd is dead, nevertheless this is Captain Boston’s claim.)
Unfortunately higher officials in the Navy on the order of the president forced the Court of Inquiry to change its original conclusions. Very senior officials of the United States Government were later, however, clear:
"I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. . . . Through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn't believe them then, and I don't believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous" -- US Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
"...the [CIA’s] board of inquiry (concluded) that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the Liberty." -- CIA Director Richard Helms
So there it is. There was no doubt that the best informed persons in the United States government believed that the Israeli government knowingly attacked a United States naval ship in international waters.
Purpose
One question that is always raised is “why did the Israelis attack the USS Liberty?”
Anyone who deals with national security affairs realizes this is a question that is always asked and never gets well answered. The best explanation is that the Israeli army was preparing to attack Syria despite the fact that a ceasefire was close to agreement.
The Israelis did not want the US to realize their attack on Syria was to start on June 9 as there would have been a demand to stop. The attack on the USS Liberty deprived the US government of the signals intelligence that would have been collected from intercepts of Israeli communications. It worked, the Israelis used the two extra days to occupy the Golan Heights and deal a severe blow to the Syrian Army.
Consequences
The Israeli government worked diligently to defend the position that this was mistaken identity. It is what one would expect. The misstatements and fabrications have been documented by the survivors and the research carried out by them. Views by official Americans in contradiction to the official reports are given above.
There was a big argument over money. The American government demanded compensation for the families of the dead sailors and for the wounded. They also demanded payment for the cost of the ship repairs.
The Israelis negotiated as if the American sailors were sacks of rice. Actually the sum involved was small, less than $10 million. This at a time when the United States was providing assistance of hundreds of millions of dollars for the Israeli economy and military. The cheap behaviour of the Israeli government and the lack of compassion angered the United States government.
This was not anti-Semitism; the new secretary of defense, a leading member of the American Jewish community, was beside himself with anger.
There was no independent investigation by the United States. All attempts of Congress to investigate or to have an independent commission were rejected or voted down. There has been a steady stream of documents declassified but some of the most sensitive remain classified.
The American government’s treatment of the captain of the USS Liberty was disgraceful. He was promoted to captain and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour. This medal is almost always awarded by the president in a public ceremony honouring the hero.
Not in this case. The president spent his time on some social meetings on the day of the award. Johnson did not want to draw attention to the case. Many members of the crew of the USS Liberty were awarded medals, not one of which mentioned Israel as the attacker.
The incident clearly shows the power of the Israeli government over the United States. Even when the Israeli government deliberately attacked the American Navy, they were able to persuade Johnson and Congressional leaders to keep this quiet.
This influence results in an American Middle East policy moving from one disaster to another. The Palestinian people have been the main sufferers.
Betrayal
After the deaths and wounding of Liberty’s crew, the saddest part of this story is the failure of the US Navy to come to the assistance of the Liberty.
One of the senior Liberty officer recorded the discussion described below:
“6th Fleet Admiral Geis told me that since I was the senior Liberty survivor on board he wanted to tell me in confidence what had actually transpired. He told me that upon receipt of our SOS, aircraft were launched to come to our assistance. Secretary of Defense (Robert McNamara) ordered the aircraft be returned to the carrier. Admiral Geis put together another flight and launched these to assist Liberty. Again McNamara ordered the aircraft recalled. Geis requested confirmation of the order, being unable to believe that Washington would let us sink. This time Johnson ordered the recall with the comment that he did not care if every man drowned and the ship sank, but that he would not embarrass his allies.”
On June 8, Americans should say a prayer for the men of the Liberty, who died for their country and were betrayed by their president.
Forrest Cookson is an economist who has served as the first president of AmCham and has been a consultant for the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.