6 events in Passaic County with a date

U.S. intelligence official quits over war

Israel says it killed top Iranian security chief

By: Michael Loria
Kim Hjimgaard
Jeanie Santucci
and Andrea Riquier
USA Today

..... The head of the National Counter-terrorism Center resigned in protest over the Iran war as Israel, said on March 17 [2026] that it had killed Iran's top intelligence official.
..... Joe Kent, a conservative politician and decorated former Army Ranger and CIA paramilitary officer, was a top aide to director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. In a March 17 [2026] post on X, he said that "after much reflection, I have decided to resign form my position as Director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, effective today." [03/17/2026]
..... Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure form Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump, who nominated him for the top U.S. counter-terrorism job on February 3, 2025. He added that Trump had been duped by a "misinformation campaign."
..... Trump later said, "it's a good thing that he's out because hes aid Iran was not a threat. Every country recognized Iran was a threat. The question was whether they wanted to do something about it."
..... White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on social media that Kent's resignation letter was riddled with "false claims."
..... House Speaker Mike Johnson R-Louisiana, also said Kent's assertion that Iran didn't pose an imminent threat 'was clearly wrong." He said Secretariat of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pet Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Dan Caine had described to lawmakers before the war began how Iran was building its nuclear capability and a stockpile of missiles to protect it. "I don't know where Joe Kent is getting his information, because he wasn't in those meetings," Johnson said.
...... Kent is the first U.S. official to resign over the war, now in its 19th day.

Israeli strike kills top Iranian official

..... Elsewhere, Israel said on March 17 [2026] it killed Iran top intelligence chief Ali Larijani, according to the country's Defense Minister, Israel Katz.
..... There was no immediate comment from Iran on the Israeli assertion, or separate confirmation form the United States.
..... Israel's Defense Forces separately said it killed Gholarmreza Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Basij paramilitary unit, and his deputy, Seyyed Karishi.
..... Trump called Iran's leaders "horrendous people" - based on decades of deaths from terror attacks and land mines - and the worst since Adolf Hitler led Germany into world War II.
..... "These are horrendous people," Trump said. "There are the worst people, going back to Hitler. These are the worst people. There's been nothing close."
..... Trump said if the United States stopped striking 10 years to rebuild the country, but the military isn't stopping yet.
..... "We'll be leaving in the near future," Trump told reporters at the White House.
..... Trump and U.S. ally Israel launched the war on February 28 [2026] to eliminate Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neanyahu. Iran has responded by launching strikes on U.S. targets throughout the Middle East and by keeping a stranglehold on the movement of oil through the strait.
..... Trump got the cold shoulder in recent days form allies in Europe and Asia when he tried to assemble a coalition of navies to open the Strati of Hrmuz to shipping traffic.
..... Trump said he wasn't surprised because he always considered the North Atlantic Treaty Organization a "one way street' where the United States spend s billions to defend the countries and they do nothing in return. He also dismissed refusals to help form Japan, Australia and South Korea.
..... "Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance - WE NEVER DID!" Trump said on social media.
..... "In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"

Amnesty International probe faults U.S. for school strike

..... Over a thousand people have been killed in Iran since the start of the war. More than 800 have been killed in Lebanon, where Israel is striking Ian ally Hezbollah,and dozens of others have been killed elsewhere in the region.
..... Among the dead are 13 U.S. soldiers. Over 200 service members have been wounded. Thousands of additional soldiers are on their way to the region.
..... An amnesty International Investigation released on March 16 [2026] determined that the United Sates was behind the strike on a school in southern Iran. The school building, located near the Strait of Hormuz, was previously part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound, investigators note.
..... "The fact that school building was directly targeted and was previously part of the IRGC compound raises concerns that US forces may have relied on outdated intelligence and failed in their obligation to do everything feasible to verify the intended target was a military objective," the group wrote.

Oil, gas prices increase

..... Limited traffic through the Persian Gulf waterway comes as the war's impact on oil trade has rolled world financial and energy markets, sending stocks tumbling and causing gas prices to rise.
..... Gas prices in the United States touched a fresh high on March 17, [2026] with the national average at $3.80 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. Prices were particularly high on the West Coast, hitting about $5.53 per gallon in California.
..... Meanwhile, oil prices jumped after reported Iranian attacks on the United Arab emirates, even as White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC that oil tankers were "starting to dribble through" the Strait of Hormuz.
..... Economic analysts remain cautious about forecasting amid the uncertainty of the war. Strategist recently upgraded its recession odds to 25%, fro 20%, but respondents to Oxford Economics' latest Global Risk Survey see only a 1-in-6 chance of a global recession.

..... Contributing: Reuters

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