Just when you thought you had finally figured out the whys

and wherefores of U. S. involvement in the almost eight-

year-long Afghanistan War, along comes this headline:

"China's thirst for copper could hold key to Afghanistan's

future." That's when you realize you don't know jack shit

about what's really happening in the world and begin to

drift reflexively toward bug-eyed conspiracy theories,

like 'The Copper Masters: the Sinister Significance of the

Lincoln Penny'.