The Liberty Affair and the Problem with the Truth of History
The Liberty’s movements were controlled by the JCS (Joints Chiefs of Staff) and NSA in Washington. With a top speed of 18 knots it was faster than most ships of its kind. On both the forecastle and deckhouse aft of the bridge there were two pedestal-mounted 0.50-caliber Browning machine guns. These four guns, on open mounts without shrapnel shields, were the spy ship’s only defences. Strictly speaking the Liberty was not an unarmed vessel but for all practical purposes it was. Another sitting duck if attacked.
The Liberty’s mission was TOP SECRET and has not been acknowledged to this day.
It was on patrol, listening, because some in the Johnson administration, perhaps Defence Secretary McNamara especially, did not trust the Israelis to keep their word with regard to the scope of the war.
The Johnson administration had given the green light for Israel to attack Egypt and only Egypt. It was understood that the IDF would have to respond to Jordanian intervention if it happened, but on no account was Israel to seek to widen the war for the purpose of taking Jordanian or Syrian territory. Apart from President Johnson’s public statement that he was as firmly committed as his predecessors had been to the “political independence and territorial integrity of all the nations in that area”, Washington’s fear was what could happen if the Israelis occupied Syrian territory. If they did there was a possibility of Soviet intervention (for face-saving reasons). Soviet leaders could just about live with the Egyptians being smashed by the IDF but not the Syrians too. Through the CIA the Johnson administration was aware of the IDF’s secret agreement with the Syrian regime. So it, the Johnson administration, was reasonably confident that the Syrians would not seek to widen the war by engaging the Israelis in any serious way. The name of the U.S. counter-intelligence game was therefore preventing Israel from attacking Syria. That was the Liberty’s mission.
When the Liberty was ordered to the Middle East, everybody who needed to know did know that the Israelis would have only a few days in which to smash the Egyptians because the Security Council would demand a quick end to the fighting and Israel would have to stop when it was shown the international red card. Which meant that when Israel went to war with Egypt, it would be assigning the bulk of its armour to the Egyptian front. The point? If Israel then decided to widen the war to grab the West Bank and Syrian territory, it would have to re-deploy, very quickly, from the Egyptian to the Jordanian and Syrian fronts. The orders for such redeployment would be given by wireless from Dayan’s Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv to the commanders in the field and they, naturally, would talk to each other. If there was such radio chatter, the Liberty would pick it up and pass it urgently to the NSA in Washington. President Johnston would then demand that the Israelis abort their intention to grab all of the West Bank and attack Syria. So long as the Liberty was on station and functioning, the U.S. would have some control of Israel.
In short, the Liberty was the Johnson administration’s insurance policy. It was there to prevent Israel’s hawks going over the top and, on a worst case scenario, provoking Soviet intervention and possibly World War III. (One could have said then, and one could say with even more point today, that with the Zionist state as its friend the U.S. does not need enemies).
From Dayan’s perspective.. Before he could have a completely free hand to take all of the West Bank and order an invasion of Syria for the purpose of grabbing the Golan Heights, the Liberty had to be put out of business.
For ITN I was in the Sinai covering Israel’s “turkey shoot” advance to the Suez Canal and I witnessed the re-deployment of some IDF units, with Israeli soldiers cheerfully admitting that they were on their way to other fronts.
The attack on the Liberty ought to have been a sensational and headline-grabbing news story, but beyond the fact that an accident had happened and that Israel had apologised, it did not get reported by American (or other) news organisations. If it had been an Arab attackon an American ship, it would have been an entirely different matter, of course. In that event there would have been saturation coverage with demands for retaliation. With Zionist and other columnists and commentators who were pro Israel right or wrong setting the pace and the tone.
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