A senior intelligence official in the administration of President Donald Trump tendered his resignation today, saying that he could not support Trump’s ongoing war with Iran.
National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent shared his resignation letter to Trump publicly, claiming that the president was tricked into a war by “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,” Kent wrote. “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.”
Kent praised Trump for his previous stance against new wars in the Middle East. He said that Trump campaigned on the idea that “wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth… of our nation.”
Kent noted a shift in Trump’s second term, saying that “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign” that pushed the idea that a war with Iran was necessary.
“[An] echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” he wrote to Trump. “This was a lie.”
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Kent said that previous military actions in Iraq and Syria were inspired by similar tactics. Kent launched his political career after his ex-wife was killed in an attack on American forces in Syria in 2019.
“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and a Gold Star husband…I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people,” he wrote. “I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for.”
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