Your logic is sound.

The motive and skillet are certainly there.

But there sure are many eyes on RedHat's source code, and IBM has a lot to lose if they got caught putting in a back door.

Plus, the US government uses it for their own sensitive stuff, so one would hope they have the wisdom not to shit where they eat, installing a back door that 100% would get used against them.

None of my arguments really outweigh yours, if I'm honest.

But I also don't blame anyone who trusts RedHat Linux, today.