‘Wrong to Diminish’ Allied Sacrifice
The UK government has pushed back strongly after US President Donald Trump suggested NATO allies did not fight on the front lines in Afghanistan. British officials said his remarks were wrong and ignored the scale of the sacrifice made by allied forces during the conflict that followed the 9/11 attacks.
In a Fox News interview aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British service personnel were killed in Afghanistan. He claimed NATO allies sent troops but kept them “a little back” from the fighting — comments that quickly sparked outrage in the UK.
Britain and NATO Answered the US Call
After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, NATO’s collective defence clause, Article 5, was invoked for the first and only time, prompting the UK and other allies to join the US-led mission in Afghanistan from 2001.
Alongside British troops, soldiers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and other NATO countries also lost their lives. According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British deaths were the result of hostile action.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said those losses were made “in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally,” adding that the service and sacrifice of NATO forces would never be forgotten.
Families and Politicians Speak Out
Care Minister Stephen Kinnock said he expected Starmer to raise the issue directly with Trump, stressing that NATO had only ever invoked Article 5 to come to the aid of the United States after 9/11. Defence Secretary John Healey echoed that view, saying the UK and its allies “answered the US call” and paid a heavy price.
For families of the fallen, the remarks were deeply painful. Lucy Aldridge, whose 18-year-old son William was killed in Afghanistan, described Trump’s comments as “extremely upsetting.” Emily Thornberry, chair of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, called them “an absolute insult” to the 457 families who lost loved ones, insisting British troops were very much on the front line.
The United States is reported to have lost more than 2,400 soldiers during the Afghanistan war.
