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U.S. State Department
The US Department of State panel discussion opening the two day conference on the 1967 Arab-Israeli war brought little clarity or unanimity about one of many tragic outcomes of the war, the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. Although the State Department opened the session officially declaring that the Israeli attack which killed 34 Americans and wounded 170, was an accident, two hours of panel presentations brought acrimonious debate and counter charges of cover-ups. The question and answer session took an Orwellian turn as moderator Marc Susser shouted down speeches from the floor by USS Liberty survivors, pleading, “we’re trying to have an academic discussion!”
The heated argument called for clarification. How valuable is an official history based on what James Bamford called “opinions” with no formal investigation as thorough as the USS Cole? Why does the conflict about the USS Liberty continue to steam ahead, nearly four decades after the attack? What does it reveal about US interests and the feelings Americans have about the US-Israeli relationship? IRmep attempted to find out.
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