Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments on U.S. allies in Afghanistan as an attempt to rewrite the history books.
Trump falsely claimed that troops from non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front lines during the Afghanistan war. He said he wasn’t sure the alliance would be there to support the United States if and when requested.
“We’ve never needed them; we have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said of his NATO allies in an interview with Fox News in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
“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.”
WATCH | Minister responds to Trump’s remarks:
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s false assertion that non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front lines during the war in Afghanistan. ‘We all know the sacrifice of the men and women in uniform,’ Champagne told reporters at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Quebec City.
Hundreds of NATO allied troops were killed during the Afghan war — which was launched in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. — including 158 members of the Canadian forces.
Champagne shot back when asked about Trump’s comments during a news conference on Friday.
“You cannot rewrite history.… We’re proud of our men and women in uniform and we know the sacrifice they have endured,” Champagne told reporters.
“We don’t need comments from anyone else to know the strength of our armed forces … they know what they did, we know what they did and the world knows what they did.”
Defence Minister David McGuinty added his voice to Champagne’s in pushing back against Trump’s comments.
“There was no standing back. Only standing side by side, together on the front lines with our allies,” said McGuinty in a media statement Friday.
The Afghan war was the only time Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty has been used. The article is the key mutual-defence clause, obliging all member countries to come to the aid of another member whose sovereignty or territorial integrity might be under threat.
Nigel Williams, a Canadian veteran of the war in Afghanistan, told CBC News that he felt “rage and anger and disappointment” when he first heard Trump’s comments.
“Try to say that to a mother who buried a son, or a wife who buried her husband, or a husband who buried his wife. That’s not going to go over very well,” he told host Andrew Nichols.
WATCH | Canadian war vet angry, disappointed after Trump comments:
Nigel Williams, a Canadian veteran of the war in Afghanistan, speaks to CBC News about U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that troops from non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front line during the conflict. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Trump should apologize for his remarks, describing them as ‘insulting’ and ‘appalling.’
Williams specifically pointed to Canada’s role in Kandahar — a hotbed of Taliban activity — between 2005 and 2011 as an example of Canadian forces being on the front lines of the war, despite Trump’s claims.
“Clearly his perspective is different on it than mine — I thought those were real bullets and real IEDs [improvised explosive devices] that was happening and exploding around us,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer asked Trump to apologize for his assertions, describing the remarks as “insulting” and “appalling.”
Starmer paid tribute to the 457 British personnel who died and to those have been left with profound life-long injuries.
“I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country,” he said.
“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.”
Prince Harry weighed in, too, saying the sacrifices of British soldiers during the war “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”
“Thousands of lives were changed forever,” said Harry, who did two tours of duty in Afghanistan in the British Army.
“Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost.”
Anger was further fuelled by the fact that Trump himself has not ever served in the military, deferring service in the Vietnam War at a time when he was eligible.
Trump received a deferment that allowed him to not serve in Vietnam because of bone spurs, but he has been unable to remember in which foot, leading to accusations of draft dodging.
“It’s hugely ironic that someone who allegedly dodged the draft for the Vietnam War should make such a disgraceful statement,” said Stephen Stewart, author of The Accidental Soldier, an account of his time embedded with British troops in Afghanistan.
Repeated NATO slights
It wasn’t the first time that Trump downplayed the commitment of NATO countries over the past few days. It has been one of his main lines of attack as he escalated his threats to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to Denmark.
Trump’s allegation that NATO countries won’t be there when requested stands in stark contrