A Deliberate Act of War? The USS Liberty Attack by Israel

While the governments of both Israel and the United States officially labeled the incident a tragic case of 'mistaken identity,' a wealth of physical evidence, survivor testimony, and declassified intelligence points to a deliberate, premeditated attack on a known American vessel... The strongest evidence for deliberate intent comes from survivor testimony. Crew members reported that after the devastating torpedo strike, the Israeli torpedo boats circled the crippled ship and machine-gunned life rafts that had been deployed or set adrift. This is a clear war crime and suggests an objective to destroy any evidence and leave no witnesses... Ultimately, the attack on the USS Liberty was an intentional and murderous act, and the decision to cover up or defend Israel's actions was a political one, rooted in the urgent strategic imperative of maintaining the U.S.-Israel relationship as a bulwark against Soviet influence in the Middle East.