Did Israel Know the Ship It Was Firing
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By David C. Wa l s h Did Israel know the ship it was firing on 36 years ago—here, after the attack, listing from a deadly t o rpedo hit—was the USS L i b e r t y ? To d a y, top former U.S. intelligence o f ficials are saying “Ye s .” COURTESY OF LIBERTY VETERANS’ ASSOCIATION n 8 June 1967 the electronic intelligence ship relies heavily on newly declassified (or newly interpreted) USS L i b e r t y ( AGTR-5) was on station in interna- documents and more than 500 interviews with U.S. and tional waters 13 miles off the Sinai Peninsula in the Israeli political and military leaders invo l ved in the inci- eastern Mediterranean. The Arab-Israeli War had wo u n d dent, including former Secretary of Defense Robert S. Mc- d own, the air was clear, and the seas were light. What hap- Namara, Admiral Isaac Kidd, and Yitzhak Rabin, who wa s pened early that Thursday afternoon is well known. Wi t h- the Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff at the time. Only out warning, a furious attack on the ship commenced from s even of the interviewees, how eve r, were on board the L i b - Israeli Mirage and Mystere jets, followed by Ay a h- c l a s s e r t y during the attack.2 motor torpedo boats (MTBs). Employed were rockets, na- At the Washington Navy Ya r d ’s Education Center, Judge palm, quick-firing 30-mm and 40-mm cannon, .50-caliber Cristol addressed a full house that included active - d u t y machine guns, and torpedoes. Four unshielded .50-caliber U.S. Navy personnel and surviving L i b e r t y c r ew members. machine guns were the L i b e r t y ’s only defense. The one He argued that the evidence “in totality” validated Israel’s Israeli torpedo hit of five launched left a yawning 40- long-standing position: namely, the catastrophe was the foot hole in the hull, devastating the cryptological spaces bitter fruit of mistaken identity and communications ga ff e s b e l ow decks and killing 25 U.S. National Security A g e n cy by both sides.3 The U.S. government quickly accepted Is- (NSA) technicians instantly. r a e l ’s apology 36 years ago, if not its ex p l a n a t i o n . 4 I s r a e l L a t e r, 821 shell holes were counted in the ship’s su- also settled death and injury claims, albeit reluctantly. A n d perstructure and hull. A total of 34 men died, with another in 1980, the United States received $6 million in com- 172 wounded, many disfigured for life, among the high- pensation for the $40-million intelligence ship. est peacetime tolls for any noncombatant U.S. Navy ve s- T h e Liberty I n c i d e n t contains considerable, largely Is- sel and by far the worst single loss to the U.S. intelligence raeli-sourced detail. It also includes a chapter called “Te l e- c o m m u n i t y. It seems a miracle the ship did not go dow n . 1 v i s i o n ’s Perspective ,” in which the author surmises that most survivors—some of whom openly criticize Israel’s R evisiting the Incident domestic policies and its formidable Washington lobby— h ave a political ax to grind. In December 2002, the Naval Historical Center hosted Judge Cristol, with 38 years’ n aval service, mourns the a presentation on the still deeply controversial attack by m e n s ’ deaths and injuries, and his book honors their Federal Judge and retired U.S. Naval Reserve Captain A . courage. But like the Israeli government, the judge is du- Jay Cristol, on a promotional tour for his recent book, T h e bious of the nay sayers. T h ey rely on “conjecture, hearsay Liberty Incident: The 1967 A t t a ck on the U.S. Navy Spy and plain wishful thinking,” flawed or traumatized mem- S h i p. Based on Judge Cristol’s doctoral thesis, the book ories, and “various conspiracy theories,” he says.5 58 Proceedings / June 2003 No Bigots Major General John Morrison, NSA deputy director for operations at the time, commented, “I am offended by Such characterizations, along with the linking of L i b - t h a t .” And retired Army Lieutenant General William Odom, e r t y veterans with Arab extremists and racist groups, sit NSA director from 1985 to 1988, and also unaware of the poorly with the ship’s crew. Indeed, the Internet Web site d i s p l a y, remarked, “I am astonished that Israel should of the L i b e r t y Ve t e r a n s ’ Association (LVA) makes clear put glory on the people who killed my SigInt-ers [sig- that all bigots’ support is unwelcome.6 The suggestion of nals intelligence personnel].” 