Air Force brings great-power conflict concept to the Caribbean. But experts said the wargame—part of the larger, long-planned Emerald Warrior exercise organized by Air Force Special Operations Command—might also serve as a message to drug cartels and unfriendly governments in the region. Five years after he signed a deal to withdraw from Afghanistan, President Trump on Thursday said he wanted to take Bagram Air Base back from the Taliban. “That was gross incompetence to give [Bagram] up” when the U.S. military left in August 2021, Trump told reporters on Air Force One later Thursday. One day before Trump’s remarks, the three-star in charge of Air Force futures wrote, “No longer can the Air Force rely on Bagram-style air bases as sanctuaries, thanks to anti-access and area-denial capabilities developed by China and others.