He spent two decades in a unit the Pentagon won’t admit exists. The job? Deciding which threats are real. Read this before you decide whether to believe him... because the answer isn’t what you think.
We had government employees who are experts on Iran who were fired, let go two weeks before bombing by USA took place in Iran. Now we have unqualified and ignorant government representatives probably enriching themselves as they "negotiate" a peace deal with Iran. The only thing I can think about the duality of Kent's actions is did he come to a line he couldn't cross? Only he knows. I do know that the American people are going to feel the repercussions from this war for decades. Troops on the ground would be disastrous. Obviously, I am a layperson, but my life instructors are Viet-Nam, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan. My heart aches because of so many unneccesary deaths.
Lynn...you're right about the experts...and it's documented...not rumor.
Rubio's State Department cut the VERY people who'd have seen this coming: eighty-plus positions in the Middle East bureau...veterans swapped for junior staff...and political appointees, even the LONE analyst tracking sanctioned oil tankers.
Then they got blindsided by Iran retaliating...which EVERY damn war game had predicted.
One thought; the big cuts landed in a mid-2025 purge, months out...not two weeks. Which is WORSE, really. They had the time.
On the negotiators..."underqualified" is fair and, again...documented. "Enriching themselves" I can't prove, so I'd hold that as suspicion, not fact. (But, likely a safe bet) The failure's damning enough without it.
And...your line on Kent..."only he knows"...IS the honest answer. That's the whole piece in three words.
But...it's your last paragraph I keep sitting with. Vietnam..Libya...Iraq...Afghanistan as your teachers isn't being a layperson…it's a harder curriculum than most experts ever take. An aching heart over needless death...isn't naïveté. It's the SANEST thing in the room.
The early patterns in rhetoric and the comments by Rubio early on when talking to press people seem to match the rationale he offered when he quit. Hated to hear of the loss of his wife. My brother met that fate in Iraq, but Rummy wasn’t allowing family at Dover at that time. Tough on my mom.
Pamela...before anything else... I'm so sorry about your brother.
And that your mom couldn't even be there at Dover to receive him…that detail sits heavy with me. Families lost something real under that policy...and I'm only sorry it changed too late for yours.
You're right about the rest, too...the early rhetoric...and Rubio's press comments do line up with the reasons Kent gave on his way out. You caught the PATTERN.
Thank you for your clarifications. It's difficult to keep the facts in line with the constant chaos surrounding us. With such difficult topics, you are able to get to the nitty-gritty and explain how we can focus our attention in a positive way.
We had the same issues in the Submarine Force. The senior people in the Pentagon and maybe the fleet type commanders were given the picture of the forest. This us in the trenches, on the boats had only two missions, execute your orders and don't get detected. We were a tree looking at the gaps in the other trees. We knew the forest was there, we just couldn't see it.
Steven...that might be the most PRECISE description of the whole thing I've read...and it comes from someone who LIVED it.
Thank you…for the words...and the SERVICE behind them.
"A tree looking at the gaps in the other trees" is going to stay with me. Because that's the piece in a single sentence: down on the boat...the darkness is survival...you don't need every sailor holding the war plan...and "don't get detected" keeps you ALIVE.
The trouble is when that same darkness...gets pointed at the threat itself…when the forest becomes whatever a few unseen people SAY it is...and no one's positioned to tell whether they're seeing a forest...or sketching one.
You knew the forest was really there. The question now...is whether the people claiming to see it...are looking at the real thing.
Grateful you brought the view from such relevant experience, Steven.
Good point. I don't know how a person knows who to trust anymore. For me, it's the independent journalists. They seem to be the only ones doing their homework.
A side note, it is interesting how political candidates can say what they want to do without have all of the information needed to make a decisions as to whether or not their promise is even doable. I have yet to see a candidate once elected tell his constituents that after being in office for a while and having all the facts, that I can't fulfill the promise in made in my campaign. I am eagerly waiting for the first office holder to make this admission.
Trusting is the role of individual trees. Knowing which forest habitat you are meant to thrive in, recognizing what does and doesn’t fit, treating anomalies accordingly. No fear. No glamour. Accepting outsiders that are simply out of place. … not get too frustrated with predictive text 🤨🦉
Good thread. Thanks for all these comments and for your service. Respect, submariner. I’ve no idea how any of you do that. And I hope you luxuriate in every LONG shower you take from now on. 😉
An average shower consisted of turn water on, wet down, water off, soap up, water on and rinse then water off. Usually about 1 minute. You could only make so much water a day and the steam plant took a lot of it so I could shower about twice a week..
