Opinion: It’s time we learn facts of the USS Liberty

Will our mainstream media let another year go by without mention of the USS Liberty?
On June 8, 1967, Israeli attacks on the U.S. intelligence-gathering ship sailing in international waters off Egypt killed 34 American sailors and injured 174 more.
According to Paul Craig Roberts of the Institute for Political Economy, who interviewed survivors and government officials, President Lyndon B. Johnson not only aborted an American rescue mission but also ordered a cover-up of the whole affair — reportedly saying he “wasn’t going to embarrass an ally.”
Notwithstanding the damning conclusions of the Moorer Commission in 2003, no subsequent administration has dared break an apparent vow of silence. Yet there is plenty of information on the internet, including videotaped interviews with survivors.
It’s time for Americans to learn the long-hidden facts of the Liberty.
L. Michael Hager
Eastham
— The writer is co-founder and former director general of the International Development Law Organization in Rome.
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