bottom_david@rangly.DEC (DAVE BOTTOM ASO/4AC 271-6935) (03/13/86)
Just a minor correction, the Liberty did not sink....it crawled back to port(a miracle of shipboard damage control) the port was either Sigonella (sp?) Sicily or Naples Italy. I believe the captain and crew were all cited for this unbelievable accomplishment. Dave Bottom DEC Augusta Maine *****My employer allows me to play here but assumes no responsibility for it****
bottom_david@mtblue.DEC (DAVE BOTTOM ASO/4AC 271-6935) (03/19/86)
I find it difficult to believe that the most combat ready/experienced airforce in the world would mistake a US ship (complete with flag) for an Egyptian one less that half the size...... Believe me, our aircrews spend a great deal of time on "recognition" training so that they can tell a Kresta II from a California class cruiser etc. I cannot believe the Israeli airforce does not..... I do not insist that this attack was deliberate.....I do, however, wonder why *our* government was so convinced that they would attack....all we didn't attemp to call the Liberty back until after we confronted the Isreali's with the fact that we knew they were not telling our State Department the truth about their gains in this war. ******WARNING*******I am not interested in mindless "anit-semtite" flaming...if you wish to refute do so in an intelligent manner. I'm interested in other theories on how this event could have happened. Dave Bottom !dec-rhea!dec-mtblue!bottom_david ***Insert general disclaimer****
martillo@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Yakim Martillo) (03/23/86)
In article <1766@decwrl.DEC.COM> bottom_david@mtblue.DEC (DAVE BOTTOM ASO/4AC 271-6935) writes: >I find it difficult to believe that the most combat ready/experienced >airforce in the world would mistake a US ship (complete with flag) for >an Egyptian one less that half the size...... >Believe me, our aircrews spend a great deal of time on "recognition" >training so that they can tell a Kresta II from a California class >cruiser etc. I cannot believe the Israeli airforce does not..... >I do not insist that this attack was deliberate.....I do, however, >wonder why *our* government was so convinced that they would >attack....all we didn't attemp to call the Liberty back until after we >confronted the Isreali's with the fact that we knew they were not >telling our State Department the truth about their gains in this >war. The U.S.S. Liberty was a spy ship. Spy ships work on concealing their identity. During the war the Israeli air force fired on Israelis. During the Vietnam War, the American air force accidentally fired on Americans. Accidentally firing on a non-combatant spy ship probably concealing its identity hardly seems improbable. Joachim Carlo Santos Martillo
steve@valid.UUCP (steve homer) (03/28/86)
> In article <1766@decwrl.DEC.COM> bottom_david@mtblue.DEC > (DAVE BOTTOM ASO/4AC 271-6935) writes: > >I find it difficult to believe that the most combat ready/experienced > >airforce in the world would mistake a US ship (complete with flag) for > >an Egyptian one less that half the size...... > > > The U.S.S. Liberty was a spy ship. Spy ships work on concealing their > identity. During the war the Israeli air force fired on Israelis. > During the Vietnam War, the American air force accidentally fired on > Americans. Accidentally firing on a non-combatant spy ship probably > concealing its identity hardly seems improbable. > > Joachim Carlo Santos Martillo The attack on the USS Liberty is rather well documented, and it's pretty clear that the Israeli's knew she was a National Security Agency ship with a satellite uplink and attacked her deliberately to cut off that link. Israeli planes had been buzzing the ship for several hours before the ship was attacked. After the planes strafed and napalmed the Liberty, Israeli gunboats shot up the life rafts when the crew tried to abandon ship. The book, "The Puzzle Palace," by (I think) James Bamford has a rather detailed report on the incident, and Bamford footnotes his sources quite thoroughly. He says that the attack began as soon as the Liberty began transmitting to a relay satellite. Steve Homer {hplabs,amd,pyramid,ihnp4}!pesnta!valid!steve