Joe Kent And The 18 Intelligence Agencies

If everyone is thinking alike, someone is not thinking.  

General George S. Patton, Jr. 

 

 

Joe Kent, director of the  National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest of the Iran War on March 17. I never heard of the man before his resignation, but undoubtedly he’s enjoying his Fifteen Minutes of Fame. No question he is working on a tell all book and will be welcome at the usual suspects, err media sources, when it comes out. 

 

Mr. Kent’s stated reason was “Is opposition to the war in Iran and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies.” I’ll let the veiled antisemitism go for the moment, but something piqued my interest. 

 

The head of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCC)  said all eighteen agencies of the Intelligence Community (IC) agreed the Iranians had no nuclear threat. From an interview with Megal Kelley, “Even though you have the 18 intelligence agencies saying that their nuclear capability is gone, they’re still somehow digging out from the rubble and will be able to assemble 10 bombs in two weeks.”

 

OK, I’m still a little confused. The (now former) head of the NCC said Iran was no nuclear threat. Nuclear threats of overseas nations, particularly ones with intermediated range ballistic missiles (IRBM) are not the focus of the NCC. From their pages:

 

MISSION

 

Lead the nation’s effort to protect the United States from terrorism by integrating, analyzing, and sharing information to drive whole-of-government action and achieve our national CT objectives. 

 

A ballistic missile headed to New York with a nuclear warhead is not terrorism. It’s a direct threat against the United States, which is in the focus of the IC. 

 

Now he claims all 18 agencies of the Intelligence Community agree Iran is not a nuclear threat. At this moment, no, thanks to operations last summer leveling their main nuclear sites. But again, is this plausible that every part of US intelligence is working on one issue. To better explain this, let’s look at the 18 parts of the Intelligence Community:

 

The U.S. Intelligence Community is composed of the following 18 organizations:

 

Two independent agencies—the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA);

 

Nine Department of Defense elements—the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and intelligence elements of the five DoD services; the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.

 

Seven elements of other departments and agencies—the Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence; the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence; the Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of National Security Intelligence; the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research; and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis

 

Take the first two. The ODNI and CIA handle overall intelligence collection, analysis, and production for the National Command Authority (NCA), i.e., the President and the federal government. Depending on the agency, they either task or coordinate with them. No question, the issue of Iranian nuclear capability is a major concern of these two offices. 

 

The next group are military or national defense agencies. Five (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force) fall under the Department of Defense for defense planning and operations. Again, Iran is a major issue for these organizations.  

 

But I would draw your attention to the final group, “Seven elements of other departments and agencies.” These are departments that handle critical intelligence needs, but not necessarily overseas military threats. 

 

Department of Energy: The office protects vital national security information and technologies, intellectual property of incalculable value, provides scientific and technical expertise to respond to foreign intelligence, terrorist and cyber threats, to solve the hardest problems associated with U.S. energy security

 

The Department of Homeland Security duty is to identify and assess current and future threats to the U.S.  

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation is responsible for understanding threats to our national security and penetrating national and transnational networks that have a desire and capability to harm the U.S.  

 

Drug Enforcement Administration is responsible for enforcing the controlled substance laws and regulations of the United States. Its goal is to enhance the U.S.’s efforts to reduce the supply of drugs, protect national security, and combat global terrorism.  

 

Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research… provide early warning and in-depth analysis of events and trends that affect U.S. foreign policy and national security interests.

 

Treasury Department Office of Intelligence and Analysis is a component of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). TFI has the mission of safeguarding the financial system against illicit use and combating rogue nations, terrorist facilitators, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, money launderers, drug kingpins, and other national security threats.

 

Coast Guard Intelligence’s responsibilities include protecting citizens from the sea (maritime safety), protecting America from threats delivered by the sea (maritime security), and protecting the sea itself (maritime stewardship).

 

Of these seven agencies, State and Homeland Security would have a direct interest in Iran nuclear weapons development. By that, I mean their assets are directly focused on the work the mullahs are doing to develop a weapon. Would the Treasury TFI be interested if Tehran enriched uranium to 90%? Yes. But they have no resources to collecting on Iranian nuclear production. 

 

I would also point out many of them do not have assets to collect on the nuclear program. The Coast Guard focuses on threats to the US and our sea-lanes, not ballistic missile threats. The DEA has no ability to collect on Tehran’s actions.  They would not be asked by the NCA if they think Tehran had a legitimate nuclear weapons threat against the US or our allies (like Israel Mr. Kent). 

 

I would also mention that if these are the opinions of the heads of all these agencies, they are not for Mr. Kent. They are for the NCA, i.e., the President. Yes, others read the intelligence POTUS gets. But if this is true, he had just compromised highly classified intelligence. This is not true, he has just interfered with the highest military and foreign policy operations of the administration. There needs to be repercussions.

 

What does this tell me? One, I do not believe the eighteen agencies agree on the status of the Iranian nuclear program, as for several of these organizations are not focused on this matter. Monitor it, yes, but they are not collecting and analyzing on it. The DEA is not going to present their findings on Tehran’s WMD program to the President. 

 

Two, before I believe Mr. Kent, he needs to provide some evidence to back up his statement. I don’t see others coming out to support him. I do see an investigation on him leaking classified information was opened before he resigned. So Mr. Kent has  motive to muddy the waters. He knows he’s in serious trouble. 

 

In summary, I don’t believe Mr. Kent. If he’s telling the truth, he’s violated an oath to keep classified information to himself. Maybe he should have reviewed his SF-312 before he did this. If he’s lying, and he has motive to do so, he’s left himself up to further legal action. I have no doubt he’s consulted an attorney or three, he needs them.