Sir Ed Davey has attacked Donald Trump over the president's claim that Nato troops stayed 'a little off the front lines' in Afghanistan. The Liberal Democrat leader pointed to the 457 British service personnel killed during the war, noting on social media that Trump had avoided military service five times.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump criticised Nato, saying he was not 'sure' the alliance would 'be there if we ever needed them'. He alleged that while allies sent troops to Afghanistan, 'they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines'. Davey responded: 'How dare he question their sacrifice. Farage and all the others still fawning over Trump should be ashamed.'
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment in Afghanistan, said it was 'sad to see our nation's sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States'. He recalled horrific casualties suffered by British soldiers in Sangin and said Trump's words did a disservice to US military personnel as well.
Labour's Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called Trump's comments 'an insult to 457 families who lost someone in Afghanistan' and far more than a mistake. Appearing on Question Time, she said: 'How dare he say we weren't on the front line... We have always been there whenever the Americans have wanted us.'
Calvin Bailey, a Labour MP and former RAF officer who served with US special operations units, told the Press Association that Trump's claim 'bears no resemblance to the reality experienced by those of us who served there'. He recalled a shared belief in freedom that underpinned the response to 9/11 and Nato's Article 5 collective security provision, invoked only once - by the US.
The UK suffered the second highest number of military deaths in Afghanistan after the US, which lost 2,461 personnel. In total, America's allies suffered 1,160 deaths, around a third of total coalition losses.
