Did anyone catch this documentary Al Jazeera? I'm blown away by it... [View all]

[MrMickeysMom]

- The Day Israel attacked America http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/schedule.html

My husband already told me about the incident, since he found information sometime in the 90's questioning the cover up. I was less inclined to read the same news back then.

I searched through DU and want to thank JohnnyCanuck for posting about this documentary this past October. His post is found in the Foreign Affairs/Veterans' Group when it must have initially aired. He included more than I have about the viewing times. If Al Jazeera re-rain it this afternoon, you can bet it will be on again.

It's an investigation with interviews of the real people who served on the USS Liberty, a US Navy spy ship that was monitoring the conflict from the safety of international waters in the Mediterranean. Thirty-four US servicemen and civilian analysts were killed, another 171 were wounded. Israeli jet fighters hit the vessel with rockets, cannon fire and napalm before three Israeli torpedo boats moved in to launch a second more devastating attack. It's amazing that brave crew members were able to piece together communication during the assault that brought it to a halt. When Washington got word of this, the attack abruptly ended. Later, Israel apologised for what it claimed to be a tragic case of mistaken identity. It said that it had believed the ship to be hostile Egyptian naval vessel. US President Lyndon Johnson was privately furious but publicly the White House chose not to challenge the word of its closest Middle East ally and accepted that the attack had been a catastrophic accident.

There is an undoubtedly huge piece of history that Washington hushed the press over and swept under the rug. I recommend anyone who can view Al Jazeera see this thing.

I ask myself "What is this country willing to do to those in uniform to cover up an incident that would interfere with a re-election campaign?" Here's an example of LBJ's. The carelessness of lives in uniform being trumped by an election campaign is almost as nauseating as seeing children's lives being trumped by the NRA gun lobby.

Interestingly, LBJ must have had a conscience that began with what he knew about JFK's assassination, Vietnam, certainly this incident. Maybe the accumulated guilt is why he decided a year later not to run again. I always like to think of LBJ having a conscience, certainly all presidents since then.