“We’ve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did — they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” So said United States President Donald Trump recently, referring to America’s NATO allies, including Canada.
The comments have provoked outrage. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called them “frankly appalling,” especially the insinuation that soldiers from other NATO states avoided the front lines in Afghanistan, leaving the most dangerous heavy lifting to American forces.
Anyone moderately familiar with NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan knows Trump’s insult is rubbish — especially when it comes to Canada.
