CNN commentator calls for the elimination of Israel.

[georgephillip]

However, he has no knowledge or evidence that it was a pre-meditated attack. He has no idea whether the pilots of those Israeli aircraft were able to see the American Flag

There is no longer any doubt that Israel's attack was premeditated, hence the anger of the victims of that deliberate assault is well founded .

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"At approximately 0600 hours (all times local) on the morning of June 8, 1967 an Israeli maritime reconnaissance aircraft observer reported seeing 'a US Navy cargo type ship,' just outside the coverage of the Israeli coastal radar defense net, bearing the hull markings 'GTR-5'.[11]

"This report, made to Israeli naval HQ, was also forwarded immediately to the Israeli navy intelligence directorate.[12]

"Throughout the remainder of the day prior to the attack, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft regularly flew out to USS Liberty's position and orbited the ship before returning to their bases in Israel.

"A total of no fewer than eight (8) such flights were made.[13]

"At approximately 1050 hours, the naval observer from the early morning reconnaissance flight arrived at Israeli air force HQ and sat down with the air-naval liaison officer there.

"The two officers consulted Jane's Fighting Ships and learned that the ship reported earlier in the day was USS Liberty, a United States Navy technical research ship.[14]"

 

[MacTheKnife]

However, he has no knowledge or evidence that it was a pre-meditated attack. He has no idea whether the pilots of those Israeli aircraft were able to see the American Flag

There is no longer any doubt that Israel's attack was premeditated, hence the anger of the victims of that deliberate assault is well founded .

USS Liberty Memorial: Summary of Events

"At approximately 0600 hours (all times local) on the morning of June 8, 1967 an Israeli maritime reconnaissance aircraft observer reported seeing 'a US Navy cargo type ship,' just outside the coverage of the Israeli coastal radar defense net, bearing the hull markings 'GTR-5'.[11]

"This report, made to Israeli naval HQ, was also forwarded immediately to the Israeli navy intelligence directorate.[12]

"Throughout the remainder of the day prior to the attack, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft regularly flew out to USS Liberty's position and orbited the ship before returning to their bases in Israel.

"A total of no fewer than eight (8) such flights were made.[13]

"At approximately 1050 hours, the naval observer from the early morning reconnaissance flight arrived at Israeli air force HQ and sat down with the air-naval liaison officer there.

"The two officers consulted Jane's Fighting Ships and learned that the ship reported earlier in the day was USS Liberty, a United States Navy technical research ship.[14]"

Ridiculous....all of that is heresay.....no record of any of that occurring .....especially in the time frame you suggest. Israel had official enquiries as well as the U.S. Navy and none of what you claim was ever reported until years later when some saw a chance to start a cottage industry and others jumped on board to vent their hatred of Israel and our alliance with Israel...and the survivors as much as they are to be sympathized with have been used for nefarious purposes.

ON JUNE 8, 1967, an Israeli torpedo tore through the side of the unarmed American naval vessel USS Liberty, approximately a dozen miles off the Sinai coast. The ship, whose crew was under command of the National Security Agency, was intercepting communications at the height of the Six-Day War when it came under direct Israeli aerial and naval assault.

Reverberations from the torpedo blast sent crewman Ernie Gallo flying across the radio research room where he was stationed. Gallo, a communications technician aboard the Liberty, found himself and his fellow shipmates in the midst of an attack that would leave 34 Americans dead and 171 wounded.

Now, half a century later, The Intercept is publishing two classified documents provided in the cache of files leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden related to the attack and its aftermath. They reveal previously unknown involvement by Government Communications Headquarters, the U.K. signals intelligence agency; internal NSA communications that seem to bolster a signals intelligence analyst’s account of the incident, which framed it as an accident.

Fifty Years Later, NSA Keeps Details of Israel’s USS Liberty Attack Secret

 

[georgephillip]

The above is what is known in the legal world as heresay evidence....this fellow was in Vietnam but he claimed to be getting reports regarding the attack on the Liberty in the Mediterranean ?

