Trump's Bagram Folly

Sending U.S. troops back to Afghanistan is an error and a waste of resources.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the president’s latest bizarre obsession:

Trump administration officials are in discussions with the Taliban about re-establishing a small U.S. military presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram air base as a launch point for counterterrorism operations, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations.

President Trump’s surprise announcement Thursday that he is seeking to reclaim Bagram air base in Afghanistan is one potential component of a broader diplomatic effort to normalize relations with the Taliban, the people said.

The president has complained for years that the U.S. shouldn’t have “given up” Bagram, but since he returned to office he has reportedly been insisting on reestablishing some sort of American presence there. I initially assumed that Trump was just repeating tired hawkish talking points so he could attack his predecessor, but it appears that the administration is actually trying to put Americans back in Afghanistan. The anti-China justification for this is laughable. It is every bit as ridiculous as it was back when then-Rep. Mike Waltz wrote an op-ed making this argument to oppose the 2021 withdrawal.

Sending U.S. troops back to Afghanistan is an error and a waste of resources.