It's been almost 50 years, yet most Americans are completely unaware that Israel attack the US ship USS Liberty. This attack killed 34 sailors and injured 174. The survivors are still not satisfied with the official reports as they state it was a deliberate attack on an allied ship. If you have never heard of this story, please research it. There are allegations that help was delayed, that Johnson wanted to use this attack as a false flag operation to enter the Israeli-Egyptian war at the time. Decide for yourself. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/ussliberty.html
Woah, never heard of this! That is seriously weird. I do not understand why they would do that, or why Johnson would want to let more people be injured or killed just to create an excuse to do what he wanted. I have never really trusted out leaders anyway...
When you watch the documentaries, you will explode with anger. But when you sit back and think about it, you can understand. Johnson came out of the Kennedy Administration that many thought was weak. After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Kennedy and Krushchev were able to scale back the Cuban Missile Crisis. Many of the Kennedy advisers wanted war. War is money. Johnson was also from Texas, where Kennedy was killed. Some speculated Johnson should have had enough pull in Texas to protect Kennedy (again, making Johnson look weak). Supposedly, Johnson felt the need to prove himself strong in the eyes of America, and especially Republicans who were war hawks. In 1967, Johnson was still consider to be in the running for the 1968 election. In his eyes, he may have needed this boost of strength. The Vietnam War protests were increasing to the point that by 1967, chants outside the White House were "Hey Hey LBJ, How many kids did you kill today". He understood the war in Vietnam was unsupported by the American people because unlike Pearl Harbor, there was no attack on the US directly. The Gulf of Tonkin incident (Aug 1964), which has been greatly disputed, dragged us deeper into Vietnam. A naval communications/signals intelligence ship was attacked which dragged us into a war. Sounds like the USS Liberty in 1967 doesn't it? LBJ knew an attack on a US ship got us involved deeper into a war--a war no one liked. But what would happen if a US ship was attacked by the enemies Israel was fighting? Would the US step up in one voice demanding revenge and at the same time demanding to protect Israel? The same people who twenty years before were the victims while the whole world watched. Accusations have been made that Johnson wanted the USS Liberty to sink. If it sank, there would be no witnesses to prove Israel did it, and they could easily blame it on Egypt. Supposedly, aerial images prove that the Egyptian airforce was already destroyed by the time the USS Liberty was attacked. Despite the fact that Johnson made huge strides in Domestic policy with such legislation as the Civil Rights Acts and Disabilities Acts, his down fall was foreign policy. In Mar of 1968, Johnson announced he was not running for another term. The Vietnam War was likely to blame. Of course, this is my own opinion from the things I have read and pondered. Others will disagree.
Where to start? You touch on several topics to which I would like to respond. First, I shall discuss the USS LIBERTY. The USS LIBERTY was a spy ship. Though manned and sailed by the US Navy it really belonged to the NSA. Many of the people aboard Liberty were NSA (National Security Agency) technicians. Exactly why they were in the eastern Mediterranian Sea and why Israel attacked remaines 'classified' to this day, though the US government has admitted it was there and it was attacked. David Kahn has written regarding this incident in one of his several books. I think his account is in BODY OF SECRETS. JFK. I do not see Kennedy as an ineffective president, not after the Cuban Missle Crisis. He stood up to the Soviet Bear and won. It is true that he angered many people when he refused to back NIXON's FOLLY (Bay of Pigs), that ill conceived plot that VP Nixon started during the Eisenhower administration. I actually admire JFK for having the fortitude not to follow the advice of the Brothers Dullas et al. After all, backing the "invasion" was a violation of internation law. Alas JFK's enemies waited for their opportunity, something which came to fruition 22 November, 1963. But I really do not think this the time nor place to rehash the assasination controversy. The 'Vietnam Experience'. What can one say about this fiasco? It was a war that was not a war. It should not have been fought, but it was. It should have been won, but no one knew how. It should have ended in a victory not a whimper, but our leaders didn't set realistic goals and objectives. And some evidence that just before JFK was removed by the coup, he had secretly decided to withdraw from the CIA's war in SE Asia. Be careful in responding lest we wander far afield from the USS LIBERTY.
I have searched for and read the story a while ago after someone brought it up in one of the comments under Yahoo news. If I remember correctly, dozens American fighter planes were rushed to the scene as reinforcement, but they were all recalled as soon as the attacker was identified. The reason for recall was "not to embarrass our ally". Most Americans do not know the story is clearly due to it was not widely reported in any mainstream media, or even mentioned in the books. The reason? Probably the same as "not to embarrass our ally".
