Top counterterroism official resigns, cites Iran conflict

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(The Center Square) – A top counterterrosim official in the Trump administration resigned on Tuesday, citing the conflict in Iran. 

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on social media. 

"I cannot in good conscious support the ongoing war in Iran," Kent wrote. "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."

The National Counterterrorism Center is under Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence. The office works to identify and target global threats of terrorism. 

In his resignation letter, Kent criticized President Trump's attacks on Iran, saying wars in the Middle Eat "robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots." 

Kent is an Army veteran whose wife, Shannon, was killed in Syria in 2019 on her fifth combat deployment. He said the conflict in Syria where Shannon was killed was "manufactured by Israel."

Kent said Israeli officials and American media encouraged Trump to pursue military action against Iran. 

"This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that you should strike now, there was a clear path to swift victory," Kent said. "This was a lie and 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." 

Kent implored Trump to reverse course in Iran and back down from future hostilities.  

"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," Kent wrote. "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."