(Photo: Reuters)WASHINGTON — One of the top counterterrorism officials in the United States announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the Iran war and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a social media post. In the letter, Kent wrote about what he saw as a “misinformation campaign” by high-ranking Israeli officials and the news media, which he said had undermined Trump’s “America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran”. A veteran of the Iraq War, Kent said that the arguments in support of attacking Iran, and promises of a swift victory, echoed the debate over going to war against Iraq in 2003. Kent also referred to his late wife Shannon, a military cryptologist killed in Syria.

Source: Bangkok Post March 17, 2026 19:36 UTC