Ex-official Joe Kent claims U.S. policy in Syria involved cooperation with Al-Qaeda-linked forces and contributed to the rise of ISIS during efforts to remove Bashar Assad.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Joe Kent, former head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in a recent interview that American policy in Syria involved direct coordination with extremist groups during efforts to remove former Syrian President Bashar Assad, describing the strategy as part of a broader series of regional conflicts.
Speaking in an interview with MintPress News, Kent said the United States “worked directly with Al-Qaeda” during the Syrian Civil War and that such cooperation contributed to the emergence and expansion of the Islamic State. He also linked the policy approach to wider geopolitical objectives involving Israel and prior U.S. military actions in the Middle East.
Kent, who stepped down from his position in protest over the ongoing U.S.-Israel military operations against Iran, described the Syria campaign as part of a sequence of conflicts that included the Iraq War and other regional interventions. According to his account, U.S. planners sought to support an uprising against the Syrian government by working with local Sunni forces.
“We came in and we said: We’re going to work with the Israelis, but we’re also going to have to work heavily with the Sunni population on the ground in Syria to create an uprising,” Kent said.
He added that early efforts to support opposition forces included backing factions within the Free Syrian Army, but asserted that more effective fighting units were tied to extremist organizations. “The operations that we were doing to support the so-called Free Syrian Army, and there were some moderates there, but the most effective guys initially were Al-Qaeda and then eventually ISIS,” he said.
Kent stated that the situation escalated beyond initial expectations, saying the Islamic State “got out of control,” which later required U.S. intervention to counter the same forces. He characterized this as a reversal of earlier policy decisions, describing it as addressing “the brush fire that we had started.”
He also referenced the eventual outcome of the conflict, noting that the Assad government fell in late 2024 and was replaced by an Islamist-led authority headed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group that evolved from an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Kent criticized the leadership of the current Syrian government, including interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, citing his past involvement with extremist organizations. “We had him in jail; [he] joined ISIS, broke off from ISIS, hand-selected by Bin Laden’s right-hand man, Ayman Zawahiri, to lead Nusra, and then they rebranded,” Kent said.
He added, “The number one way to fool Americans as a jihadist is just put on a suit.”
Kent’s remarks reflect his interpretation of past U.S. policy decisions and their consequences during the Syrian conflict, as well as his broader critique of American military involvement in the region.
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