Why is Nobody Talking About the USS Stark?

Yehuda Teitelbaum | Jun 09, 2026

A port quarter view of the guided missile frigate USS STARK (FFG-31) listing to port after being struck by an Iraqi-launched Exocet missile. Photo by US Navy – commons file, Public Domain, Wikipedia

Thomas Massie has been in Congress since 2012, which makes me curious why, after fourteen years in office, he suddenly decided that June 2026 was the right moment to reopen the USS Liberty case and demand a new investigation into an event that occurred nearly sixty years ago.

I’m also curious why he’s apparently never shown the same interest in the USS Stark.

In 1987, an Iraqi Mirage F1 fired two Exocet missiles at the USS Stark, killing 37 American sailors and wounding 21 more. That’s more Americans than were killed aboard the USS Liberty. Iraq initially claimed the ship had entered a restricted war zone, which turned out to be false. American officials later claimed the pilot had acted without authorization and had been executed, while later accounts from Iraqi officers disputed that story and claimed he was never punished. To this day, historians disagree over who authorized the attack and whether Iraqi leaders were telling the truth.

Perhaps the official American conclusions were correct. Perhaps they weren’t. Sometimes the truth is deliberately censored to prevent a wider escalation. I have no doubt governments do this all the time. Governments can also make mistakes and investigations deserve scrutiny, especially when dealing with the lives of our servicemen.

But if the goal here is really to uncover the truth, shouldn’t the same curiosity apply elsewhere?

Has Thomas Massie ever gone to the House floor to demand a new investigation into the USS Stark?

Has he ever honored the survivors in Congress?

Has he ever suggested that the American public was misled about what happened?

Has he spent time trying to determine whether Saddam Hussein was hiding something?

Because I don’t remember hearing anything about the USS Stark at all, despite the fact that more American sailors died and despite the fact that there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the attack.

There is nothing antisemitic about criticizing Israel. There is nothing antisemitic about believing, despite the considerable evidence to the contrary, that the official investigations into the USS Liberty may have reached the wrong conclusion. There is nothing antisemitic about asking uncomfortable questions.

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