1 0 The L i b e r t y’s blood-stained prejudice especially upsets Jewish survivors, such as the flag is exhibited at the National Cryptologic Museum in senior engineering offi c e r, George Golden, who receive d Fort Meade, Maryland. the Silver Star for directing heroic efforts to keep the ship afloat. And James Ennes Jr., the LVA historian and Disputed Timelines and Communications s p o kesman accused in Judge Cristol’s book of taking “an irrationally harsh line against Israel,” refers to such as- Although L i b e r t y c r ew members insist the attack lasted sertions as “just silly.”7 about an hour and a quarter, Judge Cristol’s book asserts Ennes, a retired Navy lieutenant commander, was offi- that the Israeli jets and MTBs finished their grisly bu s i - cer of the deck before being badly wounded early in the ness in only 22 to 25 minutes.1 1 attack. He devoted 13 years’ research toward his own book, Ennes recalls being unsettled by the numerous flights Assault on the L i b e r t y. Some half-dozen major—and many over the L i b e r t y by Israeli reconnaissance planes, start- minor—disagreements mark the dispute’s two main ing the previous night and continuing for a six-hour pe- schools: Judge Cristol’s “mistaken identity” and Ennes’s , riod preceding the assault. Trained U.S. Navy observe r s the crew ’s, and several U.S. intelligence professionals’ counted a dozen overflights. Some were made by a lum- “deliberate attack.” bering, Star- o f - D av i d - m a r ked Nord Noratlas “flying box- c a r,” which pulled several times to within mast-clipping M o re Inquiries r a n g e — l ow enough for any Israeli pilot to see a vessel in- capable of harming his country. Since 1967, survivors have pleaded for a more fa r- r e a c h- Melvin Smith, senior enlisted intercept chief, reassured ing government inquiry into the incident. But Judge Cristol Ennes when he overheard the pilots several times identify a rgues that another would be a waste of time. Some 13 the flag as U.S. and the ship for what she wa s . 1 2 At that already have been conducted (five by Congress, one by time, of course, Israel was a friend. Later, despite jam- the U.S. Nav y, and several by Israel). And according to ming of the ship’s distress frequencies, and before all her Cristol, while typically citing recklessness or ineffi c i e n cy, transmitters were shot awa y, the L i b e r t y ’s radio operators all exonerate the Israeli attackers of deliberate intent. managed again to hear the attackers make a positive iden- “ False!” retorts Ennes. Of the 13 inve s t i g ations cited by t i fication in the clear.1 3 Judge Cristol, conceding his new l y Judge Cristol, Ennes observes, “Most were not inve s t i ga- released Israeli transcripts reveal one correct identifi c a- tions. T h ey were merely reports to the boss from ad- tion, states that they are confusing and mutually contra- visors . (and) mostly summaries and excerpts of the dictory—typical of the “fog of wa r.”1 4 F u r t h e r, citing Ennes, N aval Court of Inquiry report.”8 he states that no Hebrew linguists were on board the spy Clark Clifford, Chairman of President Lyndon B. John- ship, and that Israeli pilots would not have made unen- s o n ’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, drafted one crypted transmissions.1 5 such inquiry. Judge Cristol characterizes Clifford as angry, Ennes acknowledges that no “official” Hebrew linguists but finding Israel innocent of murder. Ennes infers darke r were on board, but he points out that at least one of the meanings from the same document. doomed NSA men, Russian/Arabic linguist Allen Blue, “Something had gone terribly wrong,” Clifford wrote the understood Hebrew.1 6 As for the jamming, Ennes, quot- President, “and then it had been covered up. I never felt ing Chief Radioman Wayne Smith and an article in P ro - the Israelis had made adequate restitution or ex p l a n a t i o n c e e d i n g s, also notes that the ship could not have been for their .