The director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned from his position, citing opposition to the war in Iran and urging President Trump to "reverse course." In an open letter posted on his X account, Kent stated that Iran poses "no imminent threat" to the US and claimed that the Trump administration "started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
Kent, 45, is a US special forces and CIA veteran whose wife, Navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. In the letter, he referenced his military service and her death, saying he "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, who had previously supported Trump's foreign policy platform, alleged that "high-ranking Israeli officials" and influential US journalists had sown "misinformation" that caused Trump to undermine his "America First" platform. He asserted that this "echo chamber" was used to deceive the president into believing Iran was an imminent threat, calling it "a lie."
A long-time Trump supporter who unsuccessfully ran for Congress twice, Kent was nominated by the president early in his administration and narrowly confirmed to his post, with many Democrats criticizing his links to extremist groups including members of the Proud Boys. During his confirmation hearing, he also refused to back away from claims that federal agents fomented the January 6 riots at the US Capitol or that Trump won the 2020 election.
Kent's resignation marks one of several departures among senior officials in the Trump administration, and he becomes the most high-profile figure from within to publicly criticize the US-Israeli operation in Iran. The president's second term, however, has seen far less turnover than his previous tenure at the White House between 2017 and 2021, raising questions about internal discord and the sustainability of the administration's foreign policy approach.
Source: www.bbc.com