Will US troops be sent back to Afghanistan? Trump eyes Bagram back; where does China fit in?

Is the United States preparing to instrumentality troops to Afghanistan to reclaim its foothold successful a strategically captious portion and antagonistic China? On Thursday, US President Donald Trump openly acknowledged his extremity "to get back" the Bagram airbase successful Afghanistan, aft Taliban takeover successful 2021.Trump, speaking publically astir these discussions for the archetypal time, told reporters his medication is moving to regain power of the base, located astir an hr northbound of Kabul. The Taliban seized Bagram pursuing the illness of the Afghan authorities and the US subject withdrawal successful 2021."We gave it to (the Taliban) for nothing," Trump said during a associated property league with UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer connected Thursday.

"It's an hr distant from wherever China makes its atomic weapons," the US president said."We're trying to get it back, by the way, that could beryllium a small breaking news. We're trying to get it backmost due to the fact that they request things from us. We privation that basal back," Trump said astatine the property league with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.According to CNN sources, discussions astir returning the basal to US power began arsenic acold backmost arsenic March.

Trump and his elder nationalist information officials spot Bagram arsenic captious for respective reasons: monitoring China, whose borderline lies nether 500 miles away; gaining entree to Afghanistan's uncommon world elements and mining sector; establishing a counterterrorism node to people ISIS; and perchance reopening a diplomatic facility.Trump besides reiterated connected Thursday that Bagram is adjacent wherever China makes missiles -- a assertion helium had archetypal made successful March."We were going to get out, but we were going to support Bagram, not due to the fact that of Afghanistan but due to the fact that of China, due to the fact that it’s precisely 1 hr distant from wherever China makes its atomic missiles," helium said successful March. "We were going to support a tiny unit connected Bagram."The past US troops near Bagram Air Base successful July 2021. For astir 2 decades, it had been the halfway of US subject powerfulness successful Afghanistan.At the clip of withdrawal, US forces removed the equivalent of astir 900 C-17 cargo loads and destroyed astir 16,000 pieces of equipment, according to US Central Command.