Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who resigned from his post on Tuesday (local time), said Iran posed no immediate threat to the United States.
In a post on X, Kent shared a letter he wrote to Trump, saying, “It is clear that we started this war because of pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” He went on to say that senior Israeli officials and influential members of the US media had launched a disinformation campaign accusing them of sowing pro-war sentiments that fueled war with Iran.
Trump cheated by officials?
In his letter to Trump, Kent continued to argue that the disinformation campaign undermined his (Trump’s) America First platform, adding that the US president had been tricked into believing that Tehran posed a threat to the US and that he should intervene now, and “there is a clear path to a quick victory”.
Kent added that the apparent threats from Iran were lies and are the same tactics Israel used to drag Washington into a war with Iraq that resulted in the loss of American lives.
We Can’t Do It Again: Kent
Kent, who is an 11-time combat veteran, reminded Trump that the mistake they made in Iraq, which cost thousands of American lives, should not be repeated. He added, “I cannot support sending another generation away to fight” and die in a war that does not benefit the American people or justify the cost of American lives.
Kent asked Trump to think about what the country is doing in Tehran and who it is doing it for, asking him to take “bold” action now. He added that the US president had better reverse course and forge a new path for America, or he could allow the country to “slide further” into decay and chaos.
Trump’s reaction to Kent’s resignation
Responding to Kent’s resignation, Trump said it was a good thing, after the former protested the Iran war and called him “very weak on security.”
Speaking from the Oval Office, he said: “When we have someone working with us who says he didn’t think Iran was a threat, we don’t want those people. They’re not smart people or they’re not savvy.”
Kent, a staunch supporter of Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, resigned today in the first major departure since the start of the Iran war. According to a CNN report, several lawmakers and experts have expressed doubts about the intelligence Trump used to justify the strikes launched in late February in Tehran.
The US-Iran war is dividing MAGA supporters
The US-Israel war in Iran and Washington’s close alliance with Tel Aviv have divided the MAGA movement and Trump supporters, with several prominent figures such as Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson criticizing them. However, nearly 77% of Republicans supported attacks on Iran, according to an NBC News poll.