Interesting article! It is a lot to mull over and as you point out there is no clear answer. I can speculate that Iran was a bridge to far but the answer will remain a great unknown. Sad that the threat assessment on Venezuela allowed such misery and suffering. A real tipping point on due process.
Sitting with "no clean answer" is harder than being handed one...and "a great unknown" is the honest place to land on Iran. Bridge too far is a fair guess...but it stays a guess.
What strikes me most...is where you put your weight. You let Iran stay a mystery…then moved to Venezuela. EXACTLY right...because that one isn't unknown.
The analysts said the evidence wasn't there, they were told to rewrite it, they HELD… and people got swept up anyway...without the process that's supposed to stand between a government...and a person.
A mystery you can shrug at. A documented due-process failure...with faces attached, you can't. That's your tipping point...precisely.
No clear answer makes the most sense. It’s what we assume and want. If it’s not there it’s not there. Thanks for this. Venezuela on the other hand felt manipulated. Too quick action. Irreversible. Vague reasons. Smoke and mirrors.
I’ve long known there are people, forces, ‘things’ in the government that people Do. Not. Talk. About…..
I’ve known a couple of pretty badass guys that served - one was a Vietnam Army Ranger, the other served post-Vietnam and was assigned to a counterterrorism unit in another branch. Both experienced some pretty harrowing things they mostly talk(ed) around but the inferences are there and I read between the lines. The counterterrorism fellow recounted there were several times, after his unit had completed a mission, that a ‘spook’ would appear out of thin air where they were….. and he looked like an average Joe you would NOT pick out of a lineup or a crowd. The ‘spook’ also vanished as quickly as he’d shown up. So yes… I do not doubt for a minute there are units, groups, people that do not ‘exist’….
Re: Joe Kent…. I’ve lived long enough and seen enough to know that Two. Seemingly. Opposite. Things CAN exist At. The. Same. Time. In. The. Same. Person. Does it make me uncomfortable? Yes. Absolutely yes. Let’s face it….. uncomplicated people without a wide range of experiences do not generally end up in the positions he’s held. He fascinates me from the perspective of wondering just what makes him tick, what drives him, what his experiences have been (a la ferreting out what drove Todd Blanche from straight arrow to now). I sincerely hope he is an honorable man and is very serious about calling balls and strikes accurately and in the zone because it sounds like he has a lot of lives in his hands.
I think we’d be crazy to not at least entertain the idea these ‘non-existent’ groups and ppl are operating domestically. Again, I hope they are honorable and can put their responsibilities above any personal grievances, biases, pressures exerted on them, etc that might be active in their lives, mind, psyches and all the things.
Jack, I love that you’ve written this. Ambiguity always intrigues me. I suspect history will eventually reveal who Joe Kent is under it all…… then again, maybe not. Interestingly, this isn’t the stuff that keeps me awake in the wee hours. Nothing I can do about it. That said, I love a good brain teaser. Thank you for this!!
I understand the secrecy of such a unit because your identity is known that makes what you do a higher risk. The whole goal is to be able to assimilate thru dress, language and actions to get intel from the enemy. Fro what I had read earlier even thogh drumpf was told Iran was a bad idea he just went ahead and did what he"felt" was needed like he has magical powers to see the future. I had heard or read Vance was vocal about not doing it. Now we are stuck with a forever war and the possible collapse of the world economy with the loss of oil. I think Kent saw his line in the sand and decided he could not continue with this criminal clown car regime. I just read Drumpf had another "annual" physical and he say he asked for another cognitive test and "Aced it"...right....There is definitely something not righter.. almost like where is Mitch?
Teri...you nailed the tradecraft...a known face is a DEAD operator...so...the secrecy is the job, not paranoia.
And...yes: the war launched on a "feeling"... the White House's own word...after they'd purged the experts who'd have called Iran's response.
One wrinkle on Vance: he had real reservations going in...but then pushed to strike FAST...and became the face SELLING it...deal and all. A skeptic who caved...not a man who stopped it.
"Acing" a cognitive test ONLY means clearing a dementia SCREEN...and every report gets approved by TRUMP before you see it. "Release the full records" is the ask that sticks.
And...Kent's line in the sand? Maybe. Conscience...or a man reading the wind. Only he knows.
Vance is a wimp and goes where it is safe for him. There are no real experts left to stop drumpf.I don't believe he asked for another cognitive test. He lies too much to believe him. I do believe there is something we are not being told about him just like Mitch. Kent had the smarts to leave before the sh*t hit the fan big time is my read.
