From the Desk of the Publisher

Changes in the Air

This week saw some big changes both nationally and locally. On the national level, it was decided that enough was enough and it was time to pull the plug on having troops in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of American troops is supposed to be complete by either Aug. 31 or Sept. 11.

I have heard that the Afghans who we were trying to train over there to defend their own country weren’t skilled enough or interested or were too scared, starving or discouraged to fight. This opinion is supported by the rapid rate in which the Taliban conquered all major towns and cities in the country. The fact that the president of Afghanistan also high-tailed it post-haste didn’t apparently infuse confidence in the citizens of the Middle East country.

After 20 years of being over there, it appeared to me there were only two choices: become the United States of Afghanistan and stay forever or do what was done – withdraw the troops with the understanding (if not expectation) that the Taliban would quickly come in and claim the country. Is it horrible, especially for women? Absolutely. Are the citizens happy with the decision? Not all as was apparent by those who hung onto exiting aircraft with the hope of … flying to freedom? To me it shows the desperation of the people, some of whom were offered “amnesty” by the Taliban for actions undertaken while the U.S. occupied the country, including those who worked for foreign governments. I don’t know if they’re holding out much hope for that amnesty, though.

As chaos continues to ensue and foreign embassies close and try to get their people out of the country, there are many opinions. Was it right to withdraw? Was the manner of the withdrawal correct or could it have been done in a better way? Should it have been done sooner – or not at all?

Ultimately, though, it is the Afghan people who will have to live with the decisions that were made … and God help them.

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Welcome back to school, students, staff and administrators! Who in the world would have thought we would have had to deal with drizzle after so much heat? But it was a blessing for our students who had to rise and shine and make their (masked) way to school on Wednesday morning. CV Weekly had photographers at many of the local schools and captured much of the excitement felt throughout the district (see pages 10 and 11). This week’s cover story also gives insight into the safety protocols implemented by the district.
It’s now our responsibility to watch out for the kiddos making their way to school – traffic is going to stink and walkers may be looking at their phones rather than watching for cars.

from the desk of the publisher