Joe Kent, who was the head of the USA's National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from his post on Tuesday over the ongoing Operation Epic Fury in Iran.
Kent slammed Donald Trump, saying the US President started the war against Iran under pressure from Israel and added that Tehran posed "no imminent threat" to the US.
"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," Kent stated.
Kent said he supports the foreign policies Trump campaigned on during his elections in 2016, 2020 and 2024. However, he said after June 2025, Trump ignored his own understanding 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."
He alleged that during the beginning of Trump's second term, top Israeli officials and key US media kicked off a misinformation campaign that "wholly undermined" the America First platform and drove pro-war sentiments.
"This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is 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. We cannot make this mistake again," Kent added.
He recalled that he is a veteran who was deployed to combat 11 times and a a Gold Star husband who lost his wife Shannon in "a war manufactured by Israel". "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," he said.
