Former NCTC pleads with Trump to pull out of Iran: ‘Don’t double down on failure’
Former National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Director Joe Kent urged President Donald Trump to leave Iran. To date, no comprehensive peace deal has been achieved.
The president wrote on Truth Social, “Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it? My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations. Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it.”
It’s ironic, since Iran was the first to blockade. Trump, matching the blockade, has not been effective at reopening the strait. Nevertheless, there will be another round of negotiations between the United States and Iran. The first rounds failed within 21 hours, but negotiations are expected to be lengthy.
Nevertheless, Trump issued a chilling warning against Iran. The latter part of his post reads, “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!”
Kent appeals for more than just de-escalation
The NCTC director, who resigned from the Trump administration in March, reacted to Trump’s recent post. He recognized that Trump had the option to either settle or escalate the war to yet another devastating phase.
But Kent said, “There is a third option, and he should take it: recognize there is no way to force a positive outcome and simply leave.” The former director argued that then-President Reagan pulled out of Lebanon in 1984, recognizing that the United States could not stabilize the region.
Kent also argued that even if there is a settlement reached, the Iranian regime is unlikely to follow through. Moreover, if Trump decides to escalate, Kent warned that it will “create another generation of radicalized Iranians who will rally around the regime and escalate the war by any means possible.”
Seeing what’s at stake, Kent had a simple request to Trump in his social media post. It reads, “Don’t double down on failure. Avoid the sunken cost trap, leave now, and put America’s interests first.”
A deal in the works halted by Trump in 2018
It’s a tough ask for a president who is averse to the word “failure.” Trump has been declaring victory against Iran through social media, even if the objectives of the war remain unmet. Before the war began, there was already a deal in place by Obama in 2015. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran agreed to limit its production of highly enriched uranium to a percentage that couldn’t be used for nuclear weapons.
Additionally, the Iranians agreed to be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations to guard against the secret development of nuclear weapons. Trump would pull out of this deal in 2018. Now, the Trump administration is scrambling for a better deal.
Is de-escalation, at the very least, underway? This morning, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship was gunned and seized by the Trump administration in the Gulf of Oman. Unless there is progress in the upcoming negotiation talks in Islamabad, de-escalation isn’t guaranteed.
(featured image: The White House)
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