MASSIE’S PARTING SHOThttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/06/massies-parting-shot.phpRep. Thomas Massie is on his way out of the House, having resoundingly lost his primary election last month. So how is he spending his last months in public office? He is defaming Israel.
Today, on the floor of the House, Massie resurrected an old calumny against the Jewish state, the USS Liberty incident, which occurred in 1967 during the six-day war. He described his shameful performance as “one of the biggest honors of my lifetime.” Here he is; the chamber appears to be mostly empty, and his speech had no bearing on any pending legislation. He did it merely for the principle of the thing:
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David Reaboi offers this rebuttal:
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Massie: Israel deliberately attacked the ship with the intent to leave no survivors. There is absolutely zero evidence it was a premeditated strike. The Israeli military correctly identified the ship at dawn, but a duty officer erased the ship’s marker from the naval plot hours later because the information was considered stale. ... .
If Israel had intended to sink the ship, they would have used iron bombs—but the Israeli air controller deliberately diverted the flight carrying iron bombs away from the ship.
When an Israeli pilot recognized Latin letters on the hull (Arab warships used Arabic script), the attack was immediately halted with the order, “Leave her!” Israel then dispatched rescue helicopters, ceased fire immediately, and apologized within hours, before Washington had even publicly acknowledged the incident.
Massie: The attack was a 25-minute unprovoked assault using napalm, and lifeboats were machine-gunned. In reality, the air attack lasted approximately 14 minutes, and every official investigation confirms there were only two Mirages and two Super-Mystères involved. (Even survivor advocates who previously claimed there were up to 30 sorties have conceded on the record that there were only two initial jets).
The jets dropped napalm because they had been diverted mid-mission from bombing Egyptian infantry, not because of a surgical plan to sink a steel ship.
Furthermore, the torpedo boat did not machine-gun lifeboats to execute survivors; it actually recovered a damaged life raft put overboard by the crew that was marked “US Navy.” This recovery is exactly how the Israelis realized the ship was American.
Massie: It was a clear day with unlimited visibility and the American flag was flying proudly. While Massie argues the flag should have made the ship’s identity obvious, gun-camera film from the attacking pilots and shipboard photos confirm that the smoke from the burning ship was rising straight up–meaning there was essentially no wind. Because of the calm conditions, the flag hung limp and drooping against the mast rather than extended. The Navy Court of Inquiry specifically concluded that the calm weather and slow speed (~5 knots) “may well have made the American flag difficult to identify.”
Lying about the USS Liberty tragedy has been a well-worn trope of Israel-Haters pretty much since the day it happened. Clouded by almost 6 decades is that at the time, Israel was not a US ally nor a user of US equipment (possibly excepting a few upgraded WW2 Sherman tanks).
