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What was the mission of the ship? Why was the marker identifying the ship removed from the table in the Israeli war room? How often did Israeli planes observe LIBERTY on the morning of June 8? How close were these planes? Did they identify the ship as American? Did the Israelis send a messenger to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv seeking information about the ship? If so, what answer did they receive? Admiral Erell, commander of the Israeli Navy, sent a
message to the Israeli MTBs ordering them not to attack the
ship. Why was this order ignored?
According to Dwight Porter, US ambassador to Lebanon at this time, some Israeli planes recognized LIBERTY as an American ship and were reluctant to attack, but were ordered to do so. What is the evidence for this? Did the flag on the ship droop or stand out in the wind? Could the flag be seen by Israeli pilots? Did the Israelis jam the ship's radios? What signals passed between the MTBs and LIBERTY as the MTBs approached the ship? How long did the MTB attack last? Did the MTBs sink life rafts which had been put over the side of the ship? When did the MTBs offer help to the ship? Why was there a long interval between Israeli recognition that LIBERTY was an American ship and the time when Israel official notified the US that it had made the attack? Two Israeli helicopters hovered near the ship late in the
attack,without contacting the ship. The crewmen claim these
were full of armed men. What is the evidence? When were flights of rescue planes launched from the Sixth Fleet, and when were they recalled? Why was the second flight of planes told to wait 90 minutes before launching? Dave Lewis, executive officer of the LIBERTY, states that ADM. Geis of the Sixth Fleet told him that LBJ and Secretary McNamara personally ordered the recall of the rescue flights to avoid a conflict with Israel. What is the evidence? What did Gen. Baraket, chief of Israeli Air Force Intelligence, mean when he stated that LIBERTY was attacked "because it was interfering with our plans"? Why have some partisans of Israel claimed that the attack on LIBERTY was intentional and justified because the ship was aiding the Arab states in the Six Day War? What is the evidence? Why did ADM. Kidd, commanding the Naval Court, threaten the LIBERTY crewmen and warn them that they must NEVER talk about the attack? Why was there no discussion in the Naval Court, or in any other forum, about the failure of the Sixth Fleet to aid LIBERTY? Why does this remain the only attack on a US naval vessel in peacetime not to have a full scale Congressional investigation? What was the role of the American press in discussing (or not discussing) this issue? Those who claim that the attack was accidental point to ten US and three Israeli investigations which, they claim, all concluded that the attack was an accident. How valid is this claim? What criticisms can be made of these inquiries? Answers to these questions can clarify the facts about this important event. © 2000 John Borne |
Damage to the superstructure from the attack
Did the Israeli planes orbit the ship looking for a flag, or
did they attack directly? How long did the air attack
last?