Author's response :: Reader comments at Daniel Pipes

Submitted by A Jay Cristol (United States), Jan 2, 2003 at 15:53

The negative user comments posted in response to the Daniel Pipes review of my book "The Liberty Incident" have one thing in common. They all are from persons who have their minds made up and it appears most are not interested in the facts and have not read the book. If after you read the book and visit my website and then disagree with my conclusion that the attack was a tragic mistake, it is a free country. You should know that the conclusion of tragic mistake is not mine alone.

The U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry convened just days after the event made 52 findings of fact. Three of the most important findings are:

1. Available evidence combines to indicate the attack on Liberty on 8 June was in fact a case of mistaken identity,

2. The calm conditions and slow ship speed may well have made the American flag difficult to identify, and

3. There are no available indications that the attack was intended against a U.S. ship.

The 727 page record, including 155 pages of sworn testimony by the commanding officer of the ship, William McGonagle, and other Liberty crew members, may be obtained from the Navy Judge Advocate General. Admiral John McCain, the Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Naval Forces Europe (and father of Senator McCain), endorsed the Court of Inquiry:

The foregoing comments by the convening authority lead to an overall
conclusion that the attack was in fact a mistake.

The Central Intelligence Agency in a letter from its director to a United States Senator dated February 27, 1978 stated the position of the CIA:

It remains our best judgment that the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty
was not made in malice toward the United States and was a mistake.

Clark Clifford, Chair of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, reported to the President

"Information thus far available does not reflect that the Israeli High
Command made a premeditated attack on a ship known to be American."

Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1967 that there was

"No evidence that the individuals attacking. . .knew they were attacking
a U.S. ship."

In 1981, the National Security Agency blamed Israeli miscalculations and American communications failures for the tragedy. Eight U.S. Presidents, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush, have all agreed that the Liberty incident was a tragic case of mistaken identity.

My book, "The Liberty Incident," is a collection of all the official investigations plus my own investigation and an analysis of the many contradictory conspiracy theories endorsed by some of the negative commentators. I merely suggest the reasonable approach to reaching a conclusion on this matter is to read the book before making a decision.

Like (1) Dislike (2)

