The United States wants to reclaim the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The base is strategically located near China’s Xinjiang region and also borders Iran. “We gave it to (the Taliban) for nothing,” US President Donald Trump said during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way.”
I sincerely hope the neocons encircling the Capitol do not push the POTUS to redeploy troops to Afghanistan. When I met Donald Trump in March 2020, he repeatedly stated that he wanted to end America’s involvement in the Middle East. It is an endless war that began long ago. Trump said he was tired of writing letters to mothers to report that their sons and daughters were not returning home from a war that was never America’s to fight.
Strategically located, the air base is only 500 miles away from China. Rare earth minerals that the US so desperately needs can be found nearby as well. The proximity to China is not the primary motive for reclaiming the base. Only 30 miles away lies an essential trade network in Kabul controlled by Russia.
Russia removed Afghanistan from the blacklist status last November and has been strengthening ties to develop strategic infrastructure. Russia and Afghanistan have been planning a 573 km $6.9 billion railway with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Belarus. The Trans-Afghan Corridor railway service will connect Afghanistan to ports in Uzbekistan and Pakistan. This will simplify transit as cargo will be able to reach Pakistan from Uzbekistan in 3 to 5 days compared to the 35 days it currently takes. The line will also incorporate road transport.
The route is crucial for Central Asian logistics. Annual freight volume is expected to reach 22 million tons by 2030, and 34 million tons by 2040. There are discussions of using this route to develop future infrastructure projects, including pipelines. Afghanistan’s economy has little to offer, but it is positioned to control 20% of the cargo flowing through this area. Bagram is located about an hour awa,y and the US is keen to assert influence.
The Taliban would never willingly return the base to the US, of course, and economic offers would be of little importance considering the amount Afghanistan is set to gain from this railway project. Trump said “bad things” will happen if and when the Taliban refuses to return the base. Again, the media is not reporting the real reason that the United States suddenly wants to reclaim Bagram—RUSSIA!