Truth masquerading as fiction, fiction masquerading as truth. I enjoy thrillers, mysteries, pretty much all genres. I doubt anyone would write the unbelievable plot line we are living.
Or if they did, I would be demanding vocally that the book's protagonist do something! Anything! And, as I sometimes do with dystopian or horror novels, skip to the end before I invest my reading time in a book where the good guys don't win.
Karen...could be...and I'd like to believe it, too. The conscience winning out is the most human story going.
I just keep one thumb on the scale of doubt: the same man pushed those Venezuela analysts to make a threat look BIGGER only months earlier.
So "couldn't live with the lies" and "told one more good one" BOTH fit. Doesn't make the kinder read wrong…only means we can't know it's right. That's the honest place to stand.
Or maybe somewhere the ethical gap was too great: knowing potential impact of action without a solid basis and risking lives to move forward anyway. Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead
I'd like to add that Israel controls a large number (dozens!) of US Congresspeople, as AIPAC. This pac has gained unimaginable power in the last couple of decades and now "supports" candidates by buying their way into office, then telling them what they can and can't say once they're installed. Please look it up. It's horrifying.
The two face happened because the first did not involve US military and possibly kill a bunch of them. He fired the middle east team and specialist that knew the terrain. Now he says it's based on a lie. We'll, yeah, he realized it was going to bring a huge military action and many deaths that would be laid at his feet. Indeed, Iran was not a threat. They weren't a year ago with his fruitless big booms bombing. The military is a play set to bonespurs and he is no respecter of life.
Hey Jack, it may be outside your normal comfort zone, but what about doing an essay on the effects of AIPAC'S influence in Congress? I've read quite a bit, but I'd really appreciate an insider's view.
This article is why I keep reading you. The ambiguity, the two sides, honesty about what’s really unknown. And the best part, I know none of it is fiction.
We had government employees who are experts on Iran who were fired, let go two weeks before bombing by USA took place in Iran. Now we have unqualified and ignorant government representatives probably enriching themselves as they "negotiate" a peace deal with Iran. The only thing I can think about the duality of Kent's actions is did he come to a line he couldn't cross? Only he knows. I do know that the American people are going to feel the repercussions from this war for decades. Troops on the ground would be disastrous. Obviously, I am a layperson, but my life instructors are Viet-Nam, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan. My heart aches because of so many unneccesary deaths.
Lynn...you're right about the experts...and it's documented...not rumor.
Rubio's State Department cut the VERY people who'd have seen this coming: eighty-plus positions in the Middle East bureau...veterans swapped for junior staff...and political appointees, even the LONE analyst tracking sanctioned oil tankers.
Then they got blindsided by Iran retaliating...which EVERY damn war game had predicted.
One thought; the big cuts landed in a mid-2025 purge, months out...not two weeks. Which is WORSE, really. They had the time.
On the negotiators..."underqualified" is fair and, again...documented. "Enriching themselves" I can't prove, so I'd hold that as suspicion, not fact. (But, likely a safe bet) The failure's damning enough without it.
And...your line on Kent..."only he knows"...IS the honest answer. That's the whole piece in three words.
But...it's your last paragraph I keep sitting with. Vietnam..Libya...Iraq...Afghanistan as your teachers isn't being a layperson…it's a harder curriculum than most experts ever take. An aching heart over needless death...isn't naïveté. It's the SANEST thing in the room.
-Jack
The early patterns in rhetoric and the comments by Rubio early on when talking to press people seem to match the rationale he offered when he quit. Hated to hear of the loss of his wife. My brother met that fate in Iraq, but Rummy wasn’t allowing family at Dover at that time. Tough on my mom.
Pamela...before anything else... I'm so sorry about your brother.
And that your mom couldn't even be there at Dover to receive him…that detail sits heavy with me. Families lost something real under that policy...and I'm only sorry it changed too late for yours.
You're right about the rest, too...the early rhetoric...and Rubio's press comments do line up with the reasons Kent gave on his way out. You caught the PATTERN.
Thank you for trusting me with this, Pamela.
-Jack
Thank you for your clarifications. It's difficult to keep the facts in line with the constant chaos surrounding us. With such difficult topics, you are able to get to the nitty-gritty and explain how we can focus our attention in a positive way.
Sorry for your family's loss and the pan your mom went thru. No one would have to be deprived like that.
Pamela, I can’t imagine your family’s grief. I respect your brother’s service and am with you in spirit.
Thank you. It’s just nice to be with the good people of this community.
Pamela, I am so sorry for the loss of your brother and the suffering of your whole family, particularly your mother’s suffering!
