The Cost of Never Admitting Error
Trump’s reaction to a tragic missile strike could damage America’s standing abroad.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it was done by Iran. They’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions.”
—Donald Trump, speaking to reporters about a missile strike that killed an estimated 175 people, March 7
When faced with damaging information, Trump’s initial instinct is to deny. If the news continues to be bad, he will usually double down on the lie. If all else fails, he might blame someone else. The war with Iran will be an interesting test case of whether this all-defense, never-apologize approach will backfire on the world stage.
Tragic accidents happen often in military conflicts. What matters is how a country’s leaders respond when innocent people are killed through mistakes, because an honest assessment and a willingness to investigate can enhance a country’s international reputation. Trump, through his rhetoric, may further besmirch the U.S. image. It’s irresponsible to make claims about responsibility before the facts are clear.
Video evidence examined by Bellingcat, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and other news outlets leaves little doubt that a Tomahawk cruise missile — used only by the United States in the conflict — struck an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base next to an elementary school that was hit at about the same moment, killing mostly children, according to Iranian media reports.
Social media accounts supporting the restoration of Iran’s monarchy peddled the fiction that the IRGC was responsible for the attack on the school — misinformation that Trump appeared to embrace on Saturday, even though, as president, he would have classified information about what happened. U.S. military officials have been more careful to say the incident is still under investigation. Even Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, standing next to Trump, repeated that line, though he added that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
On Monday, Trump again suggested that Iran — or some other country — was responsible. “Whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk, a Tomahawk, is very generic. It’s sold to other countries, but that’s being investigated right now,” he told reporters. He claimed that “numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us.”
As usual, Trump is just making stuff up. There is no evidence Iran ever acquired a Tomahawk — or that one has been captured. The only countries which have purchased them are U.S. allies: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and Japan.
No one believes the United States deliberately targeted the school. Hegseth has decried what he called “stupid rules of engagement” that made it more difficult to win, and a full investigation should examine whether loosened rules made it more likely that a school could end up being shelled. But that’s unlikely to happen in this administration.
When Trump was asked Monday why he was making claims no other U.S. officials were making, he deflected: “Because I just don’t know enough about it.” As president, he can ask questions and demand answers. He added that “certainly whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.”
That’s another passive answer. One would hope that if the American military made such a horrific mistake, a president would pledge to do better.
During NATO’s air assault in Belgrade in 1999, a bomb struck the Chinese embassy, killing three people and wounding 20. President Bill Clinton issued a public apology two days after the attack — and then signed an official Chinese condolence book in the presence of China’s ambassador in the Oval Office. He also spoke by phone with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, though Zemin wouldn’t speak to him for several days.
A month later, a senior State Department official traveled to China to hand-deliver the official report on the investigation. The report detailed a series of errors that led to the errant attack, including “severely flawed” techniques to locate the target and outdated maps.
There are obvious differences in the two bombings. China was not a party to the war, and Clinton administration officials were eager to maintain relations with the rising power. But the speed of the investigation and the public apology were important factors in demonstrating that the United States would fess up to its mistakes, even in times of war.
As U.S. and Israeli missiles continue to rain on Iran’s cities, it’s imperative that any further tragic accidents are thoroughly investigated and the facts made public. Trump often denies reality, but a little humility goes a long way in the court of world opinion.
Clinton’s public apology and the hand-delivered report are ways of holding one’s country accountable for mistakes. We should consider these two acts the proper measure for whatever we see out of the Trump administration when we hear blame and excuses.
So in effect Trump admits he made stuff up because he didn’t know the facts. And how stupid a lie is it that the Iranians bombed their own school with an American weapon (or maybe they were targeting an IRGC building???) Trump says dozens of obvious lies every week yet still has the support of nearly 40 percent of the country. It’s like George Carlin said, think about the average American and then realize half of Americans are dumber than that (although not unironically he should have said to think of the median American).