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

<< Previous Comment Next Comment >>

Reader comments (53) on this item

	Title	Commenter	Date	Thread
2	"The Day Israel Attacked America" airing Friday on TV gives proof beyond a doubt Israel knew the ship was American [92 words]	Jerry Robinson	Nov 12, 2014 18:09	219289
2	There Was No Mistake About It [146 words]	Dave	Aug 20, 2013 18:12	209119
4	The defence of Israel in AJ Cristol's book is a fraud, starting from the front cover. [477 words] w/response from Daniel Pipes	Nick Adler	Apr 20, 2013 11:20	205330
	No response to photo fraud [30 words]	Dave	Aug 21, 2013 18:03	205330
4	Interviews of Survivors [79 words]	mike	Dec 29, 2007 11:06	117079
6	Why does Israel and the US government fear an open honest investigation under oath if it was an accident? [81 words]	Jeff Davis	Jul 24, 2007 00:48	104504
	DYING CONFESSION [212 words]	Gene Thomas Gomulka	May 31, 2016 00:43	104504
3	Intent presupposes reason [182 words]	Demetris	Jun 28, 2007 08:51	101855
1	US / Israel were not 'allies' in 1967. [109 words]	ajnn	Aug 17, 2012 00:25	101855
	AMERICAN LOSSES [63 words]	marc melchiori	Feb 15, 2006 12:45	35800
1	the logic of A. J. Cristol [271 words]	Bryan	Apr 9, 2006 21:05	35800
5	Cristol fabricated evidence (fake photos) and you think he is reliable? [136 words]	Jeff Davis	Jan 2, 2011 20:11	35800
1	Photos [54 words]	Steven Lax	Apr 26, 2018 16:22	35800
3	"Mistaken Identity" [217 words]	Joseph Graziano	Nov 18, 2005 16:37	28598
2	Easy Pickins! Prove Cristol's claim, win $10,000 [52 words]	T. Taylor	Jun 8, 2005 06:44	22604
	USS Liberty and so-called congressional investigations [31 words]	Frank G Anderson	Aug 13, 2013 07:55	22604
	With all due respect... [299 words]	Adam J. Bernay	May 1, 2005 02:57	21911
	Defending USA [88 words]	Geraldine	Apr 16, 2004 11:25	14731
2	The motive [250 words]	Holger Sens	Aug 28, 2003 22:52	10905
2	And the beat goes on [245 words]	Ronald G. Kukal	Jun 25, 2003 08:16	9734
2	Only opinions? Balderdash [170 words]	James Ennes	Jun 24, 2003 20:16	9724
	Barking up the Wrong Tree [25 words]	American-Israeli	May 9, 2006 17:03	9724
1	What we expect [107 words]	Bob Osborne	Dec 31, 2008 20:09	9724
	Planes recalled [107 words]	Steven Lax	Apr 24, 2018 13:57	9724
1	Where there photographs taken during this attack? [175 words]	Richard Bray	Jun 20, 2003 14:33	9660
2	Response to American Israeli [317 words]	David Smyth	Jun 4, 2003 20:46	9395
	Opinions, not facts [119 words]	American-Israeli	May 9, 2006 17:00	9395
	Proff and Facts [115 words]	Ronald Kukal	Sep 12, 2006 11:09	9395
	Cristol apparently has no need for an easy $10,000.00 [23 words]	Dave	Aug 21, 2013 17:56	9395
	Ed Toner [17 words]	Kevin O'Hallahan	Apr 14, 2003 19:07	8359
5	Put up or Shut up [232 words]	An American-Israeli	Mar 19, 2003 06:59	7362
1	American-Israeli Questions [147 words]	DAVE	Aug 21, 2013 18:47	7362
	David Smyth's imagined evidence [117 words]	An American-Israeli	Mar 19, 2003 06:37	7360
	Army relay center germany [72 words]	Mike Queen	Jan 26, 2003 14:49	5993
	David Wolf (Nov. 7): "declared aggressive intent" toward US [103 words]	david walsh	Jan 14, 2003 12:16	5726
	Irrelevant crticisms [100 words]	Klee Gluckman	Jan 11, 2003 06:44	5668
1	What is gained? [209 words]	F. Burke	Jan 4, 2003 12:01	5479
1	Author's response [443 words]	A Jay Cristol	Jan 2, 2003 15:53	5428
	Direct versus circumstantial evidence [377 words]	Mike Sciales	Feb 16, 2006 15:21	5428
3	Cristol Didn't Verify His Israeli Sources [92 words]	Joe Meadors	Dec 27, 2002 13:13	5169
2	Conspiracy Theories? [269 words]	David Smyth	Nov 22, 2002 08:48	4147
1	The only attack uninvestigated by Congress [254 words]	Jim Griffin	Nov 14, 2002 14:18	3913
	To commenter Ed Toner [540 words]	David Wolf	Nov 7, 2002 23:22	3719
	Tall tales, etc. continue [427 words]	Mike Weeks	Nov 5, 2002 21:39	3665
	Interview [27 words]	Steven Lax	Apr 23, 2018 17:35	3665
2	Unwarranted Israeli attack on USS LIBERTY [101 words]	Jim King	Nov 4, 2002 10:41	3586
2	Cowards in Congress, and Sheep in the Pulpit/ Churches [114 words]	M Royes	Nov 4, 2002 02:04	3577
3	USS LIBERTY, The Truth [152 words]	Stan White	Nov 3, 2002 13:07	3562
1	The Liberty Incident [56 words]	Ed Toner	Nov 3, 2002 09:41	3559
1	Friendly fire happens for seconds not hours [169 words]	Wayne McCarthy	Nov 2, 2002 21:00	3545
1	"The Truth Shall Set Us Free" [78 words]	Rev. Gary F. Taylor, Dr. Min.	Nov 2, 2002 20:13	3543
7	Best planned mistake in the history of warfare [288 words]	James Ennes	Nov 1, 2002 22:17	3507
1	What does Bamford say about this ??? [42 words]	Saul Pfeffer	Oct 18, 2002 13:17	3135