We had the same issues in the Submarine Force. The senior people in the Pentagon and maybe the fleet type commanders were given the picture of the forest. This us in the trenches, on the boats had only two missions, execute your orders and don't get detected. We were a tree looking at the gaps in the other trees. We knew the forest was there, we just couldn't see it.
Steven...that might be the most PRECISE description of the whole thing I've read...and it comes from someone who LIVED it.
Thank you…for the words...and the SERVICE behind them.
"A tree looking at the gaps in the other trees" is going to stay with me. Because that's the piece in a single sentence: down on the boat...the darkness is survival...you don't need every sailor holding the war plan...and "don't get detected" keeps you ALIVE.
The trouble is when that same darkness...gets pointed at the threat itself…when the forest becomes whatever a few unseen people SAY it is...and no one's positioned to tell whether they're seeing a forest...or sketching one.
You knew the forest was really there. The question now...is whether the people claiming to see it...are looking at the real thing.
Grateful you brought the view from such relevant experience, Steven.
-Jack
Good point. I don't know how a person knows who to trust anymore. For me, it's the independent journalists. They seem to be the only ones doing their homework.
A side note, it is interesting how political candidates can say what they want to do without have all of the information needed to make a decisions as to whether or not their promise is even doable. I have yet to see a candidate once elected tell his constituents that after being in office for a while and having all the facts, that I can't fulfill the promise in made in my campaign. I am eagerly waiting for the first office holder to make this admission.
Trusting is the role of individual trees. Knowing which forest habitat you are meant to thrive in, recognizing what does and doesn’t fit, treating anomalies accordingly. No fear. No glamour. Accepting outsiders that are simply out of place. … not get too frustrated with predictive text 🤨🦉
Good comment, Thanks
Good thread. Thanks for all these comments and for your service. Respect, submariner. I’ve no idea how any of you do that. And I hope you luxuriate in every LONG shower you take from now on. 😉
An average shower consisted of turn water on, wet down, water off, soap up, water on and rinse then water off. Usually about 1 minute. You could only make so much water a day and the steam plant took a lot of it so I could shower about twice a week..
JFC.. the more informed I am the more I wonder when and where they are going to be next. Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
Interesting article! It is a lot to mull over and as you point out there is no clear answer. I can speculate that Iran was a bridge to far but the answer will remain a great unknown. Sad that the threat assessment on Venezuela allowed such misery and suffering. A real tipping point on due process.
Kristine...you read it just the way I hoped.
Sitting with "no clean answer" is harder than being handed one...and "a great unknown" is the honest place to land on Iran. Bridge too far is a fair guess...but it stays a guess.
What strikes me most...is where you put your weight. You let Iran stay a mystery…then moved to Venezuela. EXACTLY right...because that one isn't unknown.
The analysts said the evidence wasn't there, they were told to rewrite it, they HELD… and people got swept up anyway...without the process that's supposed to stand between a government...and a person.
A mystery you can shrug at. A documented due-process failure...with faces attached, you can't. That's your tipping point...precisely.
Grateful you're reading this closely!
-Jack
No clear answer makes the most sense. It’s what we assume and want. If it’s not there it’s not there. Thanks for this. Venezuela on the other hand felt manipulated. Too quick action. Irreversible. Vague reasons. Smoke and mirrors.
I’ve long known there are people, forces, ‘things’ in the government that people Do. Not. Talk. About…..
I’ve known a couple of pretty badass guys that served - one was a Vietnam Army Ranger, the other served post-Vietnam and was assigned to a counterterrorism unit in another branch. Both experienced some pretty harrowing things they mostly talk(ed) around but the inferences are there and I read between the lines. The counterterrorism fellow recounted there were several times, after his unit had completed a mission, that a ‘spook’ would appear out of thin air where they were….. and he looked like an average Joe you would NOT pick out of a lineup or a crowd. The ‘spook’ also vanished as quickly as he’d shown up. So yes… I do not doubt for a minute there are units, groups, people that do not ‘exist’….
Re: Joe Kent…. I’ve lived long enough and seen enough to know that Two. Seemingly. Opposite. Things CAN exist At. The. Same. Time. In. The. Same. Person. Does it make me uncomfortable? Yes. Absolutely yes. Let’s face it….. uncomplicated people without a wide range of experiences do not generally end up in the positions he’s held. He fascinates me from the perspective of wondering just what makes him tick, what drives him, what his experiences have been (a la ferreting out what drove Todd Blanche from straight arrow to now). I sincerely hope he is an honorable man and is very serious about calling balls and strikes accurately and in the zone because it sounds like he has a lot of lives in his hands.
