Editing Clark Clifford (section)

===USS ''Liberty'' incident===
Clifford served as the chairman of the [[President's Intelligence Advisory Board]] during the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. In this capacity, he oversaw the official investigation of the 1967 [[USS Liberty incident|USS ''Liberty'' incident]]. As a staunch supporter of Israel, he was perplexed by the Israeli government’s explanation following the attack: “We were baffled. From the beginning there was skepticism and disbelief about the Israeli version of events. We had enormous respect for [[Israeli intelligence]] and it was difficult to believe the ''Liberty'' had been attacked by mistake. Every conceivable theory was advanced that morning. It became clear that from the sketchy information available we could not figure out what happened.”<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>

He delved deeper into the inconsistencies in the Israeli explanation: “That the ''Liberty'' could have been mistaken for the Egyptian supply ship ''El Quseir'' is unbelievable. ''El Quseir'' has one-fourth the displacement of the ''Liberty'', roughly half the beam, is 180 feet shorter, and is very differently configured. The ''Liberty’s'' unusual antenna array and hull markings should have been visible to low-flying aircraft and torpedo boats. In the heat of battle the ''Liberty'' was able to identify one of the attacking torpedo boats as Israeli and to ascertain its hull number. In the same circumstances, trained Israeli naval personnel should have been able to easily see and identify the larger hull markings on the ''Liberty''. The best interpretation of from available facts is that there were gross and inexcusable failures in the command and control of subordinate Israeli naval and air elements…The unprovoked attack on the ''Liberty'' constitutes a flagrant act of gross negligence for which the Israeli Government should be held completely responsible, and the Israeli military personnel involved should be punished.”<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIX, Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967 - Office of the Historian |url=https://test.history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d373 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321181859/https://test.history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d373 |archive-date=2023-03-21 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=test.history.state.gov}}</ref>

Immediately after the attack, he had pressured the Johnson administration to hold the Israelis responsible: “My concern is that we are not tough enough. Handle as if Arabs or USSR had done it. Manner egregious. Inconceivable that it was accident. 3 strafing passes, 3 torpedo boats. Set forth facts. Punish Israelis responsible.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/state-department-documents-from-the-1967-war-june-1967-2 | title=State Department Documents from the 1967 War (June 1967) }}</ref>

He expressed his desire to hold Israel accountable in an eponymous 1967 report that he had authored: “I do not know to this day at what level the attack on the ''Liberty'' was authorized and I think it is unlikely that the full truth will ever come out. Having been for so long a staunch supporter of Israel, I was particularly troubled by this incident; I could not bring myself to believe that such an action could have been authorized by [[Levi Eshkol]]. Yet somewhere inside the Israeli government, somewhere along the chain-of-command, something had gone terribly wrong – and then had been covered-up. I never felt the Israelis made adequate restitution or explanation for their actions.”<ref>{{cite web | url=http://assaultontheliberty.com/clifford.htm | title=Clark Clifford on USS Liberty }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.honorlibertyvets.org/experts.html | title=Experts on the USS Liberty }}</ref>