To the Editor:

First of all, may I say that I HATE writing this letter because I have many friends who are Trump followers, and I do not like the idea of potentially alienating a single one of them. However, I believe we have reached a point where overlooking a lot of things could prove extremely detrimental to the very security of our nation — and that means the people we hold nearest and dearest.

On the evening of June 20, as everyone knows, at almost the last minute, Trump called off a cluster of strikes on Iran, set into motion after Iran admitted to shooting down one of our drones. The reason given for the stand-down was that there could be up to 150 civilian casualties. Trump maintained that he was given that information just 10 minutes before the scheduled take off. Yet, both Congress and the president were reportedly briefed by Pentagon officials about potential casualties much earlier in the day.

I, for one, am glad that at least for the moment, we are not getting into a war with Iran. But could there be a more sinister explanation for the stand-down? The article found at the link below seems to provide one, and it prompts an even more dire question, in my opinion: Who is really running this country? https://thehill.com/policy/international/449546-putin-warns-war-between-us-and-iran-would-be-catastrophe

Sincerely,

Georgia Wilkinson

Elizabethton