TimmyBoy said:
Was the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty a willful and deliberate act to bring the US into a war against the Arabs? Or was it an honest mistake by Israel? Did Israel accidentally attack the USS Liberty? Or did Israel knowingly and willfully attack a US ship and then the US and Israeli governments covered up what really happenned on that day?
Israel would have been insane to have willfully attacked their basic best ally, & their best supplier of weapons!!
Israel would have had much too much to lose by attacking an American ship, ..& "why" in God's name would they want to in the first place? What would Israel have profited by destroying an American ship, ..& deliberatley killing Americans except the wrath of the American people?
So,...that is something to ponder.
I honestly believe, ..& always will that they were caught up in the heat of battle with their enemies such as Egypt, & her allies & since America NEVER did tell the Israelis about the location, or where the USS Liberty might be in the area, ...the Israelis probably had NO clue in the very beginning that they attacked a United States warship until AFTER the fact.
The fact that the USS Liberty was NOT sunk, ...even though numerous American casualties occurred,....tells me that they discovered their error AFTER the fact!
There is no reason on Earth as to why Israel would ever deliberatley attack an American ship.
I believe the reason it was covered up was because LBJ wanted to spare his cabinet officials, & the state dept officials & his own military the embarrassment by the blunder that some high official made by NOT informing the Israelis of where the USS Liberty would be.
There are some who believe that the Israelis HAD to see the American flag posted on the USS Liberty, & therefore could not have mis-identified the ship!
I would suggest that IF the flag was seen in time, ...the Israelis probably honestly thought the enemy might have flagged the ship with an American flag to avoid detection, ...a thought that should not be taken lightly in liew of the hatred & deception their enemies might deploy, & in fact were very capable in doing if it thought they could carry the ruse out successfully.
The point is the fact that Israel DID break the attack off, ..unfortunatley not soon enough.
History is replete with killing by friendly fire; ...but there is no reason that Israel ever gave before to conclude the deliberate wanton murder for such a willful act of treachery.
Tensions were probably high, & along with it a deep seated paranoia of any ships in the area of being the "enemy";...& the israelis were probably thinking the United States could not have been that stupid to not inform them that they would have a ship in the area monitoring the action in the area!!
LBJ did not see it as a deliberate attack, but rather a case of mistaken identity ..but I suppose there are many conspiratorialists who prefer to see Israel as the goat in that tragic occurance.