The National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said he couldn’t support Israel’s alleged pressure to continue the war.
WASHINGTON — The United States’ top counterterrorism official has resigned, citing the Trump administration’s handling of the Iran war and alleged pressure from Israel.
The National Counterterrorism Center director, Joe Kent, announced his resignation Tuesday morning on social media, saying Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S.
“It is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent said in a letter addressed to President Donald Trump. “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 war with Iran.”
Kent went on to say the “echo chamber” created by Israel drove Trump into believing that Iran was an imminent threat and that there was a clear and easy path to victory.
“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,” Kent said in the letter to Trump. “You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos.”
Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.
Before entering President Donald Trump’s administration, Kent ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state. He also served in the military, seeing 11 deployments as a Green Beret, followed by work at the CIA.
This is a developing situation and this article will be updated as new information is released. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
