were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of importance. ...sufficient information about a village, a region, or a group of individuals, that dots could be connected and terrorists or their plots could be identified. |} Wilkerson stated in 2009 that Guantanamo Bay detention camp continues to hold innocent men. Wilkerson said that he felt compelled to come forward after hearing former Vice President Dick Cheney state that President Barack Obama's plans to close Guantanamo made the public less safe. Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Guantanamo spokesman, declined to comment on Wilkerson's specific observations. Gordon said that "dealing with foreign fighters from a wide variety of countries in a wartime setting was a complex process." In The New Republic, Jamie Kirchick criticised the plausibility of Wilkerson's allegations, calling him a "third-rate conspiracy theorist and a borderline bigot". Chemical weapons in Syria In 2013, Wilkerson speculated that Israel had used chemical weapons in Syria. Wilkerson suggested the Ghouta chemical attack was an Israeli false flag operation to discredit Bashar Assad's government in Syria. Iran's democracy In a March 20, 2015 CNN interview, Wilkerson said, I would say very, very candidly that Iran is probably the most democratic country in the Persian gulf region right now. My Republican colleagues will boil their eyes at that, but it is the most democratic country. It's a theocracy, no question about it. But it is possessed of the democratic tendencies that far outweigh those of, say, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia or even Egypt. Antisemitism controversies In 2016, Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute criticed Wilkerson for having "descended into a fevered swamp of conspiracy and hate." Rubin cited his Israel false flag theories about chemical weapons, alleged he "has flirted on the margins with 9/11 conspiracy theories", is regularly a guest on antisemitic state broadcasters Russia Today and Press TV, and is close to Lyndon LaRouche associate Robert Dreyfuss. Trump administration foreign policy Wilkerson showed concern over the Trump Administration's foreign policy behavior, particularly on Iran and Trump's work against the Iran nuclear deal. In September 2018, Wilkerson further said that the neoconservative agenda regarding war on Syria and Iran also threatens conflict between the U.S. and Russia and the long-term bogging down of U.S. military forces in major conflict. Wilkerson stated: "My serious concern is about the way U.S. National Security