President Trump Wants to Reclaim Afghanistan
US President Donald Trump expressed interest in reclaiming the Bagram Air Base from the Taliban to use in counterterrorism operations during a press conference in the UK on Thursday.
The airbase, located in Afghanistan, could be a strategically advantageous location for counterterrorism operations against ISIS, a US official familiar with the discussions told the Wall Street Journal.
CNN reported that the US administration may seek to regain the base for improved access to rare earth minerals as well as to potentially reopen a diplomatic facility.
“We gave it to (the Taliban) for nothing,” Trump said in a press conference last week with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way. We’re trying to get it back because (the Taliban) need things from us."
However, a source familiar with the matter told CNN that all of the above objectives would require a US military presence, which would directly go against a 2020 agreement Trump signed in his first term that required a full US withdrawal.
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