georgephillip,
et al,
Yes, I have similar thought.
Rocco... I suspect we both remember the summer of '67 when this event took place.
Had Liberty gone to the bottom with all hands lost, which country would have taken the blame?
It would not have been Israel, and Egypt would have paid the same price Iraq paid in 2003.
In one important regard the US is the same country it was in 1967; we are ruled by the richest 1% of our fellow Americans, and they've gotten much richer since that time. Their fortunes don't exist without war, and, quite possibly this should change how you define the belligerents as far as antagonist and protagonist.
I don't see how any "free" country could tolerate that degree of deception from its political elites.
Do you believe Liberty survivors deserve their CSPAN moment?
(COMMENT)
Two Points:
While the USS Liberty incident was a bit of political-military theater at the time, the time for it to have been the center of focus was then, not now. Today, it is merely a lesson learned.
Such re-dramatizing today of the event, now 46 years in the past, only serves to create a plane of animosity that is better left under the rug. Even if the real plot is more along the lines of a deception as you've described, it will be amplified for different reasons and used to by the pro-Palestinian movement to discredit Israel. It would be used to sway the American public in a one-sided effort focusing on today - and not the events of 1967.
First, in the Report Assembled by Admiral Moore, it was clear from the evidence that the Israeli attack was a deliberate attempt to destroy the USS Liberty with all hands lost. The compelling evidence included supporting testimony from:
- Secretary of State Dean Rusk,
- Undersecretary of State George Ball,
- CIA director Richard Helms,
- NSA Director Lieutenant General William Odom, USA (Ret.),
- NSA Director Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, USN (Ret.),
- NSA Director Marshal Carter;
- NSA Deputy Director Oliver Kirby
- NSA Deputy Director Major General John Morrison, USAF (Ret.)
- Ambassador Dwight Porter, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon
What most people will not get is the culpability of the several commanders of US Navy Vessels in receipt of the USS Liberty SOS, the 6th Fleet Rear Admiral Lawrence Geis, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, and President Johnson
(who was personally involved and recalled the second rescue launch). A distress call is a distress call. And in such a crisis, all available resources should have been focused on that request for assistance, given no other hostile involvement. The fact of the matter is, that the entire chain of command was corrupted. There should not have been a recall of the first launch of air support, let alone a second recall (DP).
The corrective action for that fault has long since been overtaken by events. The character of the US Administration has changed many times over, the leadership at in the Mediterranean Fleet has changed many times over, and the character of our commanders at sea have changed many times over. One would hope that such an incident would not reoccur
(although the Benghazi controversy makes me wonder).
I venture to think that Admiral Thomas Moorer believes the White House and Israeli government covered up evidence on 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty.
What the Israelis did is a lesson learned, and a wake-up call to beware of the IDF and their leadership. But the true shame was that we did not answer the call when the SOS went-out. There was no heroism shown by the 6th Fleet (Mediterranean) that day.
That is what will be lost. It is not so much about what the Israelis did
(they were working in their own best interest for their nation), as it is about
what we (Americans)
didn't do to save our sailors at sea.
No, I don't agree that further enlightenment
(a CNN/CSPAN moment) will serve any useful purpose.
Most Respectfully,
R
