Recordings Back Israel Claim on Spy Ship

[stratoman]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=6&u=/ap/20030709/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_spy_ship_4

JERUSALEM - Newly declassified transcripts back up Israel's claim that its sinking of a U.S. spy ship during the 1967 Middle East war was an accident, a Florida judge who has been investigating the case for 16 years said Wednesday.

Israel has always maintained it thought the USS Liberty was an Egyptian military supply ship when it ordered its forces to attack on June 8, 1967, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171. But critics charge Israel knew the ship was American. Questions about the case have long dogged U.S.-Israel relations.

Miami Judge A. Jay Cristol received transcripts of transmissions from two Israeli helicopter pilots, sent to check for survivors after the attack. The pilots referred to the ship as Egyptian and were surprised to discover it was flying an American flag.

The recordings, in Hebrew, were made by a U.S. spy plane hovering over the site.

Cristol told The Associated Press he received the transcripts after submitting a Freedom of Information request to the U.S. National Security Agency, which had kept the recordings secret for 37 years. After his request was denied, Cristol filed suit in federal court and forced their release.

Agency spokesman Patrick Weadon confirmed Cristol had been sent the transcripts.

"We provided the tapes as part of the historical record," Weadon said. "The agency takes no official position on what happened to the Liberty."

Cristol, who has written a book about the case, said, the tapes "show both the helicopter pilots and their controller ... believed the Israeli air force had targeted an Egyptian ship."

A National Security Agency summary of the incident says the Israelis were confused over the stricken ship's identity more than an hour after the attack.

Cristol provided the summary and full transcripts of the pilot and tower recordings to The Associated Press.

Israel has long maintained the attack was the result of a tragic mistake during the heat of battle. Israel was at war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan at the time.

An Israeli commission of inquiry concluded the Israeli air force believed the targeted ship was an Egyptian cargo vessel ferrying supplies to Egyptian troops fighting Israeli forces.

However, some of the Liberty's survivors and some officials in the U.S. defense establishment have rejected this view, contending Israel deliberately targeted the ship to keep the United States from learning that Israel was planning to attack Syria as part of its strategy during the war.

The Israeli daily Haaretz, which first reported the disclosures in its Wednesday edition, quoted Cristol as saying the tape transcripts were the last classified intelligence about the Liberty.

[aREDSKIN]

"However, some of the Liberty's survivors and some officials in the U.S. defense establishment have rejected this view, contending Israel deliberately targeted the ship to keep the United States from learning that Israel was planning to attack Syria as part of its strategy during the war."

Indeed.

[chiefhogskin48]

If something like this happened today, I would unleash the dogs of war on Israel.

[fansince62]

I continue to support Israel....but this one has always stuck in my craw:

1) US ships are distincly colored.

2) spy ships bristle with antennas and other signature electronic structures that aren't on cargo ships

3) most nations, especially sophisticated powers like Israel, have ID requirements before releasing weapons

4) there are at sea procedures for radio communications, including international frequencies all vessels monitor

it doesn't add up.