Republicans in the U.S. Congress, other opponents of ending the U.S. war in Afghanistan, and even some members of the military have been arguing that President Joe Biden should not have pulled out of Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, and even that he should order its re-occupation now, for the evacuation ongoing at the Kabul airport. Biden, when asked about Bagram during an Aug. 26 press conference, said it “was not much value added, that it was much wiser to focus on Kabul.”
One U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that it would have taken an estimated 8,000 U.S. troops to secure Bagram, which likely would have been attacked by the Taliban as they swept to power. Americans wanting to leave the capital then would have faced a roughly 40-minute drive through Taliban checkpoints.
