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demmiblue

(39,884 posts)
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 10:09 AM Mar 17

Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump's Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.

Kent said on social media Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.

As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-war-kent-resignation-e2e17a76d79617a68370f076c0291208

37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump's Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat (Original Post) demmiblue Mar 17 OP
Kent was as ultra-MAGA as they come Fiendish Thingy Mar 17 #1
Yeah, so it's pretty meaningful that he essentially blames Israel and Republican neocons Prairie Gates Mar 17 #3
I met an elderly German man in Kaiserslautern 40 years ago who... LudwigPastorius Mar 17 #25
Patriot Prayer, actually. maxsolomon Mar 17 #19
Israeli lobby. hay rick Mar 17 #2
Lobby? More like the Whole Damn Building! Sam I Yam Mar 17 #27
Do you mean friends like PM Netanyahu? TBF Mar 18 #35
The State of Israel, as currently constituted, Sam I Yam Mar 18 #36
Which was not my question, but ok. nt TBF Mar 18 #37
This is a major development, MarineCombatEngineer Mar 17 #4
Incredible orangecrush Mar 17 #11
Cue the indictment police. Vinca Mar 17 #5
I guess there are degrees of acceptance by maga: pedos okay but war is just too much. nt Javaman Mar 17 #6
It's a war that we can't win. LeftInTX Mar 17 #26
Little Mikey Johnson trying to justify the war intelligence tonekat Mar 17 #7
You crack me up, Mikey!!!! MyOwnPeace Mar 17 #32
Here is his full resignation letter vanessa_ca Mar 17 #8
Iran was no real threat to the US, but Epstein files BIG threat to Trump Attilatheblond Mar 17 #9
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT orangecrush Mar 17 #10
. dalton99a Mar 17 #12
If I'm not mistaken orangecrush Mar 17 #13
The war is now personal with Iran's supreme leader. Trump wounded him and killed his father, mother, wife, son dalton99a Mar 17 #15
So this ulta MAGA orangecrush Mar 17 #16
And don't forget .......... MyOwnPeace Mar 17 #33
I wasn't really relying on him. maxsolomon Mar 17 #20
I agree orangecrush Mar 17 #22
No kidding! CountAllVotes Mar 17 #14
One reply I thought it was interesting... Pluvious Mar 17 #17
FUCK A.I.P.A.C.! FUCK NETANYAHU!! More complete Kent interview:: Exp Mar 17 #18
Yet another MAGA blaming Jews, mad that people didn't understand that "America First" was code for Jew-hate. mathematic Mar 17 #21
Just to be clear, Kent is still and always has been ultra MAGA PSPS Mar 17 #23
Trump been israel's bitch, is going to bring down maga Mr. Sparkle Mar 17 #24
Netanyahu: 'America is a thing you can move very easily' sop Mar 17 #28
Quelle surprise Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Mar 17 #29
No worries, he has enough idiots in the cabinet to cover this. Turbineguy Mar 17 #30
Some facts question everything Mar 17 #31
But there WAS/IS an imminent threat! It's called the Epstein files. Norrrm Mar 17 #34

Fiendish Thingy

(23,717 posts)
1. Kent was as ultra-MAGA as they come
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 10:21 AM
Mar 17

He ran for congress a couple of times in the district in Washington state that is home to the international headquarters of the Proud Boys.

Prairie Gates

(8,377 posts)
3. Yeah, so it's pretty meaningful that he essentially blames Israel and Republican neocons
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 10:33 AM
Mar 17

for deceiving Trump.

That's the festering wound in the MAGA coalition leaking puss all over the damn place.

LudwigPastorius

(14,910 posts)
25. I met an elderly German man in Kaiserslautern 40 years ago who...
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:35 PM
Mar 17

maintained that Hitler was actually a decent man who had been deceived into implementing the Holocaust and losing the war.

Cultists rarely snap back to reality without deprogramming.

maxsolomon

(39,000 posts)
19. Patriot Prayer, actually.
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:06 PM
Mar 17

He got beat twice by Marie Gluesenkamp Perez - who's as Center-Right a Dem as possible, which is what's needed in WA-03, a district full of White Nationalists, farmers, and Portland-Suburb MAGAts.

hay rick

(9,672 posts)
2. Israeli lobby.
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 10:32 AM
Mar 17

Difficult to imagine Trump doing this without encouragement from Netanyahu, Miller and the "negotiating team" of Kushner and Witkoff.

 

Sam I Yam

(89 posts)
27. Lobby? More like the Whole Damn Building!
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:46 PM
Mar 17

With 'friends' like the State of Israel, who the Hell needs enemies?

TBF

(37,007 posts)
35. Do you mean friends like PM Netanyahu?
Wed Mar 18, 2026, 11:15 AM
Mar 18

Surely you don't mean to denigrate the entire state of Israel.

LeftInTX

(34,726 posts)
26. It's a war that we can't win.
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:38 PM
Mar 17

If Trump would have cut and run after the strikes that toppled the top guys, this guy would probably stay there. Iran would have back and forth and called it a victory. US and Israel would have also called it a victory.

I really thought that was what Trump would do in this case, because he doesn't like negative publicity.

You can't topple Iran in this fashion. It's too much like the Soviet Union.

Now Trump is stuck in a mess with the straits etc.

tonekat

(2,558 posts)
7. Little Mikey Johnson trying to justify the war intelligence
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 10:57 AM
Mar 17

We don't believe you Little Mikey!

