Deadly Afghanistan bombing at Kabul airport 'would not have occurred at Bagram,' soldier testifies
By COREY DICKSTEIN
STARS AND STRIPES • July 27, 2023
The suicide attack in August 2021 outside the Kabul airport that killed dozens, including 13 American troops, would not have happened if the U.S. conducted its hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan from the larger Bagram airfield, a soldier told lawmakers Thursday.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jacob Smith told House lawmakers that Bagram’s larger, more rural footprint and its well-established defenses would have made the operation to withdraw tens of thousands of Americans, U.S. allies and Afghans safer. Smith, who remains on active duty as the senior enlisted leader of a 10th Mountain Division battalion, testified out of uniform Thursday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subpanel on oversight and accountability to share his personal experiences during the pullout from Afghanistan.
“The events that happened at Abbey Gate, I believe that would not have occurred at Bagram,” Smith said about the Aug. 26, 2021, terrorist bombing at a Kabul airport entrance that killed more than 160 people. “The defenses that Bagram held [with] the ability to see for hundreds of meters and the defense in depth of its control points — I do not believe the result would have been the same.”
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2023-07-27/afghanistan-withdrawal-bagram-biden-kabul-airport-10879069.html
