Trump downplays allies' contribution in Afghanistan. “I didn't need them / They stayed a little further back”
Donald Trump, at the NATO summit in The Hague. PHOTO: RUT / SplashNews.com / Splash / Profimedia
President Donald Trump stated, in an intervention on Fox News, that the help of US allies in the campaign in Afghanistan was not necessary, their troops staying far from the front lines, reports The Guardian.
The only time the mutual defense clause was invoked in NATO, which states that an attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all, was after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when the member states of the North Atlantic Alliance sent thousands of soldiers to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Americans.
New reproaches brought to NATO allies
Speaking about his grievances with NATO, Trump questioned the readiness of the 31 allies to come to the aid of the United States if necessary. Speaking on Fox News, Trump said he was unsure whether NATO would pass the “ultimate test” of defending the United States if it were ever threatened.
Donald Trump: “If I hadn't come, NATO wouldn't have existed.” The American leader says that without him the Alliance would have “fallen into the oblivion of history”
“We never needed them … They say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … And they did, they stayed a little bit further back, a little bit further from the front line,” Trump said, adding that the United States has been “very nice with Europe and a lot of other countries. But it has to be a two-way street.”
These remarks follow similar comments made earlier this week, when he described the alliance as “overrated” and questioned the readiness of its members to respond to a crisis.
“I know we're going to come to NATO's aid; but I wonder whether or not they're going to come to our aid,” Trump said before attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.
A third of the casualties in Afghanistan, borne by NATO allies
A total of 3,486 NATO soldiers have died in the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan, of which 2,461 were US soldiers.
Another 456 were British, to which are added 2,000 wounded, civilian and military. Canada, the US's main ally and trading partner, had 165 deaths as its soldiers fought in Afghanistan for 12 years, during which more than 40,000 people participated in the mission.
Trump singled out Denmark as ungrateful for protecting Greenland in World War II, but 44 Danes have been killed in Afghanistan, the most by population after the US.
After initial remarks earlier in the week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Trump that alliance members would defend the United States, pointing out that they had already done so in Afghanistan.
“For every two Americans who paid the ultimate price, there was a soldier from another NATO country who never returned to his family, from Holland, from Denmark and from other countries. You can be sure that if the United States is ever attacked, your allies will be with you. It's an absolute guarantee. I want to tell you this because it hurts me to see that you don't believe,” Rutte said.
Romania, harsh intervention after Trump's attacks on Europe in the Greenland crisis. Oana Țoiu: “He asked us if Europe would answer the US call in times of need. History has already answered”
And Romania's foreign minister, Oana Ţoiu, responded to the comment of President Donald Trump, who asked in Davos if Europe would come to the aid of the US, she specified that history has already answered this question, because, after the September 11 attack, Romania responded to the call of the US, even though it was not a member of NATO, and, once Article 5 was triggered, Romanian soldiers headed to Afghanistan, just like other allies.
Romania participated in the mission in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2021, within the NATO (ISAF, Resolute Support) and international coalition operations. According to official data, 27 Romanian soldiers lost their lives in combat actions in Afghanistan, and over 200 soldiers were injured in the same operations.
