The Israeli Military intentionally attacked the USS Liberty

Thanks Wylted. Summarization of points -That the attack took place in the middle of a full scale war in enemy waters. -That Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Chief of Staff, had specifically asked the U.S to either not deploy ships to the area or if they do to inform Israel of precise positioning. -That Israel was not told about the presence of the Liberty. - That orders issued by the Six Fleet Headquarters telling the Liberty to remain at least 50 miles away from Israel/Egypt had been misdirected, and did thus not get received by the ship until after the attack. -Explosion. As stated in all previous rounds, a loud explosion was heard off the al-Arish coast, an area that been shelled by the Egyptian army the day prior. After this explosion, Yitzhak Rabin was reported to and Israeli forces were told to investigate. Half an hour passed in which no action was taken, leading the General Staff to believe that the area was continuing to be shelled and that the Israeli navy were doing nothing to counter it. After being told this, Captain Rahav and IDF needed no further persuading and quickly located to the al-Arish area. -Two unidentified were vessels were reported. One being noted by Aharon Yifrah at travelling at a speed of 30 knots. The Liberty could supposedly only travel at a maximum speed of 18 knots. -No flag was formally identified by the Israeli military. While earlier on in the day there had been sightings, no actual mention of a flag had been made and there had only been speculation as to the boats identity. It was categorized as "unidentified". -Two Israelis were heard stating that no flag could be seen during the attack, with the latter stating that he could only observe markings on the boat that could not be distinguished. A third Israeli crew member involved in the attack (Yiftah) stated that he had been advised an Egyptian ship was off the al-Arish coast and that there was no official flag. -Lack of Motivation. I'll state again that Israel would have more to lose than gain from intentionally attacking the U.S, its ally. Investigations: While Pro disputes these reports, they are all technically classified as official inquiries into the Liberty incident. All several U.LS reports have concluded that no evidence has been found for intention or premeditated action, and that the attack was a case of mistaken identity. Brief rebuttals: Pro asserts that absolutely no argument has been given, which as can be seen by my round one and following arguments is simply not the case. I have provided valid reasons as to why such an attack could happen and there is significant evidence to support my position. More to the point, I have highlighted that there is no real evidence to confirm any intentionality. I've supported my case by listing examples of the miscommunication between the U.S and Israel, such as failure to inform the Chief of Staff of the Liberty's exact positioning, the U.S radio transmission telling the Liberty to remain 50 miles from the area of conflict but it not receiving, etc. The fact that no flag or nationality was formally identified and made known across the entire IDF unit (or more importantly, to Yitzhak Rabin) has also been noted. Other important information I have highlighted is the al-Arish explosion, which is what lead to the Israeli Air and Naval forces locating to the area in the first place. I'll reiterate again the point of two unidentified ships being seen moments before the Liberty attack.To deny the probability of the USS Liberty incident being an accident and a case of mistaken identity, Pro is unknowingly suggesting that friendly fire incidents cannot take place at all. The number of friendly fire incidents that have happened throughout history are in fact higher than one might think. Germany in particular encountered an array of incidents in WW2, including one in which they accidentally sent a bomb to their ally, and others where they even sunk their own ships. Italy also encountered a significant number of errors, such as shooting at its own forces and sinking other Italian boats. One of the most notable is when an Italian submarine sank the Italian destroyer "Antoniotto Usodimare". Another case is when a train carrying 800 Allied prisoners of war was bombed in Italy, with around 400 British, U.S. and South African prisoners being killed. As well as when USAAF heavy bombers bombed the headquarters of the Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Polish Armoured Division, killing 65 and wounding 250 Allied soldiers. In 1944 alone there was the high number of 28 cases of friendly fire, mostly involving Germany, Italy, the U.S, and Britain. Another was when theU.S. Army Air Forces was bombing German-Albanian units entering from Kosovo. The U.S. planes mistook the advancing Soviet tanks as enemies and began attacking them, the Soviets then called in for air support in which a five minute fight took place. This particular attack is stated as being attributed exclusively to miscommunication issues. One more German example is when 900 German fighters attacked Allied airfields. 300 aircraft were lost and 237 pilots killed. The case that is most widely considered the worst is the Cap Arcona incident in which three ships were sunk in four separate attacks by the Royal Air Force, resulting in the loss of over 7,000 Jewish concentration camp survivors and Russian prisoners of war, along with POWs from several other allies. Again, this attack was also attributed to miscommunication issues, and the British claimed that they were unaware the ships carried POW'S and camp survivors. One mistake made by Israel (in the first year of its establishment) towards itself is when its first general was accidentally shot and killed by a sentry, this is largely attributed to the fact it was involved in a full-scale war against several Arab nations, and was fighting for its very existence. Alluding further to U.S errors, a number of 13 cases of friendly fire occurred in the Vietnam war as well as 11 in the Gulf War. Even more cases were in the Afghanistan war with the considerable number of 25 friendly fire cases, which involved attacks against British troops. In the Iraqi war there was a total of 13 friendly fire incidents. Anyway, I will leave my argument here. Likewise I have very much enjoyed debating this topic. Thanks to all those who have followed this debate and read!Friendly fire incidents: [1.] http://en.wikipedia.org...