[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19365]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, Mark Twain famously said that one of the 
most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has 
only nine lives. This is certainly the case with respect to one of the 
most persistent slanders against the State of Israel: the contention 
that on June 8, 1967, the Israel Defense Forces intentionally attacked 
a U.S. Naval Intelligence vessel, the USS Liberty.
  Fortunately that lie has been put to rest once and for all by the 
careful and exhaustive research of the Honorable A. Jay Cristol, a 
distinguished judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern 
District of Florida. His careful research of the Liberty incident 
clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was the result of mistaken 
identity at the height of the Six Day War, when Israel's very survival 
was at stake.
  This conclusion is in line with the conclusions of 10 official U.S. 
investigations--including five congressional investigations--that there 
was never any evidence that the attack was made with knowledge that the 
target was a U.S. ship. There is substantial evidence the attack was a 
tragic mistake caused by errors on the part of both the U.S. and 
Israel.
  On June 8,1967, at the height of the Six Day War, a U.S. Naval 
intelligence vessel, the USS Liberty, strayed into the waters 14 miles 
off the Sinai Peninsula, near El Arish. The Israel Defense Forces, 
having incorrectly identified it as an Egyptian vessel engaged in an 
attack of Israeli forces, attacked the Liberty, killing and wounding 
some of the crew.
  As a U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry found, ``Available evidence combines 
to indicate that the attack on LIBERTY on 8 June was in fact a case of 
mistaken identity.''
  No one with an open mind can read the evidence amassed by Judge 
Cristol and reach any other conclusion. Nonetheless, the conspiracy 
theories persist.
  Conspiracy theories tend to have a life of their own. They can never 
be disproved. If there is no evidence supporting the conspiracy, then 
it is proof of a coverup. If there is evidence proving there was no 
conspiracy, that is also proof of a coverup. Either way, evidence 
disproving a conspiracy theory only proves to believers that the 
conspiracy really exists.
  No one denies that this incident was a terrible tragedy, but some 
have sought to exploit a case of mistaken identity by insisting that 
the Israeli military knew that the Liberty was a U.S. naval vessel, and 
attacked it on purpose. Despite the complete absence of any credible 
evidence to support this outrageous claim, it continues to be repeated 
as if it were true.
  Judge Cristol has done a tremendous service with his work. It is my 
hope that his book, ``The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Attack on the U.S. 
Navy Spy Ship,'' which was the result of more than 14 years of 
research, will finally lay to rest this slander against one of our 
Nation's most reliable allies.

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