Former Trump Adviser Defends US School Bombing, Says ‘Don’t Build Girls’ Schools Next to Naval Bases’

Television presenter Paddy O’Connell’s interview with former National Security Adviser John Bolton has drawn widespread criticism.

A video circulating online allegedly shows a U.S.-made missile striking a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, where hundreds of people were reportedly killed. Iranian authorities said between 165 and 180 people—most of them aged between 7 and 12—died in the attack, while 95 others were injured.

“If that was the United States, can that be justified?” O’Connell asked on BBC’s Newsnight.

“I don’t think the United States, in any conceivable circumstance, would directly target a civilian structure like that,” John Bolton said. He added that if a U.S. weapon had caused the destruction, it may have malfunctioned.

“And my advice to the Iranians in the future, and anybody else, is that… don’t build girls’ schools right next to naval bases,” Bolton said, according to the website The Mary Sue.

Former Pentagon Middle East advisor, Jasmine El-Gamal, said there are schools even on American military bases.

El-Gamal said there are hospitals and other civilians on these military bases. “That was an example of the most callous and reckless manifestation of power—not just American power, any power—embodied in one man,” El-Gamal said of the attack on the school.

“This is someone who sits in an office in Washington D.C. and says that it’s okay to go out and try to change a regime, when actually what that means is to displace, kill…” El-Gamal said.

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) operates 163 accredited schools in eight districts located in 11 countries, seven U.S. states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, even wars have rules. The organization says civilians must not be attacked and that militaries should limit the impact of warfare on women and children, as well as on other civilians. It also says detainees must be treated humanely and that torture is prohibited.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. would not deliberately target a ‌school. “The Department ⁠of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them,” Rubio said, according to Reuters.

The Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the town of Minab, Hormozgan province, is on the interior border of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Naval Forces compound, according to Human Rights Watch.

“A prompt and thorough investigation is needed into this attack, including if those responsible should have known that a school was there and that it would be full of children and their teachers before midday,” said Sophia Jones, open source researcher with the Digital Investigations Lab at Human Rights Watch. “Those responsible for an unlawful attack should be held to account, including prosecutions of anyone responsible for war crimes.”