U.S. retaliation against Israel for attacking a vessel in international waters?

Oh my, the USS Liberty is very popular tonight. I started a disc about it earlier this evening and when I came back to check on it, there was yours. You raise an interesting question here. Having watched both of the videos linked to in my discussion, I would say there is a possibility of retaliation having taken place. After the attack on the Liberty the surviving crew members were dispersed to units around the globe, with no two members of the Liberty's crew being assigned to the same unit. Although they were ordered not to talk about the attack by Admiral Kidd and other members of the military and the State Department, feelings were clearly running very high and details of the attack may have been passed on to other servicemen. But if a decision to sink the Dakar was taken it would have had to be at a level much higher than midshipman or petty officer. The captain of the Liberty was alleged by members of his crew to be convinced that the attack was deliberate. If you add to this the fact that Captain McGonagle is the only recipient of the CMH not to be presented with it by the POTUS but at a small, not widely publicised ceremony; then maybe, with him being a very well respected senior officer, that others may have taken it upon themselves to enact some revenge on behalf of the Liberty crew. I believe there were also several high ranking officials at the State Department who did not accept Israel's version of events either. So yes, it is a distinct possibility, but I don't think Israel will be levelling any accusations at America. Whatever happened to the Dakar, my money is on Israel saying that the Dakar was a victim of mechanical failure. This would be the easiest way out for both parties, without loss of face on either side.

Well, all things are possible, but I'm wondering what difference it makes 43 years later? With the world in an unstable condition, as it is today, what with Iran building a nuke, and the Israeli/ Palestinian situation boiling up as it most often is, why stir troubled waters? Sure anything is possible, but why not just settle down and wait until tomorrow when some other traumatic event is bound to happen?