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For the few
Americans who know the facts, Israel’s deliberate
attempt in 1967 to destroy the USS Liberty and its
entire crew remains almost beyond belief today but no
more so than the response of President Lyndon B.
Johnson. These events, midway in the Six-Day
Arab-Israeli War, deserve full disclosure today, because
they help explain why America is in deep trouble today,
and what must be done to avert further peril.
The assault began
three hours after Israel’s military headquarters
identified the vessel as an unarmed U.S. Navy ship.
When Israeli General Moshe Dayan ordered the attack, one
of his senior deputies remonstrated: “This is pure
murder.” Several Israeli pilots refused to take part.
The Liberty
withstood heavy attack from land and sea for two hours,
but 34 crewmen were killed, 173 wounded, and the ship’s
hull was riddled with holes,.one of them 40 feet wide.
At the very least, it was stark ingratitude, because at
the same time Johnson was secretly providing unmarked
U.S. military aircraft and personnel to aid Israel in
its war against neighboring Arab states.
The assault
stopped shortly after a nearby U.S. aircraft carrier
received the only appeal for help Liberty radiomen were
able to broadcast. The carrier captain ordered fighter
aircraft launched to defend the ship and notified
Washington. Although the assault was still underway,
Johnson’s astounding response was a voice message
ordering the fighters to return to the carrier.
With the secret
out, the attack ceased and Israeli government claimed
the Liberty’s fate was a case of mistaken identity.
Johnson accepted Israel’s excuse and ordered a cover
up. He appointed Admiral Isaac Kidd to conduct a quick
Court of Inquiry and instructed him to absolve Israel of
blame in its findings. Following orders, Kidd warned
survivors, some of them still on hospital beds, that
they would face court martial and imprisonment if they
said anything publicly about their ordeal. Medals for
heroism were issued to survivors but in quiet ceremonies
far from the White House and the president. Many
official documents about the assault remain classified
to this day. Over the years, Liberty survivors have
pleaded repeatedly and vainly with official bodies,
individual Members of Congress and the media for full
disclosure of the assault.
Why the assault?
Liberty survivors believe Israel’s most likely motive
was to lure the United States quickly into a fighting
alliance against the Arabs. With America’s mighty
forces battling at its side, Israel could reasonably
expect that its security would be guaranteed far into
the future. The scheme could work, however, only if
Israel could pin the blame for destroying the Liberty
and its crew on Egypt, the leading Arab combatant.
Except for the lone radio appeal, the scheme might have
succeeded.
Why the cover
up? Three years ago, Condoleeza Rice, now President
George W. Bush’s secretary of state, candidly stated;
“We have an Israel-centric foreign policy.” To her
accurate statement, I will add that it is rooted in
fear. Most Americans, especially those in public office
and even those in the presidency, have a deadly fear of
being called anti-Semitic, no matter how unwarranted the
charge. Pro-Israel forces long ago successfully
redefined anti-Semitism to mean any criticism of the
State of Israel.
The cover up of
the assault signaled the day that small Israel took firm
control of mighty America’s Middle East policies. It
convinced Israeli leadership, then and now, that the
Jewish state could literally get by with murder—even of
defenseless U.S. sailors—without disturbing America’s
support After the cover up, unconditional U.S. aid to
Israel in all forms—financial, military and
diplomatic--began to soar, unaffected as Israeli leaders
as they sullied the idealism of Judaism by intensified
violations of international law and Arab human rights.
The flagrant pro-Israel bias in U.S. policies led to
9/11 and America’s deepening ordeal in Iraq.
Few U.S. citizens
know that our U.S. Middle East policy has been crafted
for years by lobbies for two politically-powerful
religious communities. One community is relatively
small in number but powerful in influence, consisting
mainly of secular Jews and others who are
ultra-Orthodox. The other community, whose influence
emerged in the last decade, consists of millions of
Christians who accept a controversial interpretation of
the Bible’s Book of Revelations. Both groups believe
present-day Israel, as a central part of God’s plan,
must be kept strong and united until the arrival on
earth of each group’s messiah. The two have such
political power that Congress dutifully appropriates
billions to Israel, year after year, without conditions
or serious discussion, much less real debate.
Their grip on our
government is unhealthy for Israel and the United
States, as well as Christianity and Judaism. It was the
main factor that led to 9/11, the U.S. invasion of Iraq,
and worldwide anti-American protests.
If our nation is
to emerge from today’s peril, we must face openly and
critically the role of these religious groups in U.S.
policy making. If we keep tip-toeing around reality, we
risk still greater peril tomorrow.
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