The Israeli Military intentionally attacked the USS Liberty

Reconnaissance AThe day in question was a clear day with high visibility. At about 9:00 AM 2 jet fighters flew over the Liberty and then circled 3 times. At 10:56 AM another jet fighter that was later on identified as Israeli jet flew over and circled the liberty as well. This reconnaissance was repeated in 30 minute intervals. The crew had identified identified the ship as Israeli and it probably granted them some ease. [1] "though this plane was unidentified, the thoughts of Robert L. Wilson (one of three NSA civilians aboard the Liberty) must have been shared by his shipmates. Wilson remembered thinking when he saw the plane, that "it must be Israeli because what else is flying out here at this point in the war and also it's coming from the direction of Israel and it's going back to Israel, so it was obvious that it was Israeli. I didn't think much of it. They were just out there checking us out. That's what I would do too""[1] There was no way the ship wasn't identified as American at that point. The Israelis already did several reconnaissance fly bys to identify the ship. The flag was flying as naval regulations demand. [2] United States Navy Regulations on the display of the national ensign (NTP-13B) 503. Vessel Underway a. During peacetime, the national ensign shall be displayed during daylight hours from the gaff (or from the triatic stay in the case of those ships with mast mounted booms and stays which would interfere with the hoisting, lowering, or flying of the national ensign) under the following circumstances, unless otherwise directed by the senior officer present: (1) Getting underway or mooring/anchoring (2) Falling in with other ships (3) Cruising near land (4) When engaged in battle There were also several witnesses to the fact the flag was flying including, not to mention the hull markings clearly visible. [3] Source 4 is a summary of some of the testimony that is taken from declassified NSA documents found in source [11]. "Testimony of Ensign Scott Q. Do you recall the flag or the national ensign flying? [Ensign Scott:] Yes sir, it was flying. I noticed at first light that the ensign was flying. I looked up to it to check the wind direction just in the event I had to blow tubes and I wanted to have a favorable wind direction. That's about all I recall about the flag being up on the day and night while we were over here. I don't recall seeing it down at all. " "testimony of LT. Golden [LT. Golden:] Yes sir. At approximately 1145, I completed eating lunch, and went to the 01 level forward to sunbathe along with the Captain and some of the other officers. I have a lounge chair, most of us do have; while laying on my back sunbathing, I noticed a plane flying over. I dozed off, and approximately 25 minutes or so later on, I woke up and saw a plane circling again coming from the port beam, crossing the ship. While watching it, I glanced up and noticed it just crossing over the stack area, and I noticed a small amount of smoke coming out of my stack, and also the flag was flying. Counsel for the Court: Was it extended? [LT. Golden:] Yes sir, there was a slight breeze blowing. " "Testimony of LTJG Painter Counsel for the Court: Did you have occasion to see the national ensign flying? [LTJG Painter:] Yes sir, I did. I saw the national ensign flying after the, it was at the time I believe when we were going to abandon ship. I ran out on the main deck to get the life rafts ready. I remember distinctly looking back up and seeing the Ensign flying. This was, I think, after the air raid, after the torpedo attack. Q. Had you seen it earlier that morning? [LTJG Painter:] I saw it earlier that morning when I came up, I don't know when it was. I came up on and of off that morning checking a patrol plane that had been flying over us. The quartermaster, DAVID QM2, had told me that the night that he was wounded that he had put the flag up at 0730 that morning. " "Testimony of Chief Smith Counsel for the Court: Did you have occasion to see the national colors flying? [Chief Smith:] Yes sir. At the time I ran out of the radio central space to the transmitter room. " "Testimony of LTJG Watson Counsel for the Court: Excuse me, any time prior to the attack, did you notice the national colors flying? [LTJG Watts:] Yes sir. At lunch that day, we were discussing the situation and Mr. Golden made the statement that someone had said something about the ensign flying so the people would know who we were. "[4] I think we can conclude with relative certainty that the flag was flying and visible. The Israeli's did officially release that they identified