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I rather like elephants.
Earth’s largest land animal, they’re majestic, incredibly strong, gentle, family-oriented, have prodigious memories and, when they get ready to die, they go off to a secret place without fanfare.
What’s not to like?
‘Elephant in the room’ is a metaphor for something so obvious it’s difficult to miss. Or is it?
Sometimes some do, in fact, lose track of the forest because of the trees.
The situation in Afghanistan is a mess.
That most people can agree on.
The USA invaded the country after 9/11 because the country was the supposed training ground for Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the nefarious plot that killed almost 3000 Americans.
The U.S. ignored the fact that the majority (15 of 19) of perpetrators were Saudi citizens. Contrary to some actions taken in the past against certain foreign countries, we dislike cutting off our nose to spite our face and shooting ourselves in the foot. Arabia is known for more than its horses. The promise of its oil is vital to the American way of life.
So, perhaps not unlike the man who’s had a bad day at the office, comes home and kicks the family dog, we found another country to invade.