Israel attacked USS Liberty during the Six-Day War, killing 34 Americans and injuring 171.
Political activist and talk show host Charlie Kirk’s historical ignorance was on full display recently when he tried to claim that Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty, a well-documented historical event that even Israel itself does not dispute and has officially apologized for, is a “conspiracy theory.”
In video footage shared online of an event with Kirk, an attendee who was given the opportunity to ask him a question said: “From America First perspective, why do we give 3.8 billion dollars to Israel, which is more aid than we’ve given to Africa, more aid than we’ve given to South America, and more aid than we’ve given to the Caribbean combined, which is home to a billion poor people, especially when they deliberately attacked the USS Liberty in the 1970s?”
Kirk interrupts him to say: “That is incorrect. Do not peddle conspiracy theories in our event. That is not acceptable. Do not say that.” The anger in his voice is palpable as he tries to silence the man for bringing up an event whose existence has never been in doubt.
“Okay, Dean Rusk disagrees with you and he was the Secretary of State at the time, but that’s fine,” the man says before moving on to his next question, apparently deciding it was not his job to educate Kirk, a community college dropout, on history.
Charlie, we have news for you: the attack absolutely did occur, and the families of the 34 Americans it killed and the 171 who were wounded likely wish it was nothing more than a “conspiracy theory.” If the incident truly never happened, what would compel Israel to apologize for it and offer millions of dollars in compensation for the incident and restitution for the victims?
Israel attacked USS Liberty during the Six-Day War, killing 34 Americans and injuring 171
The USS Liberty was a noncombatant naval technical research vessel, and it was sent to the waters off the Northern Sinai coast during the Six-Day War in 1967 by the National Security Agency to monitor what was going on around the front lines in Syria and Egypt.
An Israeli aircraft carrying out routine reconnaissance spotted the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967, and reportedly couldn’t determine its country of origin. Those on the boat reported an unknown aircraft circling overhead, and their commanders ordered them to destroy the sensitive documents they had on board.
Shortly thereafter, Israel launched a two-hour attack on the boat that involved slamming it with torpedoes, napalm and bombs. Survivors say the aircraft was not marked and strafed their life rafts, while the ship’s distress signals were reportedly blocked by the Israelis.
The Israelis later claimed that they mistook the ship for an Egyptian one, and Israeli and American government inquiries concluded this was the case. However, many survivors don’t buy their story because the ship was flying an American flag and had the name “USS Liberty” written on its hull.
While accidents can and do happen in the heat of war, especially at a time when technology wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is today, some survivors and American officials think the Israelis had plenty of motivation to deliberately attack the ship. Some theorize they may have wanted to cover up their plans to seize the Golan Heights, which the ship may have picked up with its listening devices, or they might have wanted to bring U.S. into the war on the Israeli side.
Then-U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, whose name was mentioned by the man questioning Kirk, was one of those who did not accept the official Israeli explanation, saying: “I didn’t believe them then, and I don’t believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.”
Whether the attack was a case of mistaken identity, as the Israelis claim, or something more sinister aimed at stopping a U.S. intelligence operation, there is one thing that has never been in dispute: Israel, as the man at the event claimed, “deliberately attacked the USS Liberty in the 1970s,” and the fact that Kirk labeled it a “conspiracy theory” because it is inconvenient to whatever narrative he is trying to peddle should be enough to make anyone question every word that comes out of his mouth.
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