NCTC director quits in protest over Iran operation, blames pro-Israel lobby

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/03/17/joe-kent-nctc-director-resigns-iran-war-israel-pressure/

This marks the first resignation since the operation began – an operation that has drawn widespread criticism over the justification for the strikes, particularly against the backdrop of simultaneous reports of reduced operational readiness and allegations that Israel "forced America's hand" into the fight.

Kent's resignation sheds light on tensions at the top of the US intelligence community, centered on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard, who appointed Kent to his post, is known for championing a staunchly isolationist line that opposes American military involvement overseas. She previously sparked controversy when she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and expressed skepticism about the chemical attacks attributed to his regime.

Gabbard's positions on Iran have brought her into direct conflict with President Donald Trump over the current campaign. She has consistently argued that the war does not serve American interests – a stance that has seen her sidelined in White House decision-making. Administration officials noted that in recent months she has been "almost completely shut out" of the most sensitive operational discussions on the Iranian front.

Israel urges Iranians to revolt but privately assesses they’ll be ‘slaughtered’

 Israel urges Iranians to revolt but privately assesses they’ll be ‘slaughtered’

Senior Israeli officials have told U.S. diplomats that Iranian protesters will “get slaughtered” if they take to the streets against their government even as Israel publicly calls for a popular uprising, according to a State Department cable reviewed by The Washington Post.

The cable, circulated by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Friday, relayed an Israeli assessment that Iran’s regime is “not cracking” and is willing to “fight to the end” despite the Feb. 28 killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the ongoing U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign.

Narges Bajoghli, an Iran expert at Johns Hopkins University, said that Iranians have long been skeptical of Israeli intentions and that the dual messages on display in the cable will be viewed by many as callous and exploitative of Iranian lives.

“I think a lot of people will feel very betrayed by this assessment,” Bajoghli said.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington said Israel is “focused on eliminating the regime’s military capabilities — to everyone’s benefit.”

Is MAGA in its cringe era?

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2026/03/17/maga-cringe-vibe-shift/

A little over a year ago, a new class of Trump supporters arrived in Washington to celebrate the dawn of the president’s second term. They were fashion-conscious, politically incorrect and ready to party. They were heralds of a youthful MAGA coalition that was supposed to be more fun than the young fogies of the old right and the uptight killjoys of the contemporary left.

To his enthusiastic young loyalists, Trump’s narrow yet decisive victory in 2024 marked a cultural realignment that rejected the liberal agenda in favor of something ostensibly cooler: freedom and hedonism, checked only by the (very much desired) encumbrances of traditional family values.

And there’s another problem: “We treat American culture like a giant oppo dossier,” Winters says. “We’re good at attacking culture, not at creating our own.” And in the absence of that, MAGA finds itself falling into a pattern for which they excoriated the left: cancel culture.

Top counterterrorism official resigns in protest of US war against Iran

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-counterterrorism-official-resigns-protest-us-war-iran

In a pointed letter to President Donald Trump that he posted publicly on X, Kent said the war marked a departure from the administration’s earlier approach to avoiding prolonged conflicts in the Middle East.

"Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation," he said, seemingly referring to Operation Midnight Hammer, a series of U.S. strikes in June 2025 on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The National Counterterrorism Center director reports directly to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and is a top five intelligence community post in any administration. 

A senior administration official told Fox News Kent was a "known leaker" who "was cut out of (Trump's) intelligence briefings months ago."

Trump’s top counterterrorism aide resigns, citing Iran war

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/17/joe-kent-resigns-iran-war-00831187

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday he was resigning over the war in Iran — a stunning defection that shows how President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Tehran has divided some of the most loyal corners of his administration.

In his letter, Kent said Iran “posed no imminent threat” to the United States. He claimed American media, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential Israeli lobbyists “deployed a misinformation campaign” and “sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory,” Kent wrote. “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.”

There is no credible evidence to support claims that Israel convinced U.S. intelligence officials that Iraq was pursuing a weapons of mass destruction program before the American invasion in 2003.

Trump, Leavitt dismiss Kent’s allegations on Iran war as ‘false’ and ‘absurd’

 Trump, Leavitt dismiss Kent’s allegations on Iran war as ‘false’ and ‘absurd’

President Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday railed against Joe Kent after he resigned from his post as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

“I read his statement. I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security. I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. 

Kent alleged Israel influenced the U.S. decision to strike Iran in his resignation letter, echoing rhetoric from Tucker Carlson and a few other conservatives who have railed against the war on Iran.

US Counterterrorism Official Resigns Over Iran War

 https://www.newsweek.com/joe-kent-national-counterterrorism-center-iran-war-trump-11690209

The director of the National Counterterrorism Center has resigned, saying he “cannot in good conscience” support the ongoing war with Iran.

In a resignation letter addressed to President Donald Trump shared on his X account, Joe Kent said 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 described the conflict as one that serves no clear benefit to the United States and raised concerns about the human and economic costs of continued engagement.

Trump furious with Europe: 'We're not interested in your help'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/424106

US President Donald Trump once again criticized European countries, as well as other allies of Washington, this evening (Tuesday), and said that they do not want to intervene in a war with Iran, even though they support the move, as he put it.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "The United States has been informed by most of our NATO 'Allies' that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon."

"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance - WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP," his Truth Social post concluded.

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NATO Countries Rebuff Trump’s Plea to Help with Strait of Hormuz Amid Iran Oil Crisis

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Countries Reject Trump Call For Help Opening Strait

 https://www.newsweek.com/iran-strait-of-hormuz-latest-updates-11681879

Germany is among countries which have rejected demands by President Donald Trump for help to stop Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

But Germany, Australia, Luxembourg, and Japan said they have no plans to send vessels to the region. German defense minister Boris Pistorius said Monday, "this is not our war, we have not started it.” The European Union and the U.K. have said they are weighing up a response to open the strait as oil prices continue to spike.

China has also not directly accepted Trump's proposal, with its foreign ministry calling on all parties "to immediately cease military operations." When asked what help was needed, Trump replied, “whatever it takes,” adding that allies should send minesweepers.