U.S. Air Force Prepares For More Air Strikes In Afghanistan

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft takes off for a nighttime mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, August 22, 2017. Josh Smith, Reuters

Reuters: U.S. fighter pilots in Afghanistan prepare for more air strikes

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - For the fighter pilots at the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump’s new strategy for the war should mean escalating an already surging air campaign, and possibly including an unrestrained offensive against the Taliban.

The number of U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan has already dramatically spiked since Trump took office in January, from 1,074 in all of last year to 2,244 as of August 20 this year.

After a months-long review of his Afghanistan policy, Trump committed the United States last week to an open-ended conflict in the country and promised a stepped-up campaign against the Taliban insurgents.

Few details have emerged, but the pilots in Bagram are preparing for the possibility they’ll be taking the fight to the Taliban in a way they haven’t since the U.S.-led “combat mission” in Afghanistan was called off at the end of 2014.

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Update: U.S. Troop Increase in Afghanistan Is Underway, General Says (NYT)

WNU Editor: Like the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, I suspect that the U.S. is going to rely on air strikes to support ground forces. Bottom line .... the war in Afghanistan is about to explode exponentially.