lbj and warship

can someone inform me about the israeli attack on an american warship in the 60's??? i heard that LBJ called the naval sec. and told him not to retaliate that that GD ship was going down.

any info would be greatly appreciated!

I believe you may be referring to the USS Liberty. There is quite a bit of information about the events available. Also quite a bit of controversy.

The above link is a good start, if this is the specific 'event' you are questioning.


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When I first heard the story of the USS Liberty several years ago, it nearly brought my to tears. I feel that the evidence shows that Israel knew the Liberty was an American ship, and chose to attack it for strategic reasons surrounding the 6-Day War and Israel's attempts to make its Arab neighbors look like the true aggressors. Israel's excuse for their actions, and their clame of misidentifying the ship as an Egyptian navy vessel which looked nothing like the Liberty and at the time was rotting away in a naval scrapyard, is just plain pathetic. Their attack on the life rafts was even more disgusting, and a war crime in my opinion.

Rivaling the disgusting acts of Israel is the dishonorable American reaction by the Johnson Administration and the military. If Nixon can be impeached for ordering the break-in of the Watergate DNC office, a crime which resulted in no loss of life or physical harm to anyone, then Lyndon Johnson certainly should have faced impeachment for his orders not to defend the Liberty. Many lives were lost on the Liberty as a result. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe a nearby aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean even launched fighter jets to aid the Liberty, but they were called back due to Johnson's orders.

What Israel did was not make an honest mistake. What Israel did was nothing short of an act of war. A cowardly attack on an ally which has done more to support the state of Israel than any other nation in its history. The survival of Israel can be attributed in part to the United States and its aid and support.

I also feel that the subsequent cover-up of this incident by government officials is sickening as well. Survivors were lied to and sworn to secrecy, the ship was repaired out of the sight of the press and public, and the families of those lost were not given a true and adequate explenation for the murder of their loved ones. In the decades that have since passed, the government has still not properly honored the memories of those lost. The survivors have still not been told the truth, something which they certainly deserve. To this day, the government of Israel refuses to acknowledge the attack as anything more than a mistake. They paid a few million dollars to our government and all was forgotten. And they still receive billions in US aid annually.

I've heard and read a lot of stories, especially on ATS, about the "evils" of Israel and the "Zionists." I have chosen, possibly out of the goodness in my heart and my naivety, not to believe most of these stories. However, I believe that the story of the attack on the USS Liberty is so cut and dry and so obviously an unexcuseable act of cowardice on the part of Israel. Had this act been committed by any of the Arab nations, it would have resulted in major military retaliation from the United States.

I also blame the press for not vigorously pursuing this story at the time. It started off as front-page material, but soon fell deeper and deeper into the newspapers, and ultimately disappeared in a matter of days or weeks. To me, the press also bears somewhat of a burdon in this matter.

Originally posted by Rasputin13
I feel that the evidence shows that Israel knew the Liberty was an American ship, and chose to attack it for strategic reasons surrounding the 6-Day War and Israel's attempts to make its Arab neighbors look like the true aggressors.

War crimes have been charged and filed; however late (2004) by the surviving crew and relative support organization against Israel.

Excerpt from declassified document contained as an exhibit in the afore mentioned filing:

Speculation as to Israeli motivation varied. Some believed that Israel expected that the
complete destruction of the ship and killing of the personnel would lead the U.S. to blame the U.A.R. for the incident and bring the U.S. into the war on the side of Israel. Ironically, even though the Liberty had no specific mission against Israeli communications, others felt Israeli forces wanted the ship and men out of the way in order to deny the U.S. any Sigint on Israel's preparations to attack Syria -an attack the U.S. might try to prevent.
Exhibit source

Full War Crimes Report, USS Liberty, as submitted June 2005

Some of the exhibits are very interesting.


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There's been some discusssion about the USS Liberty on ATS.
The may provide you with more info.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.belowtopsecret.com...