Even at the top levels of the Johnson administration, where one
  might expect a consensus on the basic facts, we find opposing opinions
  on the fundamental question of whether the attack was accidental or
  deliberate. Lyndon Johnson in his memoirs called the attack "a tragic
  accident." Robert McNamara, his Secretary of Defense, has stated "I
  didn't believe [the attack] was intended at the time, and I don't
  believe it now." Dean Rusk, Johnson's Secretary of State (in the only
  instance where he disagreed with the President) has said "I was never
  satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to
  disable and sink LIBERTY precluded an assault by accident or some
  trigger-happy local commander. I didn't believe it then, and I don't
  believe it to this day. The attack was outrageous."