To me - this is just common sense. It's like going to trial for murder - they might not have the body but you can get convicted on circumstantial evidence. And they have it.
On a side note - I think common sense is a rare commodity these days.
Originally Posted by Austin Ellen
Although "motive" is not an element of murder, the existence of a known "motive" provides a couple of bits of information to identify the "intent" of the actor and the identity of the actor.
I'm wary of alleged incidents in international waters, just as I was when the Tonkin Gulf attack hit the news .... it just didn't make sense for the NV to initiate an assault with low level gunboats against U.S. naval forces with superior fire power and air cover in international waters. 50 years later "we" learned for a fact that LBJ lied about it ... with the cover of the military.
Two distinctions, at least: 24/7 news coverage from overseas and our (and the Israelis) incredibly reliable technology focused on that part of the world. The Iranians can't fart without it being identified. It just takes a few days to download, inspect, and verify. The latter is being done now. Joe Public may never know what evidence there is to substantiate the source and/or motive. We (the general public) don't need to know details. Also, does it really matter whether they were Iranians or puppets of the Iranians doing their bidding for the Iranians. It seems to be fairly common knowledge the Iranians have plenty of surrogates in the region.
The Iranians didn't do it may be truthful, but they can have it done is also truthful. What difference does it make?