USS Liberty survivor assails former Navy lawyer's view

USS Liberty survivor assails former Navy lawyer's view
July 22, 2007 12:00 AM

Among the saddest aspects of the USS Liberty story is that it brings out of hiding a phalanx of die-hard Liberty opponents who exhaust themselves trying to disprove our eyewitness accounts and experiences.

• I was a lieutenant on the bridge of USS Liberty for several hours up to and during the early minutes of the attack.
  
• Although wounded, I remained awake, alert and in touch with my men throughout.
  
• Among other things, it was obvious from the extended, prolonged, close attack on our clearly marked ship that this was no accident.
  
• Other evidence collected later confirmed that impression, as did intercepts of the attacking pilots who clearly knew they were attacking an American ship.

The facts are:

• The attack was preceded by hours of close reconnaissance by Israeli aircraft. We were fired upon for more than 75 minutes.
  
• The attack included 40 minutes of very close machine-gunning of firefighters and stretcher-bearers long after the attackers viewed our flag and clear markings in English from less than 50 feet away.

U.S. Air Force intercept operators heard the pilots repeatedly identifying us as American during the attack. There was no doubt that the pilots knew they were killing Americans. This is widely known within the U.S. intelligence community, despite the heated denials of our attackers and their American supporters.

The attack ended only after the Israelis machine-gunned our life rafts in the water, a war crime that we have reported repeatedly to a disinterested government.

Contrary to A. Jay Cristol's false claim (in Viewpoints last week), numerous U.S. officials, including

• Secretary of State Dean Rusk,
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Tom Moorer,
• National Security Agency Director Gen. Marshall Carter,
• CIA Director Richard Helms and
• many other former senior officers from all of the U.S. intelligence agencies, have agreed that the attack was deliberate.

Cristol seeks to discredit our eyewitness accounts by maligning our motives and falsely claiming Arab financing and influence. Contrary to Cristol's false claims, the Liberty Veterans Association was organized by Master Chief Petty Officer Stan White and myself with no help from former congressmen or anyone else. Just paying the phone bills for this effort was a strain on both of our household budgets. We had no financial support and certainly no Arab money.

Cristol's little essay leans heavily on what he calls the "Navy Court of Inquiry" transcript. He neglects to mention that the court's own legal counsel swears that the transcript was illegally changed in Washington after it was signed. Key testimony, including my own as officer of the deck, was blocked from the record or removed. (See www.ussliberty.org/bostondeclaration.pdf.)

Cristol likens the attack to friendly fire. Rusk said of this case,

"Accidents do not occur through repeated attacks by surface vessels and aircraft. ... (This attack) involved combined forces. The ship was flying an American flag. . . . I did not accept the Israeli explanation."

(See www.ussliberty.org/supporters.htm for the full statement and others by senior U.S. officials who dispute Cristol.)

Cristol claims that several congressional investigations have concluded that the attack was an accident. False. (See www.ussliberty.org/thebiglie.htm.)

The librarian of Congress reported on July 26, 2006, that there has never been a congressional investigation. Liberty survivors offer $10,000 cash to anyone who can prove that there has been. Neither Cristol nor anyone else has applied for that award. (See www.ussliberty.org/challenge.htm.)

Cristol blames the Liberty Veterans Association for causing survivors distress. On the contrary, the association and its camaraderie have been our greatest comfort. Since the Cristol apologia last Sunday, I have heard from several angry shipmates who are still traumatized by the deaths of their shipmates. Now, many are having sleepless nights and other post-traumatic stress disorder effects renewed specifically by the denials and false statements in Cristol's article.

Cristol always seems perplexed that we crew members take the attack on our ship personally and can't understand why we won't accept that it might have been an accident. The explanation is simple. Cristol's Navy "career" was that of a weekend warrior reserve lawyer. He never served in combat or anywhere near combat. He has never been shot at. Those of us who suffered through an hour long, well-coordinated, combined arms (air/ship) attack against our ship, seeing our shipmates killed and wounded, know the difference between an accident and a deliberate attack. Cristol obviously does not. To have our eyewitness accounts dismissed by someone who wasn't there and knows nothing about what happened only worsens the trauma we still experience.

The false accounts of our opponents illustrate once again why we survivors have sought for 40 years to have a full, complete, open investigation where we can testify under oath. Catch us in a lie and we go to jail. We are prepared to take that risk. Our opponents fear giving us that opportunity. Our story is true. Cristol's is not.

James Ennes, a retired Navy officer, is author of "Assault on the Liberty."