As Afghan war grows, so does Bagram

[unhappycamper]

U.S. soldiers are seen outside a food concession area Oct. 20 at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The sprawling military hub 25 miles from the Afghan capital of Kabul continues to grow and will continue to do so, even if the troop increase there is limited.


As Afghan war grows, so does Bagram
By Hamza Hendawi - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 2, 2009 6:45:28 EST

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Seen from a tiny village on a recent moonless night, the sprawling U.S. base three miles to the north looks more like a medium-size city than a military facility in a war zone.

Bagram Air Field, as the base is formally known, is the largest U.S. military hub of the war in Afghanistan and is home to some 24,000 military personnel and civilian contractors. Yet it is continuing to grow to keep up with the requirements of an escalating war and troop increases.

With tens of millions of dollars pouring into expanding and upgrading facilities, Bagram is turning into something of a military “boom town.” Large swathes of the 5,000-acre base look like a construction site, with the rumble of building machinery and the scream of fighter-jets overhead providing the soundtrack.

The rapid growth here is taking place at a time when the Obama administration is debating the future direction of the increasingly unpopular war. Among the options under discussion is a recommendation by U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the overall commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, to bring in additional U.S. troops, perhaps as many as 80,000.

But even with current troop levels — 65,000 U.S. troops and about 40,000 from allied countries — Bagram already is bursting at the seams.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_afghanistan_bagram_growth_110209/



unhappycamper comment: They forgot to mention the secret CIA detention facilities at Bagram. :shrug:

[tekisui]

1. Bagram is the 'Good Gitmo'.

We raise holy hell because of the illegal detentions at Gitmo. Bagram is much larger and just as illegal, but it's expansion under Obama is overlooked.

A bunch of damn hypocrites.