Quote Originally Posted by Abu Buckwheat View Post
As a former CT I am biased because one of my old CT instructors was a survivor who was supposed to be in the collection room before it was obliterated by the torpedo ... we studied this attack in our A-school as a failure of mission self-defense (cryptologically speaking) . I've read everything UNCLAS or DECLAS on this and I agree with the theory put out by a writer in the Naval Institute's Proceedings and the book Assault on the Liberty. The most logical reason for why they attacked was that they Israelis delayed the invasion of the Golan until the Liberty was out of the way. Forget Bamford as his "killing POWs" theory holds no water.

Having worked with the Israelis I know that protecting Israel is job #1. The Liberty was bringing undue attention from the Russian Intel, Israel decided to make an example of it. Maybe they thought it would be acceptable to mistake it for an Egyptian tanker. It worked and the best effect of it was to move collection from AGRs to warships.
Thank you, Assault on the Liberty will be added to my constantly growing reading list. Is this the Proceedings article you reference?: Friendless Fire? By David C. Walsh, Proceedings, June 2003


Absolutely no question that the national interest comes first, last, and only. If anything I can admire and appreciate that. But I’ll contest the assertion made in our nation, that the U.S. and Israel’s national interests are intertwined. It is an argument that no matter how many times repeated, defies logic, no two nations will always have the same interests.

Israel may be getting a dozen Raptors, but I think that means the Saudi’s will be getting a dozen Raptors. And the PRC will be getting a Raptor, or at least significant related technology transfers via Israel. And my hunch is the increased Raptor production will drive down unit cost, which will bring about a successful push to increase U.S. purchases. So we will spend billions more dollars,of which we don’t have, on a plane designed to fight the Chinese (who by the way will be financing our purchase), and is of marginal use in our “war on terrorism”.