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President Trump claimed his administration was “working” on getting back the massive Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, abandoned by US forces during the withdrawal from the South Asian country in 2021.
He cited its proximity to China, as well as a claim that the US was permitted under the Doha agreement with the Taliban to leave a token force in control of the facility, as motivation for the newfound desire to reclaim it.
Tolo News, one of the largest news outlets in Afghanistan and one influenced by the ruling regime, suggested it was part of Trump’s streak of claiming the US will take possession of various areas, citing Greenland—controlled by Denmark, and the Panama Canal as examples preceding Bagram.
Described once during the height of the occupation as being so large that it suffered from traffic jams on-base, Bagram Airfield sits 25 miles north of Kabul International Airport and was originally established as a way of getting clandestine aid to Mujahadeen fighters during the resistance to the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
It came up during Trump’s recent visit to the United Kingdom, when the President was ridiculing the leadership of Joe Biden, who fulfilled the US commitment to retreat from Afghanistan negotiated under Trump during his previous term.
“We gave it to them for nothing,” the President said of Bagram. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way. That could be a little breaking news, we’re trying to get it back because they need things from us; we want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons”.
Deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan didn’t address whether or not talks were ongoing with the White House, but stated rather that Afghans have never accepted an occupying force in all of history. Additionally, the number-two emphasized that contrary to Trump’s later claim, the possibility of remaining at Bagram was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement.
Outweighing the advantages
A US official, speaking with Reuters on condition of anonymity, said there was no active planning to militarily take over Bagram, and that any effort would be massive, requiring at least 10,000 troops and thousands of support staff.
“I don’t see how this can realistically happen,” the official said, who also denied seeing the benefit of being close to Chinese military installations. “I don’t think there’s a particular military advantage to being up there, the risks sort of outweigh the advantages”.
The base was abandoned in the middle of the night, and much of the equipment and facilities were damaged. Along with a substantial military presence to defend the base, maintenance and repair personnel would likely number in the hundreds or thousands as well. It would become a magnet for terrorist attacks in the region, which were able to continually kill and injure soldiers on the base throughout the war despite security.
WaL reached out to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment but had not heard back by publishing time.
US reproachment with the Taliban does seem to be taking place, however, with the Emirate’s officials reaching an agreement with US negotiators to exchange prisoners, with few details revealed, including who the detainees were, why they were being held, or where.
A statement from Kabul reported on by The Hill claimed that “discussions were held on ways to develop bilateral relations between the two countries, issues related to citizens, and investment opportunities in Afghanistan”. Trump recently passed a travel ban on citizens from Afghanistan.
WaL has kept a close eye on normalization efforts with the Islamic Emirate since they established power in Kabul. Many Western nations which had previously been involved in the occupation consider recognition of the government’s legitimacy to be contingent on various conditions, particularly surrounding the civil liberties of women and minorities, that they have no power to influence. That lack of power is telling, as Taliban officials are showing up all over the world, including in Switzerland and Germany, to offer consular assistance to the Afghan diaspora, and there’s nothing to be done but permit it. WaL
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PICTURED ABOVE: Amir Khan Muttaqi, left, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban government, meets with Adam Boehler, the U.S. president’s special envoy for Detainee Affairs, in Kabul, Afghanistan. PC: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, via AP.
