To the Editor:

A few weeks ago Smoky Mountain News Editor Scott McLeod wrote an interesting article spelling out the differences between folks who choose to read or listen to media sources that provide facts and those who get their news from media that primarily give opinions. There’s nothing wrong with opinions if they are backed up by facts. Otherwise, they’re just noise. 

The assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Suleimani is the latest in a string of incoherent, dangerous foreign policy decisions by the United States. Not only will his death escalate tensions with Iran, already heightened since the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, it will help consolidate power and support behind the hard-liners within the Iranian government. Killing Suleimani will not curb future attacks against Americans, it will not reduce the chance of future deaths of Americans, it will create more. Already Iran has vowed to retaliate against the United States and U.S. forces abroad, they announced that they will be restarting their nuclear program with no restrictions on uranium enrichment, and the Iraqi parliament voted to expel all U.S. troops from Iraq.