U.S. President Donald Trump is facing backlash from Canadian veterans after suggesting NATO allies did little during the war in Afghanistan, comments veterans say ignore their painful sacrifices.

Donald Trump is facing backlash from Canadian veterans after suggesting NATO allies did little during the war in Afghanistan, comments veterans say ignore their painful sacrifices.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said the United States had “never needed” its NATO partners and characterized allied contributions in Afghanistan as minor, saying they “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

His remarks didn’t sit well with Canadian veterans who were part of the Afghan conflict, which represented the country’s largest overseas deployment since the Second World War. More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served in the region between 2001 and 2014. In total, 158 Canadians were killed and thousands more were injured.

  • trashcan@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    70·
    1 day ago

    Moncur’s time in Afghanistan came to an end when his platoon was mistakenly attacked by U.S. troops.

    “An American A-10 Warthog fired on our position without looking at his coordinates,” Moncur said. “It strafed myself and my entire platoon, essentially wiping out my platoon and killing (Private) Mark Anthony Graham.”

    Moncur said five per cent of his brain was removed following the attack. He re-learned how to walk, read, and write, effectively ending his military career. He is now a fifth-grade teacher in Thompson, Man.

    What a mess.

    Never again.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      16 hours ago

      And despite the fact that stories like this are too numerous to catalog, so many here want us in a war with Russia, or Iran, or somewhere they know jack shit about.

      • GreyEyedGhost@piefed.caEnglish
        5·
        14 hours ago

        I’m okay with being at war with any country that crosses their neighbors borders and starts attacking them. Russia is on that list, as is America since they attacked Venezuela.

          • GreyEyedGhost@piefed.caEnglish
            3·
            8 hours ago

            I should, but I don’t need to to know the horrors of war, even if I’ve been fortunate enough to not experience them personally. I’ve also read Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and have a fair idea about the horrors of living under an authoritarian regime, even if I’ve been fortunate enough to not experience them personally. One of the best ways to stop war is to resist those who would change the borders of other nations through violence, using whatever means are necessary, particularly if there are known abuses of their own citizens, let alone those they conquer, such as we have seen so many times with Russia.

      • gnutrino@programming.devEnglish
        20·
        21 hours ago

        When British planes are overhead, the Germans duck. When German planes are overhead, the British duck. When American planes are overhead, everyone ducks.

        Old WWII joke, the only thing that’s changed is that the Germans and British no longer need to duck for each other…