UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has demanded an apology from US President Donald Trump for his statement regarding NATO forces in Afghanistan.
SNPNEWS.IN News (Gurmail Kamboj): US President Donald Trump is seen spoiling relations even with American allies due to his absurd statements. On Thursday, in an interview, President Trump claimed that NATO allied countries stayed “a little behind” from the front lines of the war in Afghanistan in 2001. Trump’s statement has sparked widespread discussion, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called it absurd and shameful.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Trump said that he is “not sure” whether this military alliance (NATO) would stand with the US if it ever needed it. In his statement, he said, “They (NATO members) will say that they sent some soldiers to Afghanistan (yes, we accept they did send them), they stayed a little behind during the war, while American security personnel were fighting on the front lines.”
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It is worth mentioning here that immediately after the 9/11 attacks on America’s World Trade Center in 2001, the US declared a war on terror and subsequently led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In addition to the US, NATO forces from the UK, France, Italy, Germany were involved. Even non-NATO American ally countries like Australia and New Zealand supported the US.
After the US, the UK had the highest number of troops among NATO forces. The declared objective of this military operation was to eliminate Al-Qaeda and primarily to remove the Taliban government from power so that Islamic terrorists would not have safe operational bases in Afghanistan.
However, even after removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, American troops (along with NATO forces) remained there for nearly 20 years and ruled through a puppet government in Afghanistan. Despite holding Afghanistan under occupation for 20 years, when the Taliban terrorists refused to retreat and after thousands of soldiers from the US and allied countries lost their lives, facing strong opposition to this costly occupation, then-President Joe Biden finally decided in August 2021 to withdraw American and allied forces from Afghanistan, leading to the re-establishment of a Taliban government there.
Starmer has described Trump’s statement as “insulting and extremely shameful.” He has asked the American President to apologize for this statement.
Britain’s Prime Minister said, “I will never forget the courage, bravery, and sacrifices made by the soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan for their country. Many people were injured and suffered wounds that changed their lives.”He further said, “I consider President Trump’s comments insulting and, to be honest, extremely shameful. This has deeply hurt the family members of those who were killed or injured, and in fact, it has affected the entire country.”
Starmer said that if he himself made such a wrong statement, he would “certainly apologize.”