US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday appeared to reduce the contributions of America’& rsquo; s NATO allies during the war in Afghanistan.
His remarks echoed a repeating message from the White House and President Donald Trump: that NATO member nations should boost their defense spending to fulfill alliance commitments.Speaking before the United States Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Hegseth remembered a remark often made by U.S.
soldiers during his own service in Afghanistan.
Referring to the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) patch worn by union soldiers, he stated it was jokingly translated by many U.S.
soldiers as “& ldquo; I saw Americans combating.”“& rdquo; & ldquo; Ultimately it was a lotta flags.
Lotta flags.
[However it] was not a lot of on-the-ground ability,” & rdquo; Hegseth continued in disparaging the NATO soldiers.
“& ldquo; You & rsquo; re not a genuine coalition, you’& rsquo; re not a real alliance, unless you have real defense capability, and real armies that can bring those to bear.”& rdquo; His comments stimulated immediate criticism from Senator Chris Coons, who pointed to the considerable sacrifices made by NATO allies after 9/11, when the alliance conjured up Article 5 for the very first time.
Coons emphasized that nations like Denmark, despite their little populations, withstood high per-capita casualties —-- 2nd only to the U.S.“& ldquo; Let & rsquo; s just make clear for the record that our military partners in Afghanistan included many who served and passed away,” & rdquo; Coons said.Hegseth pushed back, saying his remarks weren’& rsquo; t implied to ignore those sacrifices.“& ldquo; Don & rsquo; t try and make it look like I don’& rsquo; t appreciate the investments of our partners,” & rdquo; said the secretary.
“& ldquo; Of course I do.
I acknowledge that there were lives lost from other nations.
The bulk of the effort was Americans.” & rdquo; Over the two-decade war in Afghanistan, 31 other countries joined the U.S.-led effort.
The U.S.
suffered 2,461 military deaths, with the UK next highest at 457.
Other NATO allies likewise lost personnel in combat and non-combat incidents.The post United States defense chief Hegseth downplays NATO allies’ & rsquo; function in Afghanistan war initially appeared on TINS News|Afghanistan News.