The "historical vs. operational science" distinction

Yes, that is correct. You cannot use science to prove or disprove anything about the past; the level of uncertainty increases with the amount of time you are speculating into the past. My confidence in my view of the past is based upon God’s revelation, not based upon historical science. Creation science is conducted from within a Scriptural framework, and evidentially I believe it does provide corroboration of the history we find in Scripture, but that corroboration does not prove the Scriptures. The Scriptures are self-attesting.