Kenneth Glad
A senior US security official has resigned, laying bare internal disagreements over Washington’s move against Iran. His departure comes as debate intensifies over whether the threat assessment behind the conflict was justified.
Joe Kent, until now head of the National Counterterrorism Center, stepped down Tuesday, The Guardian writes. His exit marks a rare public break from within the intelligence leadership.
In a letter posted online, Kent said the case for war did not hold up under scrutiny.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote. “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.”
A different direction
Kent worked under Tulsi Gabbard, who is serving as director of national intelligence. He previously served in US special forces, and his wife was killed in a 2019 bombing in Syria.
He contrasted the current approach with earlier operations, including the strike on Qassem Soleimani, which he viewed as targeted rather than open-ended.
In his account, the administration moved away from that narrower focus after sustained outside pressure, adopting a more expansive military posture toward Iran.
How the case was built
According to the British newspaper, Kent directly accused Israeli officials and parts of the US media of shaping how the threat from Iran was presented.
“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran,” he wrote.
He added: “This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again.”
At the center of his argument is the claim that intelligence was framed in a way that made military action appear urgent, a point likely to fuel further scrutiny in Washington.
Past controversies
His resignation also brings renewed attention to his political background. As The Guardian notes, Kent ran twice for Congress in Washington state and lost both races.
Those campaigns drew criticism over his links to far-right figures and his support for claims about election fraud and the January 6 attack.
He was confirmed to his intelligence role in July by a narrow Senate vote. Questions resurfaced later when reports emerged that he had taken part in a Signal chat about military operations that became public after a journalist was mistakenly included.
Taken together, his exit and the arguments he has made are likely to deepen debate over both the origins of the Iran conflict and the decision-making behind it.
Source: The Guardian
