Intel Experts Doubt Iran Video: US Track Record Is Not Good

Japan needs more proof from US than just one video

Having already announced their position on Iranian guilt in the tanker attacks on Thursday, the Trump Administration offered what they are convinced is video proof of their position. The video is not great, and the reaction isn’t nearly as positive as officials had hoped.

Indeed, a lot of intelligence experts are openly scorning the video. They warn that the video doesn’t prove Iranian guilt, with many adding that the US track record on evidence presented to gin up support for a war generally is not good.

Center for Strategic and International Studies analyst Anthony Cordesman was quick to offer alternate proposals to Newsweek, suggesting the “possibility that ISIS carried out the attack as trigger to turn two enemies – the United States and Iran – against each other. Or you’re watching Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates create an incident that they can then use to increase the pressure on Iran.”

These possibilities are noteworthy, because the Trump Administration has insisted repeatedly that there is no alternative to Iranian guilt. Other analysts were very willing to discuss the possibility of a false flag attack, suggesting that hawks in the US might’ve launched the attacks themselves as a pretext to start a war.

“The US track record on ginning up evidence for war is not good,” noted William Church, noting that US governments have lied America into war in the past, and calling out substantial problems with the video.

It’s more than just the policy analysts who have doubts, too. The Japanese government is pressing the US to provide evidence to back their allegations against Iran, saying they don’t consider the video to be convincing. So far, there is no sign the US has anything else to offer yet, though they may yet create more “evidence” in time.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.