James Scott has written what is very close to a definitive account of the attack on the US spy ship Liberty by Israeli forces in 1967 which resulted in the deaths of 34 US servicemen. More than 40 years after the event, the story of what happened to the Liberty carries important lessons concerning the nature of the relationship between the United States and Israel. Just as it was in 1967, Israel today continues to be regarded as the foremost ally of the United States in the Middle East. And yet Israel attacked and nearly destroyed an unarmed ship of the US Navy. In 1967, as Scott thoroughly documents, domestic American political considerations overrode the willingness of the US establishment to treat the attack for what it was recognized to be - an intentional act of murder motivated by the desire to prevent the US from spying on Israel's communications during the 1967 war. Although outrage over the Liberty was widespread, the Johnson administration decided that it could not risk alienating Jewish support by coming down hard on Israel. Using a host of material that has become available in recent years, Scott shows that all the major players, including the CIA, the military, the State Dept, many in Congress, all of Johnson's advisers and in fact Johnson himself saw the attack for what it was. Yet that outrage needed to be suppressed, in order to placate Jewish support for the Democrats. In today's world, when it comes to situations where the interests of the United States happen to diverge from Israel's perceived interest, things have not changed all that much. Those same domestic political considerations still make it difficult for the US leadership to take positions which Israel or its US lobby finds unfavorable.

The story has been already told many times before:the "Liberty",a ship that was employed by the NSA, has been ordered to reach the Six-Day War zone in the Middle East in order to find out what was going on in the area during the conflict.Unfortunately,Israeli planes and torpedoes made sure the ship would be hit ,albeit they knew for sure that this was an American -and not an enemy-ship and despite the fact that the ship was to be found in international waters.
The author quotes verbatim parts of the transcript of radio communication between the Israeli pilots and the air-controllers which prove his thesis that Israel wanted to whitewash this horrible incident.There are graphic descriptions of the hellish conditions and sufferings that the American navymen went through,just because somebody was foolish enough to give an order to bomb ths ship without any justifiable reason.The two Israeli reports which were supposed to find out the truth only contributed salt to injury, because no one who wrote those reports had the courage to tell the truth.Even the Israeli ambassador to the USA did not buy this merchandise.
Nobody was punished and the reparations the Israelis paid to the American families whose dear ones were killed or injured were ridiculous.President Johnson was impotent during this whole episode and its aftermath and the only one who knew the truth from its inception was the Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
In each war there are errors,but this case shows to what extent the stupidity and idiocy of some high-rank decision- takers somewhere out there in the army and perhaps in the Israeli government exceeded every possible imagination.

First off, I'm a Brit with no axe to grind on US-Israeli issues and I knew almost nothing about this incident, so when I read James' account I was both astonished, gripped and moved.

'Friendly fire' incidents are, unfortunately all too common despite fancy modern technology. What is made very clear from this account that this was not some trigger-happy jock with some spare ordnance nor a genuine in-the-moment decision that turned sour. The evidence points to a clear build-up with overflying spotter planes, a fighter attack and finally torpedo boats who luckily weren't very good shots, with only one torpedo hitting home. But one was enough for those who were killed and those left with the physical and emotional scars.

Ok, so the story is good, but is the book any good? Absolutely. The writing is compelling and James sketches the characters of the crew to give a rich flavour of them and their lives, without disrupting the flow and pace of the narrative. Equally, you can tell from the notes at the back that nearly every sentence has been carefully crafted and represents many hours of painstaking research, often from primary sources.

The book also weaves two strands of narrative: the 'real world' on the ship and the 'unreal world' of the White House and the global 1960s politics. This works well because it keeps you wanting to getting back to the ship to find out how the crew are getting on, or getting back to Washington to understand how the Admirals and politicians could orchestrate such a half-arsed cover-up. I found it a hard book to put down, much the annoyance of my wife and young daughter!

Even if you are not interested in US naval history, I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone as both a compelling story and a glimpse into the bloodied, tangled knot of Middle Eastern politics.

