Spy Ships by Norman Polmar & Lee J. Mathers

Author:Norman Polmar & Lee J. Mathers [Polmar, Norman & Mathers, Lee J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS027150 HISTORY / Military / Naval, HIS027000 HISTORY / Military / General
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

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Claims that the attack was made knowing that the target was an American ship are thus manifestly false. Conspiracy theories abound, but they are unsupported and mostly have been highly emotional accusations that misconstrue the facts and twist data. Those facets of the conspiracy theories are easy to recognize when reviewing the now-declassified documents and examining the Nowicki tape transcripts.

Still, a decade after the attack, Joseph Lentini, a petty officer first class on the Liberty at the time of the attack, wrote in the prominent Washington Post newspaper: “The Liberty’s logs record both surface craft and aircraft leaving the same Israeli port and heading directly for the Liberty.”57 There were no entries in the ship’s log about which port the torpedo boats had departed from and, of course, which airfield the aircraft came from (not a port). That information was unknown to the Liberty’s crew and beyond the surveillance capabilities of the ship.

Lentini continued, “On the first passes, the unmarked jets shot rockets through each of the Liberty’s four machine gun mounts.” Another Israeli critic, James Scott, wrote: “The fighters zeroed in on the bridge, strafing the command center with rockets and 30-mm cannons.” He added, “The fighters first strafed the Liberty from bow to stern, targeting the bridge, machine guns and antennae. With those destroyed or on fire, the attackers crisscrossed the ship to target the engine room.”58

All Israeli aircraft were clearly marked with the Star of David insignia, in part to avoid “blue-on-blue” encounters, a critical concern with the variety of combat aircraft flown by the Israelis and the Arab states. Those aircraft attacking the Liberty at several hundred miles per hour would hardly be able to target such specific objects as the machine guns and antennas.

Lentini concluded his comments: “The infamous attack was calculated, premeditated murder.” Such calumny and unfounded accusations have frequently been repeated, despite the obvious fact that the intent and knowledge of the attackers were impossible to ascertain from the deck of the Liberty and are simply highly emotional opinions. Still, such claims by Liberty survivors and others have continued.

In 2003, 29 years after his retirement as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Moorer and several other notables released the results of their “independent investigation” of the Liberty incident. It supported conspiracy theories and voiced such emotion-laden opinions as “Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States” and that “the White House deliberately covered up the facts of this attack.”

The rigor of that investigation was revealed by such counterfactual “findings” as “the Israeli air attack lasted approximately 25 minutes” by “unmarked Israeli aircraft.” (The air attack actually lasted 13 minutes, and all aircraft were painted with standard Israeli Air Force markings.) And “30 or more sorties were flown over the ship by a minimum of 12 attacking Israeli planes.” (The entire air attack was made by four aircraft in two two-plane attacks.) Admiral Moorer’s 2003 investigation was merely a recitation of then-existing conspiracy theories with little attention to then known facts.

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