Remembering Israel’s deadly attack on US forces
Fifty years ago on June 8, the USS Liberty was deliberately and viciously attacked by the Israeli airforce with the clear intent to sink this intelligence ship.
This vessel clearly identified itself as American with flags and markings. The casualties were 34 dead and 171 wounded.
Help from nearby American warships was suspended and stopped on behalf of Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara and President Lyndon Johnson in the hope that USS Liberty would be sunk.
A gag order was issued by the president to cover up the cowardly act by the “only democracy in the Middle East and ‘friend’ [of the US] Israel”. The governments of both countries conducted inquiries that concluded Israel had misidentified the ship. But others, including survivors of the attack, rejected those findings and insisted the attack was deliberate. This was indeed a day and date that shall live in infamy.
HHB
