Gen. Milley: US Working On International Effort to Secure Kabul Airport

Officials see airport as vital to maintain embassies

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley confirmed the US and some NATO member nations are working on the establishment of an international mechanism to help the Afghan military secure the Kabul International Airport.

With many in Congress pushing for the US to find a way to keep intervening militarily in Afghanistan, support of the Kabul airport is seemingly an easy option, as officials say it is important to keep the airport safe if nations want to maintain embassies.

That may be a concern, but as a practical matter the Kabul Airport hasn’t been getting hit very often, and with officials confident in Kabul’s safety, the airport similarly seems fine. If anything this offers a visible way to maintain western support for the Ghani government in the capital, though likely just a fraction of what Milley has in mind.

Whether that’s wise or not remains to be seen. The Taliban wants the foreign troops out as part of the peace deal, and while the US can keep throwing money at Afghanistan for years, anything too direct is probably going to be a problem.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.