The dangerous politics of anti-Iran war anti-Semitism
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To be clear, this guy is a groyper nutter, and his resignation springs from the worst possible motives:
One of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials resigned on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the war in Iran and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies, a sign of emerging divisions in the Republican coalition.
The official, Joe Kent, is the first senior member of the administration to quit over the war.
The seemingly open-ended nature of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran has created strong divisions among Mr. Trump’s supporters. An anti-interventionist wing of the coalition, which supported President Trump because of his criticism of long overseas conflicts, has quickly become uneasy with the war, which has lasted 18 days with no immediate sign of ending.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump. “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.”
Mr. Kent’s resignation came as a surprise. The top ranks of Mr. Trump’s administration have been remarkably stable, and no senior leader has quit while laying out a sharp policy difference with the president.
Unsurprisingly, Mr. Kent’s stance earned a sharp rebuke from Mr. Trump.
“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat.”
There are other senior administration officials who, like Mr. Kent, are skeptical of long overseas military engagements and often argue for a more restrained foreign policy, including Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and Mr. Kent’s boss, and Vice President JD Vance. But the anti-interventionist wing has had a more muted influence in Mr. Trump’s government than some expected.
And it is unlikely Mr. Kent’s exit will lead to a parade of other resignations. Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Vance have taken care not to let themselves get too far out of step with Mr. Trump.
Still, others who have opposed foreign interventions praised Mr. Kent’s action. Mr. Kent is a close friend of Tucker Carlson, the Trump ally who has emerged as the sharpest critic of the war.
“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Mr. Carlson said in a brief interview. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will now try to destroy him for that. He understands that and did it anyway.”
The “Bibi forced/pushed/manipulated Trump into attacking Iran” stuff is at the very best exaggerated — Trump has obviously always been more than eager to attack Iran, since he lives in a perpetual time bubble that’s bordered by 1975 and 1988 on each side, roughly speaking — and it very easily spins off into classic Protocols territory.
Still, fissures in the MAGA base are always good, and we’ll see how much more of this we’ll get as the war drags pointlessly on, and oil heads toward $200 a barrel.
Related: Ted Cruz says watch out for the Papists! (He knows nothing).