On March 21, Donald Trump threatened to obliterate parts of Iran if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully opened within 48 hours. Hours before that deadline, Trump delayed the bombing threat by three days because ‘productive’ talks were ongoing with Iran. He later extended the deadline to April 6, saying negotiations were going very well. On April 5, Trump made a profane announcement, threatening massive bombing on April 7. He said a whole civilization would die.

However, Trump postponed the bombing once again, this time for two weeks. According to Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the president’s reversal was not an aberration; it was a continuation. Mediative efforts by Pakistan, the words of anti-interventionists, and the entreaties of intelligence officers overcame the influence of authoritarian Benjamin Netanyahu.

Joe Kent was one of the officials opposed to starting a war wanted by Israel.

The Oregon native was a Special Forces soldier, then a CIA operative. Kent ran for Congress in 2022 and 2024 as a Trump-supporting Republican in southwestern Washington. In 2022, CNN reported on Kent’s associations with anti-Semites and other extremists. Those connections and his eager support for the future Felon-in-Chief contributed to his losses in both elections.

But Joe Kent’s MAGA credentials were strong enough for him to briefly serve as Tulsi Gabbard’s chief of staff and for him to then become Trump’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center. After eight months in that role, Kent resigned. His letter to Trump included:

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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.

…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. 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. 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…

Interviewed by Al Jazeera, UBC political scientist Paul Quirk said:

Kent’s statement is merely a substantial addition to what was already a mountain of evidence that Trump’s rationale for attacking Iran was fictitious, and that the war was launched recklessly, without planning.

Joe Kent was critical of Trump for joining Israel’s efforts to eliminate those who oppose its deadly actions. This was not because Kent cared for Israel’s victims but because starting another in a long series of wars in the Middle East would not advance American interests.

The Trump administration is internally conflicted. It has die-hard Israel supporters, such as Christian Zionist Mike Huckabee, but also includes others described as non-interventionists. Despite his years of military service in the Middle East, Joe Kent is in the latter group.

Trump’s earlier statements were sympathetic to anti-interventionist positions, but a web of power consistently favours military action over restraint in the Middle East. Advocacy on behalf of Israel is one powerful force in that landscape. But the deeper, more enduring driver is the system Dwight Eisenhower warned about in 1961: the military-industrial complex.

The complex perpetuates war for profit and political influence. Defence contractors, military leaders, think tanks, the right-wing media, and lawmakers prioritize heavy military spending. Communities with economies dependent on the armed forces provide unreserved support. This system demands continuous development and procurement of new weapons systems and promotes fear of foreigners who do not support American interests.

The USA’s military-industrial complex is a durable and entrenched system of aligned economic and governmental interests. With the national defence budget exceeding a trillion dollars in 2026, it must be the most successful political and economic structure ever constructed.