Warriors coach Kerr wary of 'unwinnable' war as US-Iran tensions mount

Steve Kerr's father, Malcolm Kerr — then president of the American University of Beirut — was shot in 1984 in a killing claimed by militants. Photo: AFP

Steve Kerr, the outspoken coach of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Golden State Warriors, said Saturday he feared the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani could embroil the United States in an "unwinnable, unnecessary" war.

Kerr, who is a longtime critic of US President Donald Trump, posted multiple times on Twitter Friday in the wake of the US strike in Baghdad that killed Soleimani.

Kerr, whose father Malcolm Kerr — then president of the American University of Beirut — was shot in 1984 in a killing claimed by extremists, retweeted posts skeptical of Trump's claim that Friday's strike was a defensive move to prevent a potential terrorist attack against the United States.

Read more: Former NFL quarterback Kaepernick calls out US 'imperialism' over Soleimani killing

He told reporters on Saturday that he meant to use the social media platform "to remind people to do their homework before just blindly waving the flag and get ourselves into another mess, like we did in Iraq."

"We have to be very careful now with what we're being told," added Kerr.

"If we're led into another war, the implications for so many families, so many people, are so drastic that we all need to understand what's happening and support our troops by making sure we press our government to do the right thing," he said.

Kerr said US citizens had been "misled by our government" regarding wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

While he believes in supporting US military personnel, Kerr said: "what would be even more supportive is to not get involved and not send soldiers overseas to unwinnable, unnecessary wars in the first place."

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