UK and Poland criticise Hegseth over Afghanistan remarks
British officials cited more than 450 military deaths, while Poland’s foreign minister pointed to 44 Polish soldiers killed in Ghazni province.
Britain and Poland have challenged U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s account of allied participation in Afghanistan, after he suggested that only a small number of countries had contributed to combat operations. The British government said his remarks diminished the sacrifices made by allied forces.
Speaking at the University of Tennessee, Hegseth recalled seeing 50 national flags at the Kabul headquarters during his service as a captain. He said perhaps five countries had contributed, and that towards the end only one or two were engaged in combat operations.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said thousands of families in Britain and allied countries had made sacrifices, with more than 450 British personnel losing their lives. The spokesperson said their service supported collective security following an attack on an ally. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski separately said Hegseth should make those remarks to the families of the 44 Polish soldiers killed while securing Ghazni province.
Every one of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) then-28 members took part in the Afghanistan war led by the United States. The alliance invoked its Article 5 collective defence provision on 12 September 2001, following the previous day’s terrorist attacks. That remains the only invocation of the provision in NATO’s history.