I think we’d be crazy to not at least entertain the idea these ‘non-existent’ groups and ppl are operating domestically. Again, I hope they are honorable and can put their responsibilities above any personal grievances, biases, pressures exerted on them, etc that might be active in their lives, mind, psyches and all the things.
Jack, I love that you’ve written this. Ambiguity always intrigues me. I suspect history will eventually reveal who Joe Kent is under it all…… then again, maybe not. Interestingly, this isn’t the stuff that keeps me awake in the wee hours. Nothing I can do about it. That said, I love a good brain teaser. Thank you for this!!
I understand the secrecy of such a unit because your identity is known that makes what you do a higher risk. The whole goal is to be able to assimilate thru dress, language and actions to get intel from the enemy. Fro what I had read earlier even thogh drumpf was told Iran was a bad idea he just went ahead and did what he"felt" was needed like he has magical powers to see the future. I had heard or read Vance was vocal about not doing it. Now we are stuck with a forever war and the possible collapse of the world economy with the loss of oil. I think Kent saw his line in the sand and decided he could not continue with this criminal clown car regime. I just read Drumpf had another "annual" physical and he say he asked for another cognitive test and "Aced it"...right....There is definitely something not righter.. almost like where is Mitch?
#HOLDFAST
Teri
Teri...you nailed the tradecraft...a known face is a DEAD operator...so...the secrecy is the job, not paranoia.
And...yes: the war launched on a "feeling"... the White House's own word...after they'd purged the experts who'd have called Iran's response.
One wrinkle on Vance: he had real reservations going in...but then pushed to strike FAST...and became the face SELLING it...deal and all. A skeptic who caved...not a man who stopped it.
"Acing" a cognitive test ONLY means clearing a dementia SCREEN...and every report gets approved by TRUMP before you see it. "Release the full records" is the ask that sticks.
And...Kent's line in the sand? Maybe. Conscience...or a man reading the wind. Only he knows.
-Jack
Vance is a wimp and goes where it is safe for him. There are no real experts left to stop drumpf.I don't believe he asked for another cognitive test. He lies too much to believe him. I do believe there is something we are not being told about him just like Mitch. Kent had the smarts to leave before the sh*t hit the fan big time is my read.
Truth masquerading as fiction, fiction masquerading as truth. I enjoy thrillers, mysteries, pretty much all genres. I doubt anyone would write the unbelievable plot line we are living.
Sue P...I'm guessing you're right. They wouldn't, I suspect...because they'd feel it would all be too unbelievable.
-Jack
Or if they did, I would be demanding vocally that the book's protagonist do something! Anything! And, as I sometimes do with dystopian or horror novels, skip to the end before I invest my reading time in a book where the good guys don't win.
I'm so sorry for the sadness that you carry with you because of the loss of your brother.
Apparently, Kent finally had enough. Maybe he just couldn't live with the lies anymore.
Karen...could be...and I'd like to believe it, too. The conscience winning out is the most human story going.
I just keep one thumb on the scale of doubt: the same man pushed those Venezuela analysts to make a threat look BIGGER only months earlier.
So "couldn't live with the lies" and "told one more good one" BOTH fit. Doesn't make the kinder read wrong…only means we can't know it's right. That's the honest place to stand.
-Jack
Or maybe somewhere the ethical gap was too great: knowing potential impact of action without a solid basis and risking lives to move forward anyway. Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead
The greatest threat to America is the state of Israel...
I'd like to add that Israel controls a large number (dozens!) of US Congresspeople, as AIPAC. This pac has gained unimaginable power in the last couple of decades and now "supports" candidates by buying their way into office, then telling them what they can and can't say once they're installed. Please look it up. It's horrifying.
The two face happened because the first did not involve US military and possibly kill a bunch of them. He fired the middle east team and specialist that knew the terrain. Now he says it's based on a lie. We'll, yeah, he realized it was going to bring a huge military action and many deaths that would be laid at his feet. Indeed, Iran was not a threat. They weren't a year ago with his fruitless big booms bombing. The military is a play set to bonespurs and he is no respecter of life.
#spooksareeverywhere
#HoldFast
I recognize his face. Where have I seen it?
Hey Jack, it may be outside your normal comfort zone, but what about doing an essay on the effects of AIPAC'S influence in Congress? I've read quite a bit, but I'd really appreciate an insider's view.
Great idea, Carlye!
I'll put that on my list of future article to write. Thank you.
-Jack
This article is why I keep reading you. The ambiguity, the two sides, honesty about what’s really unknown. And the best part, I know none of it is fiction.
Thank you. I so appreciate you and your reporting