He left Air Force Two behind and, unannounced, “shrouded in secrecy,” flew on an unmarked C-17 transport plane into Bagram Air Base, the largest American garrison in Afghanistan. All news of his visit was embargoed until an hour before he was to depart the country.
More than 16 years after an American invasion “liberated”
Afghanistan, he was there to offer some good news to a U.S. troop
contingent once again on the rise.
Before a 40-foot American flag, addressing 500 American troops, Vice
President Mike Pence praised them as “the world’s greatest force for
good,” boasted that American air strikes had recently been “dramatically
increased,” swore that their country was “here to stay,” and insisted that “victory is closer than ever before.” As an observer noted,
however, the response of his audience was “subdued.” (“Several troops
stood with their arms crossed or their hands folded behind their backs
and listened, but did not applaud.”)
