Here's a simple question. When you said:
They were clearly suggesting that there exists a publicly available tool to attack this algorithm.
What were you referring to? If it was Hashcat, then I have just one more question:
Is Hashcat a publicly available tool that attacks AES?
I'm not going back and forth with you if you're not going to discuss the thrust of our disagreement. I am not wading into this minutia with you. I see the game you are playing to evade the subject I am trying to discuss; I'm not interested in playing.