blueapples on X | ashesofacacia.substack.comFor generations, the attack on the USS Liberty by the Israel Defense Forces (”IDF”) has served as a catalyst that shifted the paradigm of how the American public views the United States’ relationship with its supposed “greatest ally.” For the current generation of Americans, Kentucky representative Thomas Massie has been the catalyst that has opened their eyes to the reality of the lengths that Israel will go to in order to shape the governance of the U.S. toward pursuing the interests of the Jewish state over those of the American people. Massie’s defeat against Ed Gallrein in the Republican primary for the 4th Congressional District of Kentucky, like the attack on the USS Liberty, is a distillation of how Israel has subverted the American democratic process, virtually transforming the U.S. into its vassal state. The parallels between the attack on the USS Liberty and the pro-Israel lobby’s assault on Massie make it fitting that the outgoing congressman from Kentucky will be dedicating a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on June 8th, 2026 to honor the memory of the American servicemen who lost their lives aboard the USS Liberty at the hands of IDF.The aftermath of the attack on the USS LibertyMassie’s speech before the House of Representatives will fall on the 59th anniversary of the June 8th, 1967, IDF attack on the US Navy technical research ship, which was stationed in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea near the Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. The USS Liberty was attacked from air and sea by Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats during its active signals intelligence-gathering mission. The attack led to the deaths of 34 American servicemen, injuries to 171 others, and severe damage to the vessel, which led to it being decommissioned the following year. To date, the bombing of the USS Liberty is the lone instance in which the U.S. has not responded with military force against a nation that has attacked it in the country’s 250-year history.IDF forces launched a two-wave, 23-minute assault on the vessel, first blasting it with gunfire and bombing the ship with napalm from four Mirage III and Super Mystères fighter jets. After the air raid, the Israeli navy started a second wave of the attack on the USS Liberty by sea, in which its naval vessels opened fire on the ship and launched torpedoes at it. One torpedo struck the USS Liberty, leading Israel to finally cease the attack when it believed that the ship was sinking.In the fallout over the attack, Israeli officials declared the IDF’s assault had been executed in error, claiming it mistakenly identified the ship as a vessel belonging to the Egyptian Navy. Survivors have long disavowed Israel’s claim, as they contend that the ship had been flying an American flag from the start of the attack. Even after that American flag was destroyed during the first wave of the air assault on the USS Liberty, its crew raised an even larger American flag to make the ship’s allegiance unquestionable. Subsequent independent investigations of the attack led separately by the U.S. and Israel each determined that the USS Liberty had indeed flown an American flag from the beginning. However, the investigation commissioned by Israel maintained that the IDF did not identify the ship’s flag before unleashing its attack.USS Liberty Survivors claim the Israeli’s were the only ones who knew how to jam their signals.