Civilization not annihilation

The most dangerous character trait an advisor to a narcissistic megalomaniac can have is honesty. Speaking truth to power is what a true patriot does before falling on her or his sword. Those around Rome’s Caligula found that out between 37 and 41 AD before he was assassinated. On the other hand, our country has a desperate need for words of wisdom and humanity to be whispered into President Trump’s ear and, more importantly, for him to believe those truths and put America over personal pouting. Of course, if the ruler surrounds himself with sycophants, the advice is more damaging than the facts.

Humanity has unfortunately had numerous examples of people who clearly saw and warned of a dark future but whose forecasts were ignored. The most famous of these cautionary voices came from Cassandra of Greek mythology. Cassandra was the daughter of Troy’s King Priam. She proclaimed the disasters that would befall Troy, but she was dismissed as mad and Troy was conquered by the Greeks in a senseless ten-year war over Helen’s affair with King Priam’s son, Paris.

On March 17, 2026 Joseph Kent, who had been nominated by Trump to serve as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, sent the President his letter of resignation. Kent had served twenty years in the army, had been awarded six bronze stars, was an army ranger and green beret and had seen several combat deployments to the Middle East.

Kent correctly foresaw the future of America’s destruction of Iran. After our unprovoked attacks in June 2025 and February 2026, Joseph Kent, at great self-sacrifice, implored President Trump to put America first:

“President Trump,

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

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.

I support the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024, which you enacted in your first term. Until June of 2025, you 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.

In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS.

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. 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.

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, 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.

I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.

It was an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation.”

Gentle Reader, you already know that Kent’s prescient warnings went unheeded. President Trump has publicly threatened to destroy forever the entire civilization of Iran if it does not, UNCONDITIONALLY, adhere 100 percent to Trump’s demands. Iran has 90 million people and a civilization over 4,000 years old. Also, as Kent stated, Iran has never been a threat to America and could not be if it wanted to be. To exterminate an entire segment of humanity is to violate every moral position we say we stand for.

The Strait of Hormuz had never been blockaded by Iran until the United States and Israel decided to unilaterally and without warning, while in the midst of negotiations, bomb Iran twice and demand total regime change and capitulation. President Trump portrayed our actions as a means of helping the Iranian populace to revolt against the radical theocracy controlling Iran. But, if we kill everyone and eliminate their culture, how is that to their benefit?

Now, as we supposedly want a “deal” with Iran, what does Iran have to give? President Trump says we obliterated all their nuclear capabilities in June 2025 and February 2026. We and Israel have completely decimated Iran’s air force, navy and economy. All Iran has left is the Strait of Hormuz and their devastated lives, while we demand unconditional capitulation. Iran has nothing else to concede. So, how can this “negotiation” end?

Just as the Greeks after the Trojan war, I suggest we declare victory, we get in our ships and sail home; that is what a properly heeded Cassandra would advise. And we should thank Joseph Kent for having the wisdom and courage to choose the harder right over the easier wrong. The President should recognize Kent’s service to America and choose duty over duplicity.

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