Yes they did apologise for it, but to be fair to the Israelis we told them we had no ships in the area. To them it was a enemy cargo ship.

Originally Posted by Britney

Yes they did apologise for it, but to be fair to the Israelis we told them we had no ships in the area. To them it was a enemy cargo ship.

That was because the Liberty was in International waters and had no obligation whatsoever to declare it's presence. Even if it were Egyptian, it still would have had every right to be there.

You should read the story.

Originally Posted by senojekips

Even if it were Egyptian, it still would have had every right to be there.

Any Egyptian ship in Int. waters would be fair game.

Originally Posted by senojekips

That was because the Liberty was in International waters and had no obligation whatsoever to declare it's presence. Even if it were Egyptian, it still would have had every right to be there.

You should read the story.

I read it years ago, our government told the Israelis we had no ships in the area. That was obviously mistaken information witch led to them attacking what they thought was a enemy vessel.

I'm not going to jump on the anti-Israeli band wagon like a lot of others are, it was a mistake on both sides- one fo the US not correctly informing the Israelis, and two for the Israelis for not double checking it's target.

The Israelis are our close ally, it makes little sense to think they deliberately and knowingly attacked a US vessel.

I dont think anyone is claiming we had a obligation to disclose it's presence, but its the fact we told them we had no ships in the area that maters.

Israel and Egypt where at war, it would be expected for Israel to attack any Egyptian vessel, just because it was in international waters doesn't make it a invalid target.

Yes im sore this thing happened, but you cant claim the victim when we told them we had no vessels in the area. It was not done to 'attack' us shipping, and i think thats abundantly clear when they ceased fire when they found out it was a US ship. If they thought it was a Egyptian ship they would have sent it to the bottom.

Obviously you haven't read very much about it then.

As for it making sense, can you tell me one act of military aggression that has made sense?

The truth looks more like the Israelis thought that they could sink the Liberty before they could identify their attackers.

just because it was in international waters doesn't make it a invalid target.

Would you care to explain how you have arrived at this amazing conclusion, because 99.9% of seagoing nations would strongly disagree with you.

Vessels in International waters must be identified before you attack them, The Liberty was flying the US flag and looked nothing like the vessel that the Israelis claimed it to be.

Or do you think that the Israeli Airforce pilots left their white canes at home that day.

Just because a ship if flying the colors of a friendly nation does not mean it is from a friendly nation. One should research old naval tactics. It used to be common practice to fly the colors of nation you where attacking and/or trying to smuggle cargo into/out of.

Originally Posted by Polie

Just because a ship if flying the colors of a friendly nation does not mean it is from a friendly nation. One should research old naval tactics. It used to be common practice to fly the colors of nation you where attacking and/or trying to smuggle cargo into/out of.

You would be better served if you should learn something of international law before making stupid comments. If any vessel is flying the flag of a non combatant nation, it is up to the attacker to verify the vessel's nationality BEFORE opening fire.

The Liberty was three times as large as the El Quseir
Liberty had a straight stack on top of her superstructure the El Quseir's was raked and behind the Centrecastle.

Would you mistake a Harley Davidson for a Vespa scooter?

Maybe that scenario is OK for Pirates of the Caribbean in 1667, but not in the Mediterranean in 1967. Even back then, it was frowned upon and was an offence for which you could be hung and drawn.

I wasent condoning the act, just stating that they may have thought it was a cargo ship that was trying to pass off as a US vessel, that's all. The fact of the matter is that no one will truly ever know what was going through the minds of the crews firing on the USS Liberty. The 'official' reports can say anything, but what was actually going through there mind could have been different. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely a for US and Israeli alliance, it just sometimes you need to step back and wonder what was really going on.

I dont know why you are trying to attack me for pointing that out. I would think it would better serve you to either try and add something else to the conversation or add nothing at all since you had a useless post. Also, I have never see Pirates of the Caribbean, why because its not my type of movie.

Well, your statement was neither informed nor factual. If you make a statement here, it is expected that you base it on facts. The idea being to find the most obvious truth, not to make excuses.



How could trained pilots and Naval officers mistake these two vessels, shown above at approximately the same scale.

Originally Posted by George

Any Egyptian ship in Int. waters would be fair game.

And since when did the USS Liberty become Egyptian? Or shrink to one third of its size.

USS Liberty did not fly any flag.It could not fly a flag because the mission was secret and in United Nation USA openly declared they dont have any american ships in the are of conflict.How could United States say one thing and do another? That's why when USA realized the danger to the ship they were trying to send 6 secret messages to the Liberty.And what the messages were about? The mesages ordering the ship to stay away at least 100 miles from the coast, (you see not to rise the flag on the ship,but stay away from the area of war )
And were is the original smaller flag which sailors claimed to be shut down by israeli jets during first attack? Were is it? Nobody can find it? Sure,because it was never on the ship, because it does not holes on it,that's why nobody can find it. At the National
Cryptologic Museum at NSA Ft Meade MD there is only Holiday flag,which sailors raised later on. That's why leading israeli pilot radio reported to the base he cannot identify the ship but in any case it is military ship.If israelis knew in advance that the ship was american why pilot needed to say all these things to the base,including how many mast and smokestackes it had?
All israeli pilots knew the identification of their own ships,because all Israeli ships, military and civl, had a special marking on the deck that israeli pilots could easily identify them when flying above.Obviously USS liberty did not have such markings, and attack took place.