| THE LIE Iran was not an imminent threat to the United States—the U.S. only attacked Iran because of Israeli pressure, just as Israel dragged the U.S. into invading Iraq. |
| THE TRUTH Iran was an imminent threat to Americans, and Israel did not drag the U.S. into Iraq or Iran—America acted in its own interests and based on its own intelligence and judgment. |
| BACKGROUND On March 17, 2026, Joe Kent resigned as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, claiming he could not “in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.” (Joe Kent) Kent insisted that Iran was not an imminent threat to the U.S. and that President Trump had been “deceived” by “high-ranking Israeli officials,” who pressured him to attack Iran.In his resignation letter, Kent also accused Israel of dragging the United States into the Iraq War. |
| TRUTH EXPLAINED Kent asks you to believe that Israel somehow deceived the entire U.S. national security apparatus—the CIA, NSA, DHS, Joint Chiefs, Department of War, State Department, and the president—while he alone saw the truth, offering no explanation of the supposed tactics or fabricated intelligence.Top U.S. officials confirmed Kent was a “known leaker” and not privy to the intelligence briefings or war planning—raising serious questions about the basis of his claims. (X) Kent accuses Israel of pressuring Trump to attack Iran while conveniently ignoring that Saudi Arabia was urging the same course of action. (Washington Post)Kent’s own record contradicts his current claim. In 2020, he called for “wiping out” Iran’s capabilities. He later cited over 150 proxy attacks on U.S. troops and warned of assassination plots against Donald Trump—a threat that was subsequently confirmed. Now he claims Iran posed no imminent danger. The record says otherwise: Kent himself made the case that Iran was an urgent threat, and urged confidence in President Trump to act against it. (X), (X), (Daily Wire), (Joe Kent), (DOJ) But Kent has also flip-flopped on his position. Following a January 2024 Iranian drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan and injured dozens more, he blamed the US for supposedly using its own troops “as bait.” (Tucker Carlson) Senior U.S. officials tell a different story: President Trump dismissed Kent as “very weak on security” and noted Iran posed an imminent threat, saying he would have “forced Israel’s hand” to strike Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the danger; Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff reported that Iranian officials boasted of advancing nuclear capabilities and evading monitoring; House Speaker Mike Johnson said Kent wasn’t in the briefings and delays would have caused “mass casualties”; and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the idea that the president acted at Israel’s behest “laughable.” (ABC News), (State Department), (Sky News Australia), (X), (X) His claim that U.S. military action would rally the Iranian public around the regime has proven false: Iran violently suppressed anti-regime protests and imposed mass arrests and internet blackouts. Iranian civilians have reportedly assisted Israeli targeting of IRGC positions. (TIME), (Wall Street Journal), (Euronews) Kent’s claim that Israel caused the Iraq War is false: senior Israeli officials warned the U.S. that invading Iraq would destabilize the region and strengthen Iran, and Israel merely agreed with U.S. and British intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program, rather than originating it. (Ynet News), (Quilette), (Los Angeles Times), (IPS) |
| QUOTES “As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first.” — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt“I’m on the Gang of Eight, I got all the briefings. We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat…Iran was building up ballistic missiles at such a rapid pace, and we knew that their plan was to fire them upon Americans…I don’t know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn’t in those briefings, clearly.” — House Speaker Mike Johnson |
| TAKEAWAY Joe Kent casts Israel as a master manipulator while ignoring the warnings from U.S. officials, allies like Saudi Arabia, and Iran’s own hostile actions—including attempts on Trump’s life. The result is a story in which he alone sees the “truth,” every intelligence agency and senior official got it wrong, and the world’s most complex national security apparatus somehow bends to the insight of a tiny Middle Eastern country. |