There's no "heresay" involved when a CRITIC EVENT is involved:

https://fas.org/irp/dni/icd/icd-190.pdf

"4. Standard operating procedures for CRITIC handling are provided by the DIRNSA in the Handbook (~fStandard Operating Proceduresfor Reporting Critical Information, or U.S. Signals Intelligence Directive CR 150 I, Handling of Critical Information, or successor documents. E.

"EXAMPLES OF CRITIC EVENTS: The following arc examples of events that meet CRITIC reporting requirements as described in Section D.l : I. Hostile Acts a. An attack or major act of sabotage against the U.S. or against U.S. or allied forces, installations, or vital properties outside of a war zone.

"b. Outbreak of war involving at least one country that is closely linked to vital U.S. interests. c. Significant hostile actions against vital U.S. interests in international territories, international waters, or space.

"d. Hostile usc of weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear). c. A physical attack on critical infrastructure that is closely linked to vital U.S. interests."

 

[MacTheKnife]

Old Marine proverb: "Never attribute to malice what can be blamed on stupidity."


Record of the visual contact of the liberty ship..............

Visual contact
Official testimony combined with Liberty's deck log say that throughout the morning of the attack, 8 June, the ship was overflown, at various times and locations, by Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft.[17] The primary aircraft type was the Nord Noratlas; there were also two unidentified delta-wing jets at about 9:00 am Sinai time (GMT+2).[17] Libertycrewmembers say that one of the Noratlas aircraft flew so close to Liberty that noise from its propellers rattled the ship's deck plating, and that the pilots and crewmembers waved to each other.[21] It was later reported, based on information from Israel Defense Forces sources, that the over-flights were coincidental, and that the aircraft were hunting for Egyptian submarines that had been spotted near the coast.[22]

At about 5:45 am Sinai time, a ship-sighting report was received at Israeli Central Coastal Command (CCC) about Liberty, identified by an aerial naval observer as "apparently a destroyer, sailing 70 miles [110 km] west of Gaza".[23] The vessel's location was marked on a CCC Control Table, using a red marker, indicating an unidentified vessel.[24] At about 6:00 am, the aerial naval observer, Major Uri Meretz, reported that the ship appeared like a U.S. Navy supply ship; the red marker was replaced with a green marker to indicate a neutral vessel, at about 9:00 am.[24] At that same time, an Israeli jet fighter pilot reported that a ship 20 miles (32 km) north of Arish had fired at his aircraft after he tried to identify the vessel.[24] Israeli naval command dispatched two destroyers to investigate, but they were returned to their previous positions at 9:40 am after doubts emerged during the pilot's debriefing.[24] After the naval observer's Noratlas landed and he was debriefed, the ship he saw was further identified as the USS Liberty, based on its "GTR-5" hull markings.[25]USS Liberty's marker was removed from CCC's Control Table at 11:00 am, due to its positional information being considered stale.[26]

At 11:24 am, Israeli Chief of Naval Operations received a report that Arish was being shelled from the sea.[26] An inquiry into the source of the report was ordered to determine its validity.[26] The report came from an Air Support Officer in Arish.[27] Additionally, at 11:27 am Israeli Supreme Command Head of Operations received a report stating that a ship had been shelling Arish, but the shells had fallen short.[27] (Investigative journalist James Bamford points out that Liberty had only four .50 caliber machine guns mounted on her decks and, thus, could not have shelled the coast.[28] ) The Head of Operations ordered that the report be verified, and determine whether or not Israeli Navy vessels were off the coast of Arish.[27] At 11:45 am, another report arrived at Supreme Command saying two ships were approaching the Arish coast.[27]

The shelling and ships reports were passed from Supreme Command to Fleet Operations Control Center.[27] The Chief of Naval Operations took them seriously, and at 12:05 pm torpedo boat Division 914 was ordered to patrol in the direction of Arish.[27]


Israeli Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) in formation, c. 1967. These were the MTBs that attacked USS Liberty.
Division 914, codenamed "Pagoda", was under the command of Commander Moshe Oren.[27] It consisted of three torpedo boats numbered: T-203, T-204 and T-206.[27] At 12:15 pm, Division 914 received orders to patrol a position 20 miles (32 km) north of Arish.[27] As Commander Oren headed toward Arish, he was informed by Naval Operations of the reported shelling of Arish and told that IAF aircraft would be dispatched to the area after the target had been detected.[27]

Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin was concerned that the supposed Egyptian shelling was the prelude to an amphibious landing that could outflank Israeli forces. Rabin reiterated the standing order to sink any unidentified ships in the area, but advised caution, as Soviet vessels were reportedly operating nearby.[22]

At 1:41 pm, the torpedo boats detected an unknown vessel 20 miles northwest of Arish and 14 miles (23 km) off the coast of Bardawil.[1][29] The ship's speed was estimated on their radars.[29] The Combat Information Center officer on T-204, Ensign Aharon Yifrah, reported to the boat's captain, Commander Moshe Oren, that the target had been detected at a range of 22 miles (35 km), that her speed had been tracked for a few minutes, after which he had determined that the target was moving westward at a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). These data were forwarded to the Fleet Operations Control Center.[29]

The speed of the target was significant because it indicated that the target was a combat vessel.[29] Moreover, Israeli forces had standing orders to fire on any unknown vessels sailing in the area at over 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), a speed which, at the time, could only be attained by warships. The Chief of Naval Operations asked the torpedo boats to double-check their calculations. Yifrah twice recalculated and confirmed his assessment.[22][29] A few minutes later, Commander Oren reported that the target, now 17 miles (27 km) from his position, was moving at a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) on a different heading.[30] Bamford, however, points out that Liberty's top speed was far below 28 knots. His sources say that at the time of the attack Liberty was following her signal-intercept mission course along the northern Sinai coast, at about 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) speed.[28]

The data on the ship's speed, together with its direction, indicated that it was an Egyptian destroyer fleeing toward port after shelling Arish. The torpedo boats gave chase, but did not expect to overtake their target before it reached Egypt. Commander Oren requested that the Israeli Air Force dispatch aircraft to intercept.[22][29] At 1:48 pm, the Chief of Naval Operations requested dispatch of fighter aircraft to the ship's location.[31]


Hunt-class destroyer HMS Blean. The Egyptian Navy had Hunt-class destroyers in 1967
The IAF dispatched two Mirage III fighter jets that arrived at Liberty at about 2:00 pm.[32] The formation leader, Captain Iftach Spector, attempted to identify the ship.[32] He communicated via radio to one of the torpedo boats his observation that the ship appeared like a military ship with one smokestack and one mast.[33] Also, he communicated, in effect, that the ship appeared to him like a destroyer or another type of small ship.[33] In a post-attack statement, the pilots said they saw no distinguishable markings or flag on the ship.[33]

USS Liberty incident - Wikipedia

 

[georgephillip]

USS Liberty incident - Wikipedia

"Some intelligence and military officials dispute Israel's explanation.[64]

"Dean Rusk, U.S. Secretary of State at the time of the incident, wrote:

"'I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink Liberty precluded an assault by accident or some trigger-happy local commander. 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.'[65]

"Retired naval Lieutenant Commander James Ennes, a junior officer (and off-going Officer of the Deck) on Liberty's bridge at the time of the attack, authored a book titled Assault on the Liberty describing the incident during the Six-Day War in June 1967 and saying, among other things, that the attack was deliberate.[66] Ennes and Joe Meadors, also survivors of the attack, run a website about the incident.[67] Meadors states that the classification of the attack as deliberate is the official policy of the USS Liberty Veterans Association,[68] to which survivors and other former crew members belong. Other survivors run several additional websites. Citing Ennes's book, Lenczowski notes: Liberty's personnel received firm orders not to say anything to anybody about the attack, and the naval inquiry was conducted in such a way as to earn it the name of "coverup".[53]

"In 2002, Captain Ward Boston, JAGC, U.S. Navy, senior counsel for the Court of Inquiry, said that the Court of Inquiry's findings were intended to cover up what was a deliberate attack by Israel on a ship that the Israelis knew to be American.

