James Durso
American President Donald Trump recently demanded that Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban allow the U.S. to take back Bagram Airfield, the military airfield near the capital city, Kabul. He declared, “BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN” if Afghanistan does not return the base to the U.S.
The Taliban promptly rejected Trump’s demand, though it said it seeks political and economic ties with Washington.
Why would Trump want U.S. forces to return to Bagram?
Trump is concerned that China may move into the airfield, and he recognizes it has a useful position for spying on China because, he says, “It’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
That is an interesting take, but there is little prospect the U.S. will return to Bagram. To start, how will all those troops and equipment get there?
In the wake of the 9-11 attacks on America by al-Qaeda, the world’s sympathy was with the U.S. and Iran, Russia, the Central Asian republics, and Pakistan cooperated with the U.S. punitive expedition to Afghanistan to seek and destroy al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden. But that was 24 years ago, a vanished world.
Today, Russia and Iran have no interest in helping the U.S. into Afghanistan, unless it is to help trap the U.S. in another quagmire. Pakistan often cooperates with the U.S., but it has a Taliban problem of its own, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and helping the Americans will spur more terrorist attacks that are responsible for more than 4,600 deaths of civilian and security personnel since 2021. The Central Asian republics are friendly with Washington (and Kabul) but are unlikely to want to be considered America’s co-belligerent in a renewed campaign in Afghanistan.
The U.S. will have to seize the airfield by force and that would require many troops and aircraft that would have to be secretly staged somewhere in the region. The base occupies 5 square miles (or about 3,200 acres) and would have to be guarded by hundreds of U.S. troops who woul
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