The Duke of Sussex has called for the sacrifices of NATO troops to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, after the US president claimed allies stayed a little back from the front lines in Afghanistan. I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there, Prince Harry, who was twice deployed to the country, said on Friday as he paid tribute to NATO troops killed in the conflict, including 457 UK service personnel. The prince was reacting to controversial comments made by Donald Trump in an interview on Thursday. Trump's words have drawn condemnation from international allies, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling them insulting and frankly appalling.
The UK and other nations joined the US in Afghanistan after NATO's collective security clause was invoked following the 9/11 attacks. Prince Harry said: 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.
He added: 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 defense of diplomacy and peace.
The duke's comments follow Trump's Fox News interview in which he said: We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan... and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.
Sir Keir said: I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country. There were many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries. I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.
Ministers from foreign governments also criticized Trump's remarks. Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who was among 33,000 Polish troops who served on the frontline in Afghanistan, said: No one has the right to mock the service of our soldiers. Canada's Minister of National Defence David J McGuinty said Canadian troops were on the ground from the beginning, not because they had to, but because it was the right thing to do.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former secretary general of NATO during the Afghanistan War, told the BBC: No American president should have the liberty to belittle their legacy and to insult the ones who are still grieving the fact that they didn't come back alive from Afghanistan.\
The UK and other nations joined the US in Afghanistan after NATO's collective security clause was invoked following the 9/11 attacks. Prince Harry said: 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.
He added: 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 defense of diplomacy and peace.
The duke's comments follow Trump's Fox News interview in which he said: We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan... and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.
Sir Keir said: I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country. There were many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries. I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.
Ministers from foreign governments also criticized Trump's remarks. Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who was among 33,000 Polish troops who served on the frontline in Afghanistan, said: No one has the right to mock the service of our soldiers. Canada's Minister of National Defence David J McGuinty said Canadian troops were on the ground from the beginning, not because they had to, but because it was the right thing to do.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former secretary general of NATO during the Afghanistan War, told the BBC: No American president should have the liberty to belittle their legacy and to insult the ones who are still grieving the fact that they didn't come back alive from Afghanistan.\
