Written by Will Seykora
Leaving the Middle East. Something that every President has promised for the past 15 years, something that seemed like an empty campaign promise that would never come to fruition.
Yet here we are. The U.S. military has left one of its biggest airfields barren. Located in Bagram, Afghanistan, the airfield was home to over 100,000 U.S. troops throughout it’s lifespan. However, many are criticizing the way the airfield was left. Despite reports that the retirement of the U.S. airfield would be an ongoing process, Afganistan’s district administrator for Bagram, Dawraish Raufi, said it was done within days, with no coordination with local officials. This led to numerous incidents of looting Friday morning as no one was ready to defend the base.
With the abandonment of the airfield, many political figures in the U.S. are showing their displeasure with this move. Congressman Michael Waltz, a retired Special Forces officer said “As our only base sandwiched between China, Russia, and Iran, it’s a huge strategic asset.” While Mick Mulroy, a Pentagon official from the Trump administration says that the withdrawal from Afghanistan “may be a testament to the logistical capabilities of our force, but it also is not allowing for a buffer to see if the Afghan security forces will hold against the Taliban without our direct support.”
As of now, 81 of 419 district centers in Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, while others are being challenged by militants. With this base being one of our military’s most important assets in destroying Al Qaeda, it is also one of our most updated. Boasting shops, a fully functional hospital, two runways, and has a prison capable of holding over 1,500 prisoners.
Although many in the U.S. have been calling for an end to the war in the Middle East, the haste on the evacuation of troops leaves much to be desired in the way of ensuring we don’t have to go back. However, we can only hope that Joe Biden has a plan should the worst happen and we be forced to return, and that hope is diminishing quickly for many.
