Politics
London and Warsaw defend NATO’s Afghanistan record after Hegseth remarks
The U.K. and Poland pushed back after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested only a small number of NATO allies took part in combat in Afghanistan. Their officials cited the sacrifices of British and Polish service members in the war.
LONDON — The United Kingdom and Poland criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he said that only a handful of NATO allies were actively engaged in combat operations during the Afghanistan war.
Speaking at the University of Tennessee over the weekend, Hegseth recalled seeing dozens of national flags at NATO headquarters in Kabul, but argued that just one or two allies were still conducting “kinetic operations” by the end of the mission. He also joked that the ISAF acronym for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force meant “I Saw Americans Fighting.”
The U.K. government rejected that characterization. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said thousands of British and allied families had made significant sacrifices, and that more than 450 British personnel died in the war. “It is wrong to diminish their role,” the spokesperson said, describing their service as part of collective security after an attack on a NATO ally.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also responded, urging Hegseth to repeat his remarks to the families of 44 Polish soldiers killed while securing Ghazni province.
NATO invoked Article 5, its collective-defense clause, on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was the first and only time the alliance has invoked the provision. All 28 NATO members at the time participated in the Afghanistan mission, though Hegseth’s comments focused on which countries took part in combat operations.
The dispute follows earlier criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in January that non-American forces had stayed “a little back” from the front lines. Those remarks also drew anger in the U.K.
The competing accounts touch a sensitive question for NATO allies: how the burdens and risks of a long-running military campaign are recognized, and whether public comments from U.S. officials could strain trust among members of the alliance.