99 of 127 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Cristol is the most quoted Liberty Israeli apologist..., April 12, 2006
Even if you want to believe it to be an accident, you can do better than this book. Cristol created this book based on his doctoral dissertation, which was manufactured after (and some estimate to obfuscate and diffuse) Dr. John Borne's initial doctoral dissertation on the Liberty assault which came to the conclusion Israel knew it was a US ship before they attacked.
You don't even need to open the book to know what's inside!...let's take a look at the front cover photo...
The photo, claimed in the book to be provided to Cristol by the Israeli Air Force, as a gun camera photo, shows the USS Liberty flying no flag as it is attacked, with even a large splash of munition next to it. This of course reinforces Israel's claim there was no flag flying during the attack, which would then debunk the survivors' claim they had an American flag flying(and put up an even larger US flag after the first was shot down!).
-It turns out, according to a photo analysis done for the Liberty survivors' website, this "is in fact a doctored view of the ship just as she tied up at the pier at Little Creek, Virginia, in July, 1967, upon her return from repairs in Malta." The photo evidence is too much to list but here is some of it: All the vectors and even people on the ship correspond to the Little Creek dock photo. The smoke was apparently falsified - there is no smoke or fire damage in corresponding areas of the ship, in photos taken immediately after the attack. The displacement(how deep in the water the ship sets due to weight) of the Liberty during the actual attack was much greater than the Cristol image depicted, but corresponded perfectly with the Little Creek photo (after the ship was offloaded). The munition splash apparently was added to cover a tug boat that occluded a small part of the front side of the Liberty. A photo of a real wake created by the Liberty does not correspond to what was apparently a post photo wake added to the photo of the stationary Liberty. Etcetera, etcetera. Of course, the fact that there is no flag in Cristol's cover picture corresponds to the fact it is customary to take down the flag once you get into port, as the real Little Creek photo shows. So there you have it, no need to even open this book. Sorry to say, the photo was presented as evidence in a Thames television presentation before a proper analysis and debunking was done.
This is the second book(the other is the unrelated "Hitler's Pope" by Cornwell) I've reviewed where a photo was presented as evidence, but was apparently otherwise.
If you are an Israeli apologist and want to give a better try than Cristol's book, it's not hard. But you should at least go to the survivors' website and get firsthand information so you don't look as foolish as Cristol. Now that Cristol is being dismissed, Michael Oren is the next big hope for Israeli apologists concerning Liberty. This assault is so dangerous to Israel's reputation that apologists consistently offer terminology that attempts to stop discussion on the subject rather than address concerns, such as the title of Michael Oren's writing's "USS Liberty: Case Closed". The process is consistent, first the apologist (Oren/Cristol/whoever) offers what they claim is a thorough discussion-ending report(in Oren's case even titling it as such), then the apologist goes on with a typical limited and contextually false account, then right on queue, the apologist is soon after applauded for such a "conclusive", "thorough", "definitive" account. Then eventually the apologist is dismissed by those on the other side as false after having his material reviewed, such as Cristol eventually was. Then another apologist takes over the reigns as 'lead USS Liberty reference' for the apologists, conveniently forgetting they were just supporting the last guy who who offered false claims. To some, it might seem strange Oren was given the top prize at the LA book fair for what was a rehashing the 1967 Israeli six day war in his book "Six Days of War". What Oren did conveniently offer in his newly awarded book, just as Crystol conveniently offered, was, once again, "new evidence" that the attack on the Liberty was accidental. Of course, "Body of Secrets" author James Bamford eventually took great exception to Oren's selective Liberty account, and offers insight into Oren's personal history and his close working connections to those who apparently were connected to Israeli war crimes that the Liberty would have monitored, and that, as Bamford suggests, would have been reason to snuff out the Liberty's surveillance.
The real story, and the amazing and intriguing evidence that is now coming out is mostly coming from NSA sources. The Anti-Defamation League primarily references Cristol and NSA transcripts released in 1999 of helicopter pilots sent to the Liberty after the attack. Of course, the ADL pointing to the helicopter transmissions is misleading, as the unreleased plane and boat transmissions(those taking part in the attacks) are the relevant ones. Of course the ADL doesn't address Cristol's basic problems, such as that silly cover photo passed off as an Israeli gun camera photo. Some amazing admissions have occured just recently(after 2000). There is still apparently a key NSA record of the attack, taken from a an NSA spyplane in the area of the attack, that is being withheld.
"Of four former NSA/CIA seniors with inside knowledge, none was aware of any agency official who dissented from the position that the attack was deliberate." - Naval Institute Proceedings
"That the attack was deliberate "just wasn't a disputed issue" within the National Security Agency" - former NSA director William Odom, 3 March 2003 interview for Naval Institute Proceedings
"...the board of inquiry (concluded) that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the Liberty."
-- CIA Director Richard Helms
"I can tell you for an absolute certainty (from intercepted communications) that the Israelis knew they were attacking an American ship."-- NSA Deputy Director Oliver Kirby
Write a letter to your Congressman and sign the Liberty petition, if you want the NSA record released!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
38 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The official "USS Liberty Apologist's resource", July 16, 2007
This review is from: The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship (Paperback)
Judge Cristal's book is and has become just the continuing written resource of the "official version". He was a bankruptcy judge, a naval reserve officer who never saw combat, was never there, avoided the survivor's versions of events if it doesn't mesh with the "accident" thesis. He is held in deep disregard by the Liberty Veterans Organization, they are all wrong yet his version is correct. They were there, he was not.
What it doesn't say and what it avoids is as important as what he does says. He has avoided any debate whatsoever with any member of the Liberty Veterans Organization but now spends his time answering op-ed pieces proclaiming the "case is closed". His book is a part of the Liberty canon and it does demostrate the extremes that the Liberty opponents have taken over the last 40 years. The question still remains "why?". If it was a "friendly fire" so-called accident. Why oppose the Liberty crew the first open honest day in an open manner? Like Ennes say, if they are lying, they go to jail but they are willing to take the chance.
But a bankruptcy judge who was never there, never a part of the investigation and and who has been condemned by the very limited number of Liberty crew he sought information and who deny "his version" of he claims does not make this a reliable resource. You want the truth, read Jim Ennnes' book, "Assault on the Liberty". He was there and no one has ever called his book disingenuous or fabricated.
There are two sides to every story and the good Judge has no monopoly on the truth. Certainly not the "Liberty Incident". BTW an "Attack" is hardly an "Incident" when 34 crew members were killed and 174 wounded. What's next "The 9-11 Incident"? Decide for yourself. Buy it used .
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
58 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
deceptive, November 14, 2005
This review is from: The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship (Paperback)
I find it very telling Judge Cristol included so few photographs of the damage to the Liberty. They clearly show most of it, with the exception of the torpedo hit, was inflicted by rocket fire from the planes. The use of rockets in the attack is officially denied by Israel. Why? Because most of the superstructure and much of the hull took scores of hits from almost every conceivable angle. Many of them penetrating several bulkheads. The ship looked like an angry grizzly bear got to chewing on a steel bucket. Such extensive damage clearly refutes Israeli claims the air attack involved only 4 aircraft and a maximum of 6 strafing runs over 12-14 minutes. It does support survivor's statements that dozens of strafing runs were made over 25 or more minutes. These facts alone should cause any reasonable person to very seriously doubt the "accident" explanation for the attack. Consider also this. The aircraft flying at a typical cruising speed of 500mph would have burned about 10gal/min of fuel. In 25 minutes they would have each used 1,500-2,000lbs. The pilots wouldn't have consumed so much fuel over the target unless they had planned for it in advance.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
