The US President dismissed the sacrifice of more than 400 Brits who served and died in Afghanistan – claiming they “stayed a little back, off the front line”
The Mum of the youngest British soldier to die in Afghanistan says Donald Trump’s insult to Nato forces was “extremely upsetting.”
The US President dismissed the sacrifice of more than 400 Brits who served and died in Afghanistan – claiming they “stayed a little back, off the front line.”
He made the vile insult as he continued to pressure Nato allies to grant him greater control over Greenland.
Veterans and bereaved families of people who served in Afghanistan were left furious by the remarks, made in a TV interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Lucy Aldridge – whose son William was the youngest Brit to die in Afghanistan – said Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting.”
She told the Mirror : “We live the trauma daily for the rest of our lives because of the contribution that our loved ones made. And they were absolutely on the front line.”
Rifleman William Aldridge died in a bomb blast in 2009, 47 days after his 18th birthday.
“William himself was in Sangin, in Helmand Province. They were patrolling the Pharmacy Road in 2009/2010, which were the worst years for casualties for allied forces because it was the singularly most dangerous place in the world at the time.
“And to ignore that because, let’s face it, Trump isn’t particularly hot on history… He is so out of touch with the reality and what it costs in human life. He has no compassion whatsoever for anyone who doesn’t serve him.”
Speaking to Fox News, Trump repeated his complaint that the US had been treated “unfairly” by Nato – despite the US being the only country ever to seek help from the group of nations under Article 5 of the Nato treaty.
And he crassly dismissed the sacrifice of Nato allies in the interview, saying: “We’ve never needed them. They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and this or that. And they did.
“They stayed a little back, off the front lines.”
Article 5 requires all member states to help defend any country that comes under attack – which the US invoked following 9/11 to amass a force to invade Afghanistan.
Some 405 British servicemen and women lost their lives due to hostile action during the campaign in Afghanistan.
More than 36,000 troops were sent from Nato member states by 2011, including around 9,500 from the UK, to join the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Retired army Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: “Trump is now showing his complete ignorance of the fight with Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan – it was the UK who answered the US call after 9/11 and it was us who took on the fight in Helmand province the most difficult area of Afghanistan.
“I spent a long time in Helmand and we were in the vanguard of this battle and lost many brave men and women.
“I suggest in future he talks to the US military to get the truth rather than just fire off the hip or take advice from those who know little more than him. Every US soldier I fought with in Afghanistan I’m sure would be horrified by these comments from the President of the United States.”
Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of the US Army in Europe told Times Radio: “This is about as angry as I’ve been in quite some time. It’s sickening, and I hope that people listening to the programme will not think that all Americans believe that; that they understand that this is a person who (is) a five-time draft dodger…and Secretary Hegseth is just as bad.
“They don’t have a clue. I was in Kandahar from 2009 to 2010 (with) thousands of British soldiers, Canadian soldiers, Danish soldiers, Romanians and others. I was out on the runway many nights at what we call a ramp ceremony when the bodies of soldiers from all those nations that had been killed were being flown home. There’s no American soldier that believes what our president just said, and I am sorry that he did that.
Lord Sedwill, the former UK ambassador to Afghanistan, told Times Radio Trump’s claim would be deeply offensive to Afghanistan veterans and the families of UK personnel who died.
He said: “I was in Afghanistan, that was certainly the case there, and (they) were engaged in some of the most vicious fighting in some of the most dangerous areas. And so he is completely wrong to be dismissive.”
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “Trump avoided military service 5 times. How dare he question their sacrifice. Farage and all the others still fawning over Trump should be ashamed.”
It’s not the first time Donald Trump has spoken dismissively of the sacrifice of troops who died defending the United States.
During his first term he was widely criticised for allegedly referring to American soldiers killed in action as “losers” and “suckers.”
He’s said to have cancelled a visit to a US cemetery during a visit to Paris in 2018 because he said it was “filled with losers”.
According to four sources who spoke to the Atlantic Magazine, he ruled out the trip because the rain would mess up his hair.
Later in the same trip, he reportedly referred to US soldiers who died at Belleau Wood as “suckers”. The battle helped to prevent a German advance on Paris during World War One and is venerated by the US Marine Corps.