Nader Presses McCain on Liberty Attack

October 31, 2008

Knight Ridder

Adding to his usual criticisms of the "corporate candidates" from the two major parties, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader yesterday introduced a wrinkle, calling on John McCain to come clean about Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty.
"He doesn't like to have his character impugned. I'm challenging his character on this point," Nader said in a news conference at the Statehouse.
McCain was not involved in the incident, which killed 34 American sailors amid the Six-Day War between Israel and several Arab nations. Israel said the attack was a case of mistaken identity, and McCain's father, Adm. John S. McCain Jr., approved an investigation that determined the incident was a mistake.
Nader is among those who think the report was a cover-up. He's dragging McCain into it because the senator wrote a positive note on a 2002 book, The Liberty Incident, that also concluded the attack was an accident.
"He has been asked again and again by these Sailors and their families to come clean," Nader said. "Instead, he endorses a propaganda book that says it was accidental. That reflects on his character."
The McCain campaign declined to respond.