A Gold Star wife has delivered a sharp and emotional rebuke to Joe Kent, the former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center after he resigned in protest against the war in Iran and blamed Israel for dragging America into decades of conflict.
What did Kent say?
In his resignation letter to US President Donald Trump, Kent wrote, “It is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
He also said, “high-ranking Israeli officials” and “influential members of the American media” created a “misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”
“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,” Kent wrote. “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.”
Kent is a former Army Ranger who served 11 combat tours also referred to past wars and said that they “robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.”
Kent whose wife Shannon was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Manbij, Syria in 2019 while deployed with the US Navy, described that conflict too as “a war manufactured by Israel.”
Joe Kent resignation: MAGA fumes over US counterterrorism chief’s ‘disgraceful’ exit amid Iran war, ‘Good riddance’
Gold Star wife’s response
A Gold Star wife whose husband Alan was killed by Iranian proxies in Iraq, responded directly and emotionally to Kent’s letter.
“Gold Star wife here. When ISIS killed your wife, you supported going after the people responsible. You understood exactly why we were fighting and never called it ‘Israel’s war,'” she wrote.
“My husband, Alan, was killed by Iranian proxies in Iraq. And now, after decades, the fight is finally leading back to the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world.”
She did not hold back in her criticism of Kent’s shift in position.
“You understood it when it was your loss. Now you’re minimizing it when it’s mine. You don’t get to redefine this war just because it’s not your grief anymore,” she added.
Trump’s reaction
President Trump was when asked about the resignation said, “I always thought he was a nice guy. But I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security,” Trump told media. “I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat,’ he added.
