US Needs Military Base in Afghanistan to Protect America From Terrorist Attack - Lawmaker

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) - A new US military base in Afghanistan is needed to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks, ranking Republican on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers said on Tuesday.

"Now that we are out we have no eyes and ears on what’s going on in Afghanistan", Rogers said during a press conference with fellow Republican lawmakers. "We have to have a base somewhere in Afghanistan."

Rogers said he had asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley to develop options to restore US counterterrorism and intelligence gathering capabilities in Afghanistan.

"We have got to deal with this counterterrorism and ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] vulnerability or we will have another attack on our soil and that’s not an option", Rogers said.

Options for military bases in neighboring nations will never happen due to likely opposition from Russia and China. In addition, flights from US bases in the Persian Gulf region require seven to eight hours, leaving pilots with only one or two hours for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance , Rogers added.