I have understood from study that the Liberty was gathering intelligence (under command of the NSA) on radio locations (any person using radio would also give troop coordinates). The Liberty was sharing this with the British who were making a working map of vehicle and troop locations as well as communications. The British were giving the same intel to the Arabs (because of some other prior agreements) who were able to pinpoint Israeli locations. After attacking the ship Israel began to turn the tide back to their favor. If the US made this known they would be selling out their British ally internationally. So they lied. This has been my understanding since the 90s.
I have understood from study that the Liberty was gathering intelligence (under command of the NSA) on radio locations (any person using radio would also give troop coordinates). The Liberty was sharing this with the British who were making a working map of vehicle and troop locations as well as communications. The British were giving the same intel to the Arabs (because of some other prior agreements) who were able to pinpoint Israeli locations. After attacking the ship Israel began to turn the tide back to their favor. If the US made this known they would be selling out their British ally internationally. So they lied. This has been my understanding since the 90s.