UPDATE---BREAKING NEWS

Crackie
By Crackie

This afternoon, on the 40th anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty, the National Security Agency released a substantial number of previously secret or classified documents concerning the attack. The NSA web page for the documents is here.

The NSA web site does not distinguish in terms of how documents are grouped, between documents that were released in 2003 vs. documents released today. However, individual documents that are new have, at least on the first page, a stamp indicating a 2007 or 2006 date of the governmental authorization to declassify. There are some interesting items, and there are bound to be new controversies as the documents are examined by the general public, journalists, and survivors of the attack.

Comments

[Christine]

This declassified document seems to explain that the attack was a sad mistake, and how it occurred:

http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/51652/3068921.pdf

[Crackie]

Christine,
Thank you for taking the time to look at the documents released by the National Security Agency. The specific document that you have linked to appears to be newly declassified. However, the main document that it relates to--the conclusion reached by an Israeli investigation in 1967--has been publicly know for 40 years. As far as investigations of the attack on the USS Liberty go, there are two fundamental questions: (1) Was there a cover up as to the Israeli investigation, and (2) Was there a cover up as to the investigation or investigations on the US side. One of the Liberty survivors, Lt. James Ennes, wrote a book which sought, among other matters, to critique the Israeli and American investigations. Whether one agrees with him or not, he makes a strong case that the attack was not an accident. Then Secretary of State Dean Rusk, then CIA Director Richard Helms, and USS Liberty Captain William McGonagle all publicly rejected the "accident" explanation proffered by Israel. The web site of the USS Liberty survivors can be found here: http://www.ussliberty.org/
That site includes on its front page an extensive list of US officials who have rejected the claim of an accidental attack.
As with any claim of a cover up, there need to be participants in the process of hiding the truth. One thing that makes me highly sceptical about claims of cover ups (e.g., such assertions of cover up as to the JFK assassination) is the long term absence of participants in the cover up who will, not right away but eventually, be overcome with remorse and come forward with the truth. Unlike the JFK assassination and dozens of other situations where claims of cover up have been made, such a person has come forward in the case of the USS Liberty. Captain Ward Boston was a Navy pilot who flew combat missions from the USS Yorktown in World War II. After the war he became an FBI agent, went to law school, rejoined the Navy and, in 1967, was asked to serve as the chief legal counsel to the US Navy Court of Inquiry that investigated the attack on the USS Liberty. He has come forward and signed a sworn affidavit that there was a cover up--President Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ordered his boss, Admiral Isaac Kidd, to conclude that the attack was an accident. Capt. Boston wrote a stunning article detailing the cover up last Friday in the San Diego Union-Tribune. His article, entitled "Time for the truth about the Liberty," can be found here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070608/news_lz1e8boston.html
Even the most forceful advocate on the present scene for the Israeli "accident" position, historian Michael Oren, has stated that he thinks an investigation of the USS Liberty would be a good idea. Just as politics played a role in 1967, so in 2007 there will never be such a full blown investigation. It would be to the ultimate benefit of both America and Israel to have the full truth come out--whatever it is. Alas, it will not happen in the lifetimes of the Liberty survivors and the families of the 34 Americans who lost their lives in the attack.

[David]

I love the blog that you have. I was wondering if you would link my blog to yours and in return I would do the same for your blog. If you want to, my site name is American Legends and the URL is:

www.americanlegends.blogspot.com

If you want to do this just go to my blog and in one of the comments just write your blog name and the URL and I will add it to my site.

Thanks,
David

[Mrs. Peperium]

David, if a young egg like you can find merit in some old beans like us, then it would be very rude for us not to give you the crumpet.

[Christine]

Crackie,
Thank you for the thorough and thoughtful response. I am new to the controversy, and was perusing the declassified documents and came upon that one. Thanks for enlightening me on why the controvery remains.