Top U.S. Counterterror Official Quits Over Iran War, Says Israel Lobby Pushed U.S. Into Conflict
Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned over the Trump administration’s war in Iran, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official known to step down over the conflict. In a letter addressed to President Trump, Kent said Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States and blamed pressure from Israel and its lobby for the war. The full resignation letter goes further, stating: “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 and its powerful American lobby.”
2026-03-17 17:17:16 - VI News Staff
The letter also says, “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 a war with Iran.” Kent wrote that Trump had once understood “that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation,” but said that changed in 2025. He added that he was resigning 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.”
Kent’s departure comes as the military and humanitarian costs of the war continue to mount. Reuters reported Monday that about 200 U.S. troops have been wounded in the conflict and 13 have been killed. U.S. Central Command said most of the injuries were minor and around 180 troops had already returned to duty, though 10 were described as serious. U.S. personnel have been hit in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and Israel.
Children have also been caught in the widening violence. UNICEF said on March 11 that more than 1,100 children had been killed or injured across the region since the war began on Feb. 28, including 200 reportedly killed in Iran, 91 in Lebanon, four in Israel and one in Kuwait. Reuters separately reported, citing U.N. agencies, that at least 84 children had been killed in Lebanon and more than 667,000 people displaced there as of March 10, while the World Health Organization said 486 people had been killed and 1,313 injured in Lebanon, including 259 children.