Recently, a United States naval vessel on a routine mission was the victim of an act of terrorism. Dozens were killed, more than 170 maimed or wounded. The ship, despite millions of dollars worth of damage, managed to limp home, its survivors scattered to other ports of call.

I’m not speaking of the USS Cole. I’m talking about the USS Liberty, a reconnaissance vessel stationed in the Mediterranean in 1967 to monitor the escalating Six Days War. It was attacked by Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats, and to this day, the United States government has held no official inquiry into the incident, referring to the deaths of 34 of its soldiers only as a “tragic mistake.”

Ever since the attack, the survivors of the Liberty and a core group of high-ranking servicemen have pressed the government to hold a serious investigation into the matter. The claim: Israel deliberately fired on Americans to both destroy surveillance capabilities and anger the United States against the Arab world. Yet like the Lavon Affair, another Israeli attempt at subterfuge to bring the U.S. into a war with Egypt, the attempted destruction of the Liberty backfired.

And like the Lavon Affair, Israel was given a free pass.

This potential cover-up has enraged many over the years. One of those investigating the attack has come forward of late with a shocking admission that questions the credibility of the government, the office of the president, and lends credence to arguments that Israel’s attack was deliberate, not accidental.

On October 23, former naval attorney Ward Boston stated in a signed affidavit that President Lyndon Johnson, in collusion with former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, ordered any inquiry into the incident be declared an accident “despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.” A by-the-books officer, Boston only came forward after years of silence when a book entitled The Liberty Incident concluded the attack was unintentional.

Think about that for a moment: the President of the United States let a foreign nation attack our troops with deliberation for over an hour. He allowed Israel to hit a United States vessel not only with torpedoes and machine gun fire, but napalm as well. Upon hearing of the attack, Johnson ordered a retaliatory strike. When he heard the aggressor was Israel, the alert was called off.

These facts haven’t been in dispute since the attack occurred more than 35 years ago. They have, however, been wrapped up in false sympathies and lip service. Even if the assault was an accident, why did we forgive Israel of even repaying the repair costs of the Liberty? Why, even now, has there never been a single official inquiry into the culpability of the attack?

If someone attacks our nation or one of its representatives with malice and intent, they should be met with equivalent force. The United States invaded countries or installed puppet dictators in others for less; look no further than the current situation in Iraq. Their nation lies conquered and broken because Saddam Hussein thought unfavorably about the U.S.

With the Liberty, we have a defined act of aggression. It actually happened — it wasn’t the frantic whim of a dictator. Now with Boston’s revelation confirming the obvious, the question needs to be asked: is Israel an ally?

Israel has played the U.S. several times in the past 50 years. The aforementioned Lavon Affair saw Mossad agents (the Israeli equivalent of the CIA) blowing up British and American targets in Egypt as a way to draw the U.S. into war with the Egyptians. In the 1980s, Mossad, according to former agent Victor Ostrovsky, entered Libya and established a radio transmitter in Tripoli that Americans could intercept. The result was Reagan’s invasion of Libya.

While the most recent of those examples is 20 years ago, the federal government also uncovered a massive Israeli spy ring that had phone taps in places as secure as the White House. And let’s not forget Jonathan Pollard; he stole military secrets Israel later sold to Soviet Russia; unfortunately, he wasn’t executed like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

These acts are consequence-free. Chances are you probably haven’t heard much about them.

But why? We’re living in the shadow of perpetual fear brought about by constant terror alerts and Middle East scuffles. We’ve got people locked up in Guantanamo Bay who aren’t even aware what crime they’re being charged with. If this country and its government are so committed to national security, why does Israel get a bye on criminal enterprises enacted against the United States?

I understand nations frequently spy on each other, but when is enough enough? Human rights groups and heads of state the world over condemn Israel’s policies of ethnic cleansing and land acquisition. Is it really in our best interest to continue turning a blind eye to and support a nation that’s made a concerted effort over the years to draw the United States into its problems by killing our people?

Think how much international goodwill the U.S. would gain simply by ceasing to support such genocide and hypocrisy. Think how impressed U.S. citizens would feel if their government actually looked out for the soldiers who defend them and took Israel to task over the irrefutable evidence it tried to destroy a friendly ship.

Thirty-four deaths go unavenged. If we feel justified in punishing Afghanistan and Iraq for the attacks on the World Trade Center, events where there is no proof of their participation, surely some congressman can now flex a little political muscle to find out what really happened to the men and women of the Liberty.