MyOwnPeace

(17,602 posts)
32. You crack me up, Mikey!!!!
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 04:44 PM
Mar 17

You don't see the problem, do you: WAR - INTELLIGENCE!!!!!!!

You DO have one - WAR - but nowhere near the second - INTELLIGENCE!!!!

Attilatheblond

(9,126 posts)
9. Iran was no real threat to the US, but Epstein files BIG threat to Trump
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 12:13 PM
Mar 17

And if he had copies of not, I can imagine Netanyahu making threats to release information and Trump, being a coward & guilty as hell figuring sending others into a war was safer for him.

orangecrush

(30,763 posts)
13. If I'm not mistaken
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 12:22 PM
Mar 17

This is the guy responsible for preventing terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

Oh fuck

dalton99a

(94,950 posts)
15. The war is now personal with Iran's supreme leader. Trump wounded him and killed his father, mother, wife, son
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 12:25 PM
Mar 17

orangecrush

(30,763 posts)
16. So this ulta MAGA
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 12:30 PM
Mar 17

Came flat out and said the attack was completely unjustified.

And furthermore, he's getting the fuck out while the getting good.

This is ominous.

MyOwnPeace

(17,602 posts)
33. And don't forget ..........
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 04:47 PM
Mar 17

the 150 plus Fathers of the girls tRump/Kegseth killed to start this all. Do you think maybe a 'few' of them might want to promote/support a jihad against somebody?

Exp

(1,005 posts)
18. FUCK A.I.P.A.C.! FUCK NETANYAHU!! More complete Kent interview::
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 12:57 PM
Mar 17

“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he said.

He pointed to Trump’s past pledges to end US engagement abroad, writing, “you understood that wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the previous lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation”.

The resignation is the most high-profile from the Trump administration since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.

Kent’s reference to the term “imminent threat” is also significant.

mathematic

(1,615 posts)
21. Yet another MAGA blaming Jews, mad that people didn't understand that "America First" was code for Jew-hate.
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:08 PM
Mar 17

He blames Jews, oh I'm sorry I gotta use the socially acceptable euphemism, "Israel" for 3 wars in the middle east: The current one, the Syrian Civil War, and the Iraq War.

For this I'm supposed to believe:
1) Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were agents of Israel.
2) The many factions of Syrians (including the current leader of Syria) were agents of Israel
3) Donald Trump, for the first time in his life, chose to do something he didn't want to do and that's because he was brainwashed by Israel.

Oh, I'm sure people will be happy to point out he doesn't say "Jew" once in his resignation letter, as if antisemites don't have 20 centuries of experience downplaying their true thoughts until they can act on them.

He blames Jewish (American btw) lobbyists. He blames "influential members of the American Media". His political aim is to scapegoat Jews, just the same as other MAGA critics of the administration Massie, Carlson, and MTG. They are not seeing the light. They are coordinating a message of Jew-hate.

PSPS

(15,361 posts)
23. Just to be clear, Kent is still and always has been ultra MAGA
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:21 PM
Mar 17

His beef is that his dear leader isn't turning out to be what he promised -- in this case, more foreign wars instead of less. It's the same grip most of MAGA has, that trump isn't sufficiently MAGA!

Mr. Sparkle

(3,722 posts)
24. Trump been israel's bitch, is going to bring down maga
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 01:25 PM
Mar 17

When Mark Levin called Trump the ‘The First Jewish President’ , you know that didn't go down well in Dixie.

sop

(19,064 posts)
28. Netanyahu: 'America is a thing you can move very easily'
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 02:00 PM
Mar 17

From a 15-year-old Washington Post article, before Bezos turned the newspaper into The Amazon Post:

"A newly released video of Netanyahu, speaking in an unvarnished manner in 2001 about relations with the United States and the peace process, may cause some heartburn at the White House...'I know what America is,' Netanyahu told a group of terror victims, apparently not knowing his words were being recorded. 'America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get in their way.' "

"Netanyahu also bragged how he undercut the peace process when he was prime minister during the Clinton administration. 'They asked me before the election if I'd honor [the Oslo accords],' he said. 'I said I would, but ... I'm going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the '67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I'm concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue.' "

"Gideon Levy, a left-leaning columnist for Haaretz newspaper, declared: 'This video should have been banned for broadcast to minors. This video should have been shown in every home in Israel, then sent to Washington and Ramallah. Banned for viewing by children so as not to corrupt them, and distributed around the country and the world so that everyone will know who leads the government of Israel.' "

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2010/07/16/netanyahu-america-is-thing-you-can-move-very-easily/

question everything

(52,284 posts)
31. Some facts
Tue Mar 17, 2026, 04:27 PM
Mar 17

Shannon Kent was killed by a suicide bomber. Israel had nothing to do with this.

On January 16, 2019, Kent was part of a group that attended a meeting with local military officials and stopped at a local restaurant frequented by U.S. personnel, the Palace of the Princes in Manbij, Syria, when a man wearing a suicide vest walked by outside and detonated his device.[11][12] The area was in a northern Syria buffer zone between Kurdish fighters and Turkish forces that had been regarded as a stable area.[12] Kent was killed along with three other Americans who were in Syria as part of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.[7][11][13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_M._Kent

Is Trump now doing what Israel wants? For months Israel followed Trump dictates about the hostages, about ceasefire and more.

Yes, the war is not justified but to blame Israel, welcome to the world of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.

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