“Top Gun” Cristol’s Autobiography of a Fraud

"Top Gun" Ahron, Master USS Liberty Apolgist

For those not familiar with Ahron Jay Cristol,  the  now inactive “USS Liberty Inquiry” site summed it up nicely:

“A. Jay Cristol is a master of the art of lying through misdirection. His book is a perfect example of this talent. Without directly lying, he arranges facts (and omits others) in such a way as to lead a reader to a completely false conclusion. If challenged, he can reply that he didn’t really lie, the error of fact only exists in the reader’s mind.”

“A. Jay Cristol joined the US Navy as an aviation cadet in November 1951. He earned his Navy Wings of Gold in April 1953. During the Korean conflict, he was part of an AF squadron stationed aboard the aircraft carrier Princeton (CV-37) in the South China Sea. He flew day and night missions as both a hunter pilot and a killer pilot.”

(The Korean War ended with the Armistice signed 27 July 1953.

“As with everything else written by Cristol, you must read and parse his claims about himself very carefully. He never says that he was a Korean War combat fighter pilot; he only implies that he was. Though his use of terms like “Korean conflict” (which he defines as running a year longer than the actual war), he implies that he flew during the actual war. He speaks of flying “hunter” and “killer” missions off the USS Princeton. Again, this implies combat. In fact, he flew ASW training flights. He speaks of flying missions off an aircraft carrier “during the Korean conflict”, yet he never came any closer to Korea than flying training missions thousands of miles away in the South China Sea – well after the Armistice had been signed.

This is important because it illustrates how he deliberately omits key facts in order to create a false impression in the mind of the reader. If criticized later, he can claim that he did not explicitly misstate anything and if there is confusion, it is entirely in the mind of the reader. This is a tactic that he uses on almost every page of The Liberty Incident.

For example, on page 43 of The Liberty Incident he tells another whopper in an attempt to explain and excuse the failure of the IDF pilots to identify Liberty while attacking:

“…Because very little time remains after firing ceases until the aircraft will fly into or strike a surface target, fighter and attack pilots are told repeatedly to fire and pull up. Most pilots including this author will confess that they have in fact delayed pull-up to observe their hits. ..”Again, through the skillful use of tense and phrasing, he implies, without actually saying so, that he is an experienced combat pilot who had extensive experience strafing targets. If challenged, again he can respond that he did not say that explicitly and it is the reader’s mistake if he or she concluded otherwise.”     (from the  ‘USS Liberty Inquiry’ website)

Let’s call a spade a spade,  IMO, he’s a goddamn fraud and a liar by omission.  He is in my opinion an agent for Israel.

Master USS Liberty Apologist

His autobiography continues……

“He was subsequently attached to the Fleet All Weather Training Unit, Pacific at San Diego, California as an instrument flight instructor and taught maneuvers for the delivery of nuclear weapons. Upon returning to civilian life, Cristol joined the Naval Air Reserve where he qualified as a four-engine Navy transport plane commander. In the 1960’s he flew operational flights during the Cuban Missile Crises and volunteer airlift missions to Vietnam. After 18 years as a Naval aviator, Cristol joined the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He graduated with distinction form Naval Justice School. He served as a lawyer for another twenty years. His duties included teaching law of war and serving as the administrative officer for the summer Naval Reserve law courses. In 1983, he was made an honorary professor by the Naval Justice School. He has performed special active duty in the office of the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations. In the 1980’s, the department of Defense sent him to the International Institute of Humanitarian Law at San Remo, Italy to lecture on Law of Naval warfare to senior foreign military officers. Captain Cristol retired in 1988. He wears more than a dozen military decorations including the Meritorious Service Medal, The Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal. In civilian life, Cristol became a lawyer and practiced civil law. He served as Special Assistant Attorney General of Florida during the 1959, 1961, 1963, and 1965 sessions of the Florida Legislature. In 1985, after 25 years of law practice, he left his position as senior partner in a firm he founded to accept an appointment to the federal bench. He continues to serve as Chief Judge Emeritus in the Southern District of Florida. He is also an adjunct professor, teaching at the University of Miami School of Law. An interest in international terrorism led him to enroll in the Graduate School of International Studies of the University of Miami where he researched and wrote on terrorism. Because of his background as a navy pilot, a navy lawyer (JAG), lecturer in law of naval warfare, a civil lawyer, and a federal judge, members of the faculty encouraged him to research and write about the Liberty incident. He spent ten years researching the subject and was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Miami Graduate School of International Studies. His collection of research material on this subject is considered to be the larges and most complete of any collection on the subject in the entire world. After completing his dissertation, he obtained declassification of additional heretofore secret documents through many Freedom of Information Act requests and appeals. His book, The Liberty Incident, was written to update and complete the historical record. He has written numerous articles on law, aviation, history, and other subjects. Judge Cristol remains an avid aviator. He made his first flight in a Piper J-3 on Biscayne Bay in 1945. He has personally piloted a Ford Tri-Motor, the Goodyear Blimp, a Soviet MiG-15, and many other unique, antique, or historic aircraft. In 1998, he became one of the few persons to have an airplane named after him when Pan Am named one of their 727 aircraft the Clipper A. Jay Cristol. He is a founding member of the National Museum of Naval Aviation at the Naval Air Station Classic Aircraft Museum in Miami, Florida.”

“Note that this description also speaks of Cristol’s “18 years as a Naval aviator,” which for a reservist (as Cristol was) equals about nine months of active duty time.” (from the  ‘USS Liberty Inquiry’ website)