Editing Dean Rusk (section)

===USS ''Liberty'' incident===
Rusk drew the ire of [[Israel lobby in the United States|supporters of Israel]] after he let it be known that he believed the [[USS Liberty incident|USS ''Liberty'' incident]] was a deliberate attack on the ship, rather than an accident. He was very outspoken about his views on the attack: “Accordingly, there is every reason to believe that the USS ''Liberty'' was or should have been identified, or at least her nationality determined, prior to the attack. In these circumstances, the later military attack by Israeli aircraft on the USS ''Liberty'' is quite literally incomprehensible. As a minimum, the attack must be condemned as an act of military irresponsibility reflecting reckless disregard for human life. The subsequent attack by Israeli torpedo boats, substantially after the vessel was or should have been identified by Israeli military forces, manifests the same reckless disregard for human life. At the time of the attack, the USS ''Liberty'' was flying the American flag and its identification was clearly indicated in large white letters and numerals on its hull. It was broad daylight and the weather conditions were excellent. Experience demonstrates that both the flag and the identification number of the vessel were readily visible from the air. At a minimum, the attack must be condemned as an act of military recklessness reflecting wanton disregard for human life. The silhouette and conduct of the USS ''Liberty'' readily distinguished it from any vessel that could have been considered as hostile. The USS ''Liberty'' was peacefully engaged, posed no threat whatsoever to the torpedo boats, and obviously carried no armament affording it a combat capability. It could and should have been scrutinized visually at close range before torpedoes were fired.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d256 | title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIX, Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967 – Office of the Historian }}</ref> In 1990 he wrote, “I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink ''Liberty'' precluded an assault by accident or by some trigger-happy local commander. Through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn't believe them then, and I don't believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usslibertyveterans.org/files/randa/commentary/comments.html | title=USS Liberty Inquiry – Commentary by Major Officials }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.honorlibertyvets.org/experts.html | title=Experts on the USS Liberty }}</ref>

After an Israeli claim appeared in ''The Washington Post'' that they had inquired about the presence of U.S. ships in the area before the attack, Rusk telegrammed the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and demanded “urgent confirmation.” U.S. Ambassador to Israel [[Walworth Barbour]] confirmed that Israel's story was bogus: “No request for info on U.S. ships operating off Sinai was made until after ''Liberty'' incident. Had Israelis made such an inquiry it would have been forwarded immediately to the chief of naval operations and other high naval commands and repeated to dept.”<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn0pk8pVE88C | title=The Attack on the Liberty: The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship | isbn=9781416554820 | last1=Scott | first1=James | date=June 2, 2009 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>