Hegseth “wrong” to  condemn role of Nato troops

Pete Hegseth, the US Defense secretary, was “wrong” to suggest that most non-American Nato soldiers in Afghanistan did not do any fighting.

Hegseth made the comment in a speech at the University of Tennessee, where he recalled serving in Afghanistan himself. He said:

“I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters. It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the Nato alliance and the Isaf [International Security Assistance Force] mission there.

Except there were maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations. In fact the patch Isaf, we joked it meant ‘I Saw Americans Fighting’.

Asked about Hegseth’s comment at a Downing Street lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said Hegseth was “wrong” in what he said about the Nato operation.

“The facts speak for themselves when it comes to the UK’s and NATO’s contribution to Afghanistan. Thousands of British and Allied families made huge sacrifices to play their significant part in that war and uphold our values, and more than 450 British personnel never returned. Their sacrifice and that of other Nato forces were made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally. We are incredibly proud of our armed forces, and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten, and it is wrong to diminish their role.”