Quote from Rearden Metal:
***But I can hardly imagine that 8 fighter pilots can't distinguish an arab vessel from a high-tech NSA boat - more so, since two of them were told to have been, as the article stated, sentenced to 18 years in prison.***
It was a SPY ship. Somehow I doubt that high tech spy ships look like high tech spy ships. Also, while it's true that Arab countries are incapable of manufacturing anything resembling quality merchandise, Egypt's military was well supplied with modern Soviet warcraft. I'm no expert, but could a Soviet spy ship look similar to an American one?
As far as the 2 imprisoned pilots....what were their names? I just don't believe everything I read.
But most of all, the big conspiracy plot hole remains: MOTIVE.
When one is caught shoplifting, one's reaction isn't to murder the cop who witnessed the petty crime, and say "oops it was an accident." That's just plain retarded....and I'm pretty sure Dayan had a three digit IQ.
Found a pic of the liberty:
<img>http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h97000/h97473.jpg</img>
Regarding identification, one might argue that this ship should've had a statue of liberty mounted on it's deck so it could be identified as american, but the fact that the israelis shot and sunk two of the unarmed rescue vessels might indicate that this was not an accident ("Ooops, I did it again").
As to the 2 pilot´s names, they are not mentioned. You're right, especially in such a delicate matter, only proven facts should be considered.
Well, and with regards to your shoplifting example:
a roman proverb goes like "The outcome jugdes the deed". As far as I understood it, the israelis only stopped firing when the liberty reached international waters.
Remember: according to hitler, WWII started by <b>returning</b> fire at 5.45am upon the evil polish attackers, so everything that followed was only self-defence from a germans point of indoctrinated view at that time...