President Donald Trump’s invocation of the 25-year-old bombing of an American warship as part of his justification for launching a massive bombing campaign against Iran could hamper long-running Pentagon efforts to finally bring the alleged terrorists accused of perpetrating the terror attack to justice.
On two occasions over the nearly two weeks since the Defense Department launched Operation Epic Fury against targets across Iran, Trump has claimed Tehran was responsible for the October 2000 bombing of U.S.S. Cole, a grisly attack that killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors and left 37 others injured.
