Donald Trump has triggered a political storm in Britain after suggesting Nato allies, including the UK, stayed “a little off the front lines” during the war in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News
Donald Trump has sparked fresh outrage in the UK after telling a US television audience that Nato troops stayed “a little off the front lines” during the war in Afghanistan, prompting angry reactions across Parliament and from former service personnel who fought in the conflict. The comments also reignited wider concerns in Europe about the US president’s commitment to the Nato alliance and its principle of collective defence.
Britain was one of Washington’s closest military partners in Afghanistan, sending tens of thousands of troops over two decades after the US invoked Nato’s Article 5 following the 11 September 2001 attacks. That clause, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all, was used for the first and only time after 9/11, paving the way for Nato forces to deploy in support of the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban and pursue al-Qaeda.
In the Fox News interview, Trump said he was “not sure” Nato would come to America’s aid “if we ever needed them”. “We’ve never needed them,” he said, adding that while allies would point to their deployments in Afghanistan, “they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines”. He also argued that the US had “been very good to Europe and to many other countries” and that the alliance “has to be a two-way street”.
The remarks drew swift condemnation in Westminster. Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, described them as “much more than a mistake” and “an absolute insult” to the 457 British service personnel who were killed in Afghanistan. She said Trump’s claim that Nato forces were not on the front line was wrong and demeaning, adding that UK troops had always been there when the US called on them and that the American leader’s tone was “bullying” and designed to undermine Nato.
Senior figures from across the political spectrum echoed that view. Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Trump had “avoided military service” and asked: “How dare he question their sacrifice?” Stuart Andrew, a Conservative shadow cabinet member, called the comments “disgraceful” and “appalling”, saying many people in the UK had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, some losing their lives and many more returning with life-changing injuries, and that they deserved thanks rather than dismissal. He also said the UK-US relationship remained vital for defence and security, noting Trump had recently focused discussions on the security of the Arctic, which he has described as facing a “very serious threat”.
Ben Obese-Jecty, a Conservative MP who served in Afghanistan, said it was “sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States”. Writing on social media, he said he had seen at first hand the sacrifices made by British soldiers and did not believe US military personnel shared Trump’s view, adding that the president’s words did a disservice to America’s closest military allies.
Calvin Bailey, a Labour MP and former RAF officer who served alongside US special operations units in Afghanistan, said Trump’s claim bore “no resemblance to the reality experienced by those of us who served there”. He said British and American forces had been united by a shared belief in freedom and in responding to the 9/11 attacks, and that it was worth reflecting on that now.
The criticism was not confined to the UK. The Dutch foreign minister, David van Weel, rejected Trump’s remarks as “false”, saying Europeans had “shed blood” in support of US troops in Afghanistan. He said Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, had already pushed back against similar claims made by Trump during a joint appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier on Thursday, and that if the US president repeated them “we need to repeat it again because that’s not how history went”.
Downing Street pointed to comments made by the UK defence secretary, John Healey, while visiting Nato ally Denmark earlier in the week. He said: “In Afghanistan, our forces trained together, they fought together, and on some occasions, they died together, making the ultimate sacrifice.” The government has sought to underline the depth of military cooperation between the UK and the US and to avoid allowing the row to escalate into a broader diplomatic rift.
