The Sinking of the USS Liberty

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It's long been known that the sinking of the Liberty in 1967 was not an accident. What was always less clear is the motive for Israel deliberately launching such an attack against its greatest ally and why the U.S. not only didn't retaliate but sought to cover it up. Here surfaces a theory that plugs many holes in the Liberty story:

https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravd ... e-liberty/

TL;DR version: It was likely a failed false flag, a joint operation between the US and Israeli government or at least circles within them. Had the ship gone down with all hands as was obviously the plan, the Egyptians would have been blamed - the whole thing was designed to provide pretext for an American invasion of Egypt. But with some incredible heroics on the part of the American sailors, the ship stayed afloat against all odds so the whole thing had to covered up rather hastily and the planned invasion scrapped.

We must always keep in mind that only a miracle kept the Liberty afloat, and if it had been sunk without survivors as expected, almost no one in American media or government would have dared accuse Israel of such an irrational act. Instead, as Stephen Green had first suggested in 1984, Egyptian forces would very likely have been blamed, producing powerful demands for immediate American retaliation, but probably on a vastly greater scale than the fictional Tonkin Gulf attack, which had inflicted no injuries.

Indeed, Hounam’s detailed investigation discovered strong evidence that a powerful American “retaliatory” strike against Egypt had already been put into motion from almost the moment that the Liberty was first attacked. Paul Nes then served as charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and in a taped interview he recalled receiving an urgent flash message alerting him that the Liberty had been attacked, presumably by Egyptian planes, and that bombers from an American carrier were already on their way to strike Cairo in retaliation. With an American-Egyptian war about to break out, Nes and his subordinates immediately began destroying all their important documents. But not long afterward, another flash message arrived, identifying the attackers as Israeli and saying that the air strike had been called off. According to some accounts, the American warplanes were just minutes from Egypt’s capital city when they were recalled.

I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of American posters on this sub-forum don't actually know about the USS Liberty incident. I'm guessing the major US TV networks don't make many documentaries about it.

I haven't read Unz's typically long-winded article yet, but my current view is that it was solely an Israeli operation rather than a joint Israeli-US one. However, Lyndon Johnson's handling of the incident makes me suspect the Israelis had some sort of dirt on him. In fact, Johnson's handling of the incident is one reason why I consider him to be quite possibly the worst US president of all time.

makes sense. as a pretext to war. I know about the USS Liberty incident. but only because i'm a history buff.