the ship as American before the attack. [5] "At 0600 hours (local time) on 8 June 1967, an Israeli aircraft, with a naval observer on board, located a ship 70 miles west of Tel Aviv. On the basis of this information, Israeli Navy Headquarters marked the object in red (meaning an unidentified target) on the combat information center plottable. ~ At about 0900 hours, another Israeli plane reported sighting a ship 20 miles north of AI 'Arish, The pilot reported that the ship was "coloured gray, very bulky, and the bridge amidships. " The ship was then identified by the Israelis as a supply vessel of the American Navy;"[5] B After the attack the Israeli military claimed to have mistaken the Liberty for the Egyptian battle ship El-Kasir. A now declassified document by the NSA reveals exactly why this type of mistake is absurd. "The final error was the identification of the Liberty as the Egyptian supply ship El-Kasir, The fact that two separate torpedo boat commanders made the same false identification only raises the question of the veracity of both commanders. The El-Kasir was approximately one-quarter of the Liberty's tonnage, about one-half its length, and offered a radically different silhouette. To claim that the Liberty closely resembled the El-Kasir was most illogical"[7] Ship Identified As American During The Attack A. Once the attack began a jet fighter who was ordered to attack it reported back to the naval liaison officer who reported it to the Naval Command bridge and to the head of the naval department, that the ship looked like and had similar markings to the Liberty. [6] Despite the head of the naval department and everybody on the command bridge knowing that one of the pilots positively identified the ship, the attack persisted. "Witnesses testified that when the Naval Liaison Officer at the Air Force Headquarters telephoned the Naval Command Bridge about the hull markings and their similarity to those of the Liberty, the officer to whom he spoke repeated the message in a loud voice so that it was heard by all present on the Command Bridge including the Head of the Naval Department. The examining judge stated, therefore, that there was thus no reason to repeat to the Head of the Naval Department a fact that had been audibly announced to those present. " The division commander received a message to not proceed with the attack and he ignored it,[6] The Liberty wasn't just identified once prior to the attack and forgot about, it was identified several times. Other Signs Of Guilt A The radio communications were being jammed by the Israeli military. [8] One of the first things that was shot at was also the radio towers. [1] This implies a clear intent to cut off all outside communication so that no help would come. You'd have to intentionally target the American signal with jamming devices in order to pull this off, so claiming you thought it was an Egyptian ship makes no sense. B The Israeli ships were shooting out the life rafts and aiming for the men on deck to make sure nobody survived the attack. [9][10] I presume just like many of the people on the ship that the Israelis didn't want them in that area for some reason. CONCLUSION I think it's important that we give the Israelis the same criticism and suspicious eye, we'd give to any other country, It wouldn't be fair to see North Korea make the same claims and be scoffed at but weigh the evidence differently just because this is Israel. Evidence is evidence and to give the Israelis a benefit of doubt that we'd never grant the Egyptians in this case is special pleading, These crew men aren't lying. This wasn't a ship full of anti-semites who are capitalizing on their friends deaths to forward some agenda. They just want their story heard and to be taken seriously. I think touching on the cover-up, that took place after the event is going to be one of the keys in showing this attack was intentional. I suspect that a large part of my rebuttal will provide me an opportunity to go into those details and I look forward to that. I give the floor to EmilRose. I end this round with the following quote "A point that baffles me (and my shipmates) about that view is that the Israelis did NOT stop firing when they drew close enough to positively identify us as American" Jim Ennes [10] sources [1] . https://www.nsa.gov... (pg 25 actual 35 PDF) [2] . http://www.ushistory.org... NTB 13(B) 503 [3] . http://www.usslibertyinquiry.com... [4] . http://www.usslibertyinquiry.com... [5] . https://www.nsa.gov... (pg37) [6] ibid pg 39 [7] ibid pg41 [8] (Video 10:40-11:00) [9] . http://ussliberty.org... [10] . http://ussliberty.org... [11} . https://www.nsa.gov...