NOVANEWS
Following the 2003 release of his scurrilously deceptive book, The Liberty Incident, the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) added insult to injury by seeming to solely promote Jay Cristol’s version of events to the exclusion of all others. In the June 2003 issue of USNI’s official magazine, Proceedings, David C. Walsh endorsed many of Cristol’s dubious claims, such as the “mistaken identity” theory and how Israel’s attack—which he claims only lasted for 22 minutes—resulted from a mere “communications gaffe.”
Cristol—formerly a federal judge and a Naval Reserve captain—cleared Israel of any intent. Rather, Cristol asserted, due to the “fog of war,” both sides—Israel and the U.S.—must share blame for the incident.
In the aforementioned June 2003 article entitled “Friendless Fire,” Walsh wrote, “The author [Cristol] surmises that most survivors—some of whom openly criticize Israel’s domestic policies and its formidable Washington lobby—have a political ax to grind.”
Piling on even more venom, Walsh says of Cristol, “The judge is dubious of naysayers [who] rely on ‘conjecture, hearsay and plain wishful thinking,’ flawed or traumatized memories, and ‘various conspiracy theories.’”
Even former Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, “There was every reason to believe that the USS Liberty was identified, or at least her nationality determined, one hour before the attack.”
Cristol, USNI and Proceedings should be ashamed of themselves for continuing this cover-up, and the blood of every murdered, wounded or disfigured Liberty crewmember will forever be on their hands until they correct this miscarriage of justice—and that is the truth.
