James Scott did an extraordinarily good job of writing this book. It reads like a suspense-packed novel, yet it is a deeply moving historical account of a drama that his own father and father's shipmates had actually lived, while their leaders did all they could to pretend it was just another wartime friendly fire incident. Scott did an important public service in presenting this ignominious, drawn-out attack on virtually defenseless American seamen in a way that should help make this important story further known. His father, and all of us who served in the US military, particularly in war, is doubtlessly proud of him.
Disseminating the facts of this significant historical event is important because it should remind citizens, as Lord Palmerston did in the 19th century, that nations have interests, not friends. Until about a decade ago, when Pulitzer Prize winning author James Bramford dedicated a chapter to the Liberty in his book on the NSA called "Body of Secrets," I had not even heard of the attack. I had been finishing up a year's tour with the infantry in Vietnam when the attack took place in June `67, and when a sergeant gave me my new assignment orders for the 82nd Airborne Division, he told me to forget my home-leave - that the 82nd had just been put on standby for the Middle East ("great paratroop country") and that I would probably be sent directly from Asia to join them. I'm happy that the war was over in six days so that "my presence" wasn't needed, but a little outraged at how we Americans have been taught to celebrate their victory while our political leaders continue to brush aside the Liberty's significance.
Israel's current ambassador to Washington, New Jersey-born Michael Oren, wrote a few years ago that the attack was an accident - case closed! "Fog of war," he claimed. Oren, who did serve in the military (Israel's, not the US', the country of his birth) claims to understand such fog, even though it was a long drawn-out, sustained one-sided slaughter on the open seas on a clear sunny midday. I know something about "friendly fire" during the "fog of war" from the time my squad was ambushed by South Vietnamese marines on our way to set up our own night ambush. Casualties and lots of firing - on both sides! But even though it was dark, both sides were instructed within a half hour to cease fire. Despite the darkness, our different armies straightened out the confusion relatively quickly.
The attack on the Liberty was not based on confusion, but rather on the Israeli leadership's calculated perception of Israeli interests. It's time, finally, that our own politicians and media own up to that fact, and conduct our own foreign policy accordingly. I hope James Scott's excellent book, as well as honoring the Liberty crew whose casualties suffered the additional indignity of their own country's disinterest, will help contribute to that goal.
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Forgotten history.
I was there the day after the attack. My ship rendered assistance to Liberty after the attack and through the next weeks in Malta dry dock and the return to Little Creek, Virginia. This accounting of the attack pretty much sums up in a highly readable way what I recall.Now, 50-plus years later, few recall the tragedy that was the Liberty Incident. That's unfortunate.
Top reviews from other countries
- Charles SimonReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2012
At Last ! From Israeli Government Sources WHY Israel Attacked the Liberty..
- RCReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2014
The facts of a shameful event
- VeronicaReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2024
Very early review, unfinished read.
