Keep the children safe

No one should be surprised by Afghanistan’s rapid collapse and overthrow by the Taliban. America made several blunders after U.S. special forces and the Northern Alliance overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. One is that no success metrics were established during those critical months after the Taliban were defeated. This led to wasteful nation-building. What’s more, Afghanistan is not a country, but rather a land of distinct tribes, each with their own interests, culture and militias.

That’s why the central government was ineffective in uniting the country. Also, former President George W. Bush took his eye off Afghanistan at a critical time when he diverted military attention to Iraq. And Afghanistan’s army had little loyalty to the central government.

Their loyalty was vested in their respective tribes.

Despite years of training by our military, Afghan forces predictably fell apart once they had to fight the Taliban alone.

As a former officer for an educational nonprofit that built community-model schools in Afghanistan and programs that benefited over 300,000 students, I’m saddened by the prospects of girls and young women who will be once-again subjected to the Taliban’s oppressive rule. It could have been avoided.

Stephen Perlman, San Mateo

Taliban fighters stand guard in front of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Chaos has erupted at the airport.

With schools opening and COVID-19 increasing, Bay Area school districts are following public health guidance and implementing additional safety requirements, including that students wear masks in classrooms. Some parents are stating that mask mandates are a form of child abuse.

Child abuse is a serious social injustice and its impact is devastating and

life-changing. Mask mandates are not child abuse. By so equating, we dilute the purpose of child protection laws; minimize actual maltreatment; and divert child protection resources from legitimate reports of suspected child abuse, thereby endangering children.

No parent wants their child treated in an abusive or neglectful manner. Consequently, parents have, for decades, provided their children with mandated vaccines, car seats, and seat belts in an

Rahmat Gul / Associated Press