It’s clear we probably never should have given up Bagram which is strategically located. We certainly should not have departed before every American was safe and back in the States.
Richard Engel reported at the time that the American leaders left in the middle of the night. Some Afghan commanders said no one was told. Washington denied it. In the least, the Afghans thought it rude.
We posted the report On July 8th. This is the story as gleaned from the AP at the time:
The Biden administration left the Bagram Airfield after twenty years. They turned off the electricity, and didn’t even bother to tell the new commander.
The new Afghan commander found out two hours after they left.
“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander said.
Before the Afghan army could take control of the airfield about an hour’s drive from the Afghan capital Kabul, it was invaded by a small army of looters, who ransacked barrack after barrack and rummaged through giant storage tents before being evicted, according to Afghan military officials.
“At first we thought maybe they were Taliban,” said Abdul Raouf, a soldier of 10 years. He said the U.S. called from the Kabul airport and said “we are here at the airport in Kabul.”
There was a time, about a month ago, I would have thought that impossible.
Watch:
The U.S. military has quietly left what had been its center of operations in Afghanistan during two decades of warfare. @RichardEngel got a rare chance to look inside the facility. pic.twitter.com/u52CY6rFO4
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 7, 2021
Subscribe to the Daily Newsletter
