JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A USS LIBERTY SURVIVOR ALSO ILLEGALLY ARRESTED IN ISRAEL'S LATEST PIRACY ON THE HIGH SEAS TELLS HIS STORY - THE GREAT AND ENDURING MYSTERY OF ISRAEL'S 1967 ATTACK ON AN AMERICAN SHIP - SOME MOTIVES FOR ISRAEL ARE CLEAR - MOTIVES FOR DEVIOUS LYNDON JOHNSON REMAIN A DEEP MYSTERY - SIX DAY WAR FACTS

John Chuckman


COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE FROM CONSORTIUM NEWS RADIO



“A USS Liberty survivor who was arrested by Israel this month trying to break the Gaza blockade joins Episode 2 of Consortium News Radio. 

“Joe Meadors was a signalman on the USS Liberty surveillance ship on June 8, 1967 when Israel attacked, killing 34 U.S. sailors and injuring 173 more.”



Yes, it was a very cowardly business, just as so many violent activities of Israel are - e.g., platoons of soldiers with sniper rifles shooting from behind a fence at unarmed civilians as though they were in a big-game hunt.

The most interesting missing information about Israel's attack on the USS Liberty is Lyndon Johnson's role.

Was he secretly complicit? He was a very devious person and had no problem causing the deaths of vast numbers, as in Vietnam.

And he was a man with a violent temper and an immense ego, so his behavior afterward in staying quiet, not doing anything against Israel, and in calling off response when the attack was reported is a great mystery.

One can imagine motives for Israel even without Johnson's complicity.

There was the atrocity of Israel's machine-gunning large numbers of Egyptian prisoners of war in the Sinai which was done because Israel was in a rush to turn north for conquests there and didn't want the "burden" of prisoners. An electronic observer ship would record it all.

There was the matter of Dayan turning his armor north, too. American authorities had told Israel not to do this, but they did it anyway. Of course, an electronic observer would notify American authorities and record the activity.

There has been speculation around Israel's blackmailing Johnson to shut up, perhaps over his behavior in the Kennedy assassination. I don't know, but that is entirely plausible given the nature of the two actors.

There has also been speculation of a dirty deal Johnson may have arranged ahead with Israel. You sink my ship for me, and I'll blame Egypt and send in the Air Force.

Possible, but there are reasons to doubt it. What would the motive be? I don't buy it without some evidence.

We have evidence around Israel's possible motives in Sinai and heading North. We also can easily buy some kind of blackmail to shut Johnson up, Israel having done such things many times.

It is all a mystery as big as the Kennedy assassination, but it rarely gets that kind of attention. We generally only hear of a determined sneak attack, killing many Americans, by a supposedly friendly state which said "Sorry, our mistake," afterward. And of the wall of silence which immediately was created.

Of course, it wasn't a mistake. The ship was well marked. A lead pilot flew over first and saw Americans, and he is said to have radioed back to re-confirm orders (if so, the pilots hadn't been told whom they were attacking). But the attack went ahead.

Whatever way you interpret it, the main players come out even dirtier than considering only the attack.

As a last note, the Six Day War was a planned affair by Israel. Provocations were used against several Arab states, Israel certain it could easily defeat them. President de Gaulle, among other notable figures, understood this and commented disapprovingly on it.

Israel was grabbing "Greater Israel" without telling anyone in a lightning war of aggression.

General Dayan, Israel's darling of the war, said a number of times that it would be necessary to make the Palestinians miserable so they would leave.

Well, Israel has certainly worked hard towards that goal, but the brave Palestinians remain, largely peacefully resisting occupation.

Of course, there were UN Resolutions demanding Israel return to its borders, but they have always just been ignored, and the United States has always gone along with the occupation and its countless injustices.

The entire business, from beginning to end, represents complete lawlessness on Israel’s part.