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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   6440 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026

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The DNI has brought in an Iran Dove to advise Trump’s briefings:

Dan Caldwell, a former top Pentagon aide who was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after being publicly accused of leaking classified information, was recently hired by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said an administration official and others familiar with the move. In his new position, Mr. Caldwell will serve as an adviser to senior intelligence officials who are responsible for coordinating the work of 18 federal intelligence agencies and drafting the president’s daily intelligence briefing.

Dan Caldwell was a Hegseth aide who was fired back in 2025 during SignalGate. He claimed he was fired for advising against a war with Iran:

Caldwell, a former Marine officer who previously worked for Hegseth at Concerned Veterans of America, portrayed himself as an opponent of open-ended military conflict that has characterized U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East — and could resume with an attack on Iran that has the backing of some American and Israeli officials. “I think there clearly is a very strong coalition within the United States that wants to see another war in the Middle East,” Caldwell said. “And it crosses both parties.”

The circumstances of the leak and firing were strange. Some insiders believe in a cover-up:

Former chief DoD spokesman John Ullyott penned an op-ed in POLITICO Sunday night, in which said there "has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration." He said he was a big supporter of Hegseth's candidacy for the job, but pointed out a number of wrong turns by Hegseth including the way Signalgate was handled. There are also new embarrassing revelations like another reported Signal chat regarding Yemen airstrikes that also included the Secretary's wife and brother. Also, a reported meeting with foreign defense officials in which his wife, a former FOX News reporter, was in attendance and sensitive information was discussed. He said the purge of Hegseth's "closest advisors of over a decade" — Caldwell and Selnick — was "strange and baffling." He suggested the entire leak investigation was some sort of elaborate set-up.

Caldwell is a committed anti-war MAGA. Back in 2024 he wrote an op-ed titled Trump Must Not Betray “America First”: The Case for a Foreign Policy That Eschews Primacy and Embraces Restraint:

A foreign policy that prioritizes making Americans safe and prosperous while acknowledging the country’s constraints would improve the United States’ fiscal policies and work to rebuild its industrial base. But these measures alone will not be sufficient: the United States should militarily retrench from regions in which American interests are less pronounced, such as Europe and the Middle East, especially when the United States’ current responsibilities can be outsourced to relatively wealthy and capable allies in those regions who have more at stake. Balancing against Iran, for instance, can be achieved largely by Israel and by the Gulf Arab nations; the United States should not have to substantially backstop them or bribe them to pursue their own interests. The United States should ask allies in East Asia to shoulder similarly heightened levels of responsibility in order to manage competition with China through strategic balancing rather than a security spiral that could easily end in a full-on war.

All things considered, I wonder if this indicative of the American military intelligence position on the conflict. You’re bringing in a guy who was outspoken against an Iran war throughout 2025, who is quote-tweeting Khamenei’s funniest bangers to countersignal the Iran hysteria. I’m also really confused what happened with SignalGate. Who wanted them fired? And why?

In related news a counterterrorism functionary has resigned from the government in protest of the Iran war.

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. 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.

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. 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. I support the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024, which you enacted in your first term. Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.

In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS. 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.

As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives. I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.

It was an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation. -- Joe Kent

(Formatting altered)

Is that an important role? I've certainly never heard of the guy before, and I'm not sure I've heard of the center either.

Were there any examples of similar defections from an administration during military events, or lack thereof, in the past?

I really like Joe Kent. He's a WA republican, which is a dying breed. He lost two congressional races before being nominated and confirmed.

As for similar defections, I asked an AI and got back the name Andrew Miller, who also resigned over Israel.

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