First, let's put our cards on the table. I am a survivor of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. If one takes into account the time duration of the attack, the viciousness and brutality, the fact that it involved combined services of the attackers, on a basically defenseless ship, it is not possible for me to conclude it was a simple case of mistaken identity. But that is my opinion. However no amount of argument will settle the matter. Some where between a simple case of mistaken identity and every citizen of Israel was in on it, is reality. Until the Israeli government decides to share the truth, this argument will never be settled.
I am writing a book review, not engaging in a debate. Those who do not want the story told used to try to discredit those of us who try to tell the story. That did not seem to work so now they say it should not be told because it is old news. If this is old news why is it that very few people I meet really know what took place. Between 1990, when I completed 3 years of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) therapy, and approximately 2000 almost no one I talked too had heard of it. Between 2000 and today some have heard of it but had no idea what really took place. I grew up in Kansas. What a loss if the Wizard of Oz was not shown annually. The world would suffer a great loss if the story was not told. Those who do not want it told seem a lot like people who wanted to burn books. I wonder what they are afraid of.
I would like to thank James M. Scott for this tremendous work. I have learned a lot of things I did not know. My job was in the research spaces. But my general quarter's station was in Repair Party III on the mess deck. Until this book I did not know what my shipmates like Dennis Eikleberry were doing during the attack in the research spaces. I became friends with Captain McGonagle in his later years. Eva (my wife) and I would drive to Palm Springs for breakfast or lunch with him. He shared many things about his childhood with us. But I did not know about his ordeal in Malta in having to write the families. I was flown to Norfolk after the clean up in Malta. I missed bringing the Liberty home to Little Creek and the resulting experiences my shipmates (like Lloyd Painter) endured. Having to dispose of the classified material and the unexpected contents of those bags and having to meet the families of our shipmates who did not return
. When I arrived in Norfolk I was debriefed. I was told, "You have the highest security clearance anyone can get in this country. Never speak about this to anyone including your family." Two days later I was home in Kansas on 30 days leave wondering, what the hell happened to me. After Post Traumatic Stress Disorder therapy 20 years later my mother told me, "I told everyone not to ask you anything because you said you could not talk about it."
In 1985 I began to loose my vision. I could no longer see the center strip in the road while driving. An optometrist said I had a physical problem, not and eye problem. He referred me to a doctor who came in looking as white as a sheet after running his tests. He told me I should have died a long time ago. One of my major organs should have popped. My blood pressure was 240/145. He said it had been that way for a long time to do the damage to the eyes. Luckily I was having strokes in the retina of my eyes, instead of my heart or brain, where it could have killed me. I worked with Greg Jarvis who was on the Challenger shuttle when it blew up. After that I started having nightmares. My doctor put me on heavy blood pressure medication. For a year and a half, it only came down to 140 to 180/100 to 140. In February of 1987 I found out about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I called the VA hospital in Long Beach. They said the closest Vet Center to me was 5 blocks north of Disneyland. Within a month of being able to talk about the Liberty both blood pressure numbers dropped 30 points.
I attended group therapy from April 1987 to March 1990. During that time I had to confront many issues. One night in group a Marine from Viet Nam looked at me and said, "You guys got screwed as bad if not worse than anyone I knew in Viet Nam. You have every right to be as angry as you can be. But it is your anger. What are you going to do about it?" It took me over 4 years to answer that question. I would never write congress. I am not stupid. I have a college degree. I knew they would not do anything about it. Finally I realized the way I was going to get rid of my anger by giving it to congress. I wrote every California and Kansas congressman and senator a 3 page letter with 30 pages of documentation. I asked questions like, "can't you see, even a Cub Scout can tell you can not shell the shore 13 miles away with a 50 caliber machine gun." I thought what is wrong? Why am I the only one asking these questions? As a result of this book I now know others were asking these questions (just not in public). My congressman told me, "There is no way I believe this was a case of mistaken identity, but congress will not touch this until after there is peace in the Middle East."
This book is packed full of valuable information. Everyone will take from this book what they want to get from it. Those who are fanatic supporters of Israel will try to discredit it. Those who are anti Semitic will use it for their own purposes. Some people may actually learn something from it. Those of us who lived through it may breathe a little easier. However, to say it is not a good work seems absurd to me. Thank you Mr. Scott for your contribution to my life.

James Scott has done an excellent job on presenting the attack and the cover-up. Authoritative, well thought out and very accurate. His audacity and straightforwardness are greatly appreciated. I relived every horrific moment while reading this book. Much new information has been presented - a must read for any history buff.

Jim (Smitty) Smith, Damage Controlman 3rd Class, Survivor and past Vice President and Secretary of the LVA

The subject of this book, the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, has held great interest for me over the years, and I have read the previous 2 authoratative books on this: "Assault on the Libery" by Jame Innes, and "The Liberty Incident" by A. Jay Cristol. This was the most readable of the 3, and shed much new light on the attack, benefiting from the declassification of many document related to the incident. I don't know if it was the author's intent to direct the reader to a conclusion, but it would be hard to read this book and reach a conclusion other than this was an intentional attack by the Israelis. The frustrating part of the book for me was the author's failure to explore in more depth "why" the Israelis felt it was necessary to attack the ship. There is no question in my mind that the Israelis would do (and have done subsequently ) whatever they felt was needed to further their goals, whether or not it was to the detriment of the United States. But what information could the Liberty have acquired that was so sensitive that they would risk alienating their staunchest ally? Unless this question can be answered in more detail than the vague generalities touched upon in the book, a conclusion of intentional attack cannot be finalized. Nevertheless, this was a fascinating book that reveals many unpleasant details of politics and the undue influence Israel plays in US policies. I highly recommend the book.

Well documented and very well written. I know it got my blood boiling almost immediately.

The "Attack on the Liberty" by James Scott should be read by all American's whom believe Israel is our friend.

Attack on the Liberty is the latest publication about the as yet unexplained Israeli attack on one of our ships during the Six Day War in 1967. Written by James Scott, the son of one of the ship's officers, the book provides much updated information based on interviews of survivors, review of documents obtained through Freedom of Information, and even interviews of Israelis who were involved.
While the official U.S. government position is that the incident was thoroughly investigated and it was determined that the Israelis made a tragic mistake, Scott's account disproves the "mistake" story and also proves that the Navy's inquiry board was a sham that rejected any information that didn't support the "mistake" story. Thirty-four Americans were killed and 170 wounded by a combination of rocket,cannon, and machinegun fire, napalm, and torpedoes in an attack lasting more than two hours. The attack took place on a clear, bright day in the Mediterranean, well beyond Israeli territorial waters; the ship flew an American flag from its mast; and the Israelis made at least six reconnaissance overflights in the hours leading up to the attack. It is impossible to maintain the story that the Israelis made a "tragic mistake" when put up against the documented facts.
It would take monumental stupidity on the part of every element of the Israeli Defense Forces to make a mistake of this magnitude. One can describe the Israeli Defense Forces in many terms, but "stupid isn't one. The attack was intentional for reasons known only to Israel. The shame is that the United States has never shown the slightest interest in conducting a genuine and full investigation. The congress has wasted countless hours investigating comparatively minor incidents such as Iran-Contra, or the Valerie Plame "outing," but there is apparently no congressman or senator interested in learning why an ally killed 34 of our servicemen and wounded another 170.
Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Dean Rusk, former Secretary of State have both said unequivocally that the attack was intentional and was covered up by the Johnson administration.
The facts compiled in this book should make any American's blood boil.