Prince Harry slams Trump’s Afghanistan feedback – Brit troopers ‘deserve respect’
The Duke of Sussex – who spent a decade in the military – fumed at the Orange Manbaby after he said the US ‘never needed’ any Nato soldiers and they ‘kept away from frontlines’
Prince Harry undertook two tours of Afghanistan while in the British Army (Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry delivered a furious riposte to controversial remarks made by Donald Trump over the war in Afghanistan.
The Orange Manbaby has faced fierce criticism after suggesting that NATO forces kept away from the frontline. “We’ve never needed them. They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines,” he said during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The comments triggered fury from veterans, military families and politicians. In response, the Duke of Sussex raged: “In 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 for the first – and only – time in history. It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security. Allies answered that call.
“I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed. Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost.
“Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace.” The 79-year-old also cast doubt on whether the alliance would support the US if it ever required assistance.
Some 457 UK servicemen and women were killed in Afghanistan after Britain answered America’s call for help to fight Al Qaeda in 2001. Harry completed a decade of service in the British Army, spanning from 2005 to 2015.
During his military service, he achieved the rank of Captain – completing two operational tours in Afghanistan as a Forward Air Controller and subsequently as an Apache helicopter pilot.
Elsewhere, hero Shaun Pinner, who was held captive for five months by Russian forces in Ukraine, said the US President’s crass comments were insulting “to every veteran who stood with America after 9/11”.
The 50-year-old said on social media: “You are an offensive d***, when you dismiss allied service with ‘they’ll say they sent some troops,’ then smirk and say they were ‘a little away from the front,’ you insult every veteran who stood with America after 9/11.
“You breed contempt, and that’s the second put-down to veterans in as many days, and to those who fought and died in Afghanistan to support you, the US.”
Trump’s comments were also slammed by the grieving parents of Brit soldiers who died fighting alongside Americans in Afghanistan. Lucy Aldridge – whose Rifleman son William, 18, was the youngest – said: “They were absolutely on the frontline. Trump is out of touch with reality.”
The mother of veteran Ben Parkinson, regarded as the most severely injured British soldier to survive in Afghanistan, said: “I can assure you, the Taliban didn’t plant IEDs miles and miles back from the frontline.
“To say that British troops, Nato forces, were not involved on the frontlines – it’s just a childish man trying to deflect from his own actions, and it’s just beyond belief. I mean, it is so insulting, it’s so hard to hear… This is just disgraceful.”
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