"In 2004, in response to the publication of A. Jay Cristol's book The Liberty Incident, which Boston said was an 'insidious attempt to whitewash the facts', Boston prepared and signed an affidavit in which he said that Admiral Kidd had told him that the government ordered Kidd to falsely report that the attack was a mistake, and that Boston and Kidd both believed the attack was deliberate.[69] On the issue Boston wrote, in part:

"'The evidence was clear. Both Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American sailors and injured 172 others, was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew. Each evening, after hearing testimony all day, we often spoke our private thoughts concerning what we had seen and heard. I recall Admiral Kidd repeatedly referring to the Israeli forces responsible for the attack as 'murderous bastards'. It was our shared belief, based on the documentary evidence and testimony we received first hand, that the Israeli attack was planned and deliberate, and could not possibly have been an accident.'

"Cristol wrote about Boston's professional qualifications and integrity, on page 149 of his book:

"'Boston brought two special assets in addition to his skill as a Navy lawyer. He had been a naval aviator in World War II and therefore had insight beyond that of one qualified only in the law. Also, Kidd knew him as a man of integrity. On an earlier matter Boston had been willing to bump heads with Kidd when Boston felt it was more important to do the right thing than to curry favor with the senior who would write his fitness report.

"— A. Jay Cristol, The Liberty Incident

"Cristol said he believes that Boston is not telling the truth about Kidd's views and any pressure from the U.S. government.[70] Cristol, who also served as an officer of the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General, suggests that Boston was responsible in part for the original conclusions of the Court of Inquiry and, that by later declaring that they were false, Boston has admitted to "lying under oath". Cristol also notes that Boston's statements about pressure on Kidd were hearsay, and that Kidd was not alive to confirm or deny them. He also notes that Boston did not maintain, prior to his affidavit and comments related to it, that Kidd spoke of such instructions to Boston or to others. Finally, Cristol provides a handwritten 1991 letter from Admiral Kidd[71]that, according to Cristol, "suggest that Ward Boston has either a faulty memory or a vivid imagination".

"The Anti-Defamation League supports Cristol's opinion:

"... according to his own account, Boston's evidence of a cover-up derives not from his own part in the investigation but solely on alleged conversations with Admiral Kidd, who purportedly told him he was forced to find that the attack was unintentional. Kidd died in 1999 and there is no way to verify Boston's statements. However, Cristol argues that the 'documentary record' strongly indicated that Kidd 'supported the validity of the findings of the Court of Inquiry to his dying day.'[72]

"According to James Ennes, however, Admiral Kidd urged Ennes and his group to keep pressing for an open congressional probe.[73]

"The following arguments, found in official reports or other sources, were published to support that the attack was due to mistaken identity"

 

[jasonnfree]

A link for when Israel captured a boat with an ex US Congresswoman aboard carrying vital supplies. This was international waters. What did prezdent bush jr. or incoming president Obama say about this? Nothing. What hold do these Israelis have on USA anyway. We subsidize them at every opportunity, and yet, they have affordable college and health care for their own citizens, unlike those of us in USA.

Cynthia McKinney Relief Boat Hit by Israeli Ship

 

[georgephillip]

A link for when Israel captured a boat with an ex US Congresswoman aboard carrying vital supplies. This was international waters. What did prezdent bush jr. or incoming president Obama say about this? Nothing. What hold do these Israelis have on USA anyway. We subsidize them at every opportunity, and yet, they have affordable college and health care for their own citizens, unlike those of us in USA.

Cynthia McKinney Relief Boat Hit by Israeli Ship

"The Gaza War, also known as Operation Cast Lead ...] also known in the Muslim world as the Gaza Massacre... [40][41][42] and the Battle of al-Furqan... by Hamas,[43][44] was a three-week armed conflict between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Israel that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 in a unilateral ceasefire.[45]

"The conflict resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths (4 from friendly fire).[46]"

Gaza War (2008–09) - Wikipedia

McKinney recognized Israel's goal during "Cast Lead" was to topple Hamas and install a puppet regime thereby imposing its own terms for a final settlement.

Needless to say, Obama preferred selling arms to the aggressor.