Joe Kent is not a random figure in the United States. The head of the counterterrorism service is a former army veteran who worked for the CIA. His resignation in disagreement with Trump's war on Iran has inflamed spirits in the United States.
For those who criticize President Trump's military course against Iran, Joe Kent would be the perfect key witness. Kent is an army veteran - the 45-year-old was a member of the “Green Berets“, one of the US special operations units, who participated in a total of 11 combat missions abroad. He later worked for the CIA, and as director of the National Center for Counterterrorism, Kent played a key role in the security apparatus until his last days, writes the German public broadcaster ARD.
"There is no immediate threat to our country"
In his resignation letter to President Trump, Kent wrote: "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no immediate threat to our country".
But that is exactly what the American president claims, the publication recalls. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reacted as follows: "I always thought he was a nice guy - but also that he was very weak on security issues. When I read his statement, I thought: It's a good thing he left! It was clear to all sides what threat Iran posed“.
Last year, Trump nominated Kent, who is a member of the MAGA movement. Democrats, who then strongly protested his candidacy, are nevertheless not particularly happy with the new development, because Kent is known as a far-right figure who spreads conspiracy theories. He is also believed to have contacts with white nationalists and far-right extremists, ARD also points out.
Democrats distance themselves from Kent
In his resignation letter, Kent also points out something else: that the United States started the war solely because of pressure from Israel and the pro-Israel lobby. He also claims that Israel used the same tactic to drag the US into the 2003 Iraq war and later into the war in Syria.
Jim Himes, a Democrat, told CNN that Kent was using language based on traditional anti-Semitic clichés that "Jews" control everything, including the media. His Democratic colleague Jason Crowe, a member of the House Intelligence and Armed Services committees, echoed this sentiment: "Frankly, Kent's views terrify me. But he has access to information and is able to assess what constitutes an immediate threat and what does not. And in this case, he is right: there is no threat from Iran. "I came to the same conclusion," he was quoted by ARD.
Resistance also in the government against the war with Iran
The Kent case also shows that parts of the Trump administration do not agree with the war in Iran - namely politicians who believed the promise made by Trump in the election campaign that he would not involve the country in new wars. Opponents of military missions abroad, for example, J.D. Vance, who is now vice president, and Tulsi Gabbard, the head of the intelligence services, have positioned themselves.
In January 2020, Gabbard, when she was still a Democratic Party member, strongly condemned the assassination of an Iranian general and called it an "illegal and unconstitutional military action." Now Gabbard is criticizing Trump for throwing the country headlong into a war against Iran without the approval of Congress. According to her, this war will be so expensive and devastating that in comparison it will make the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan look like a picnic, writes ARD.
On the Internet, Gabbard now wrote that the president has the right to assess whether there is an immediate threat to the country, but nothing more. This position of hers in no way expresses unconditional support for Trump, commented in this regard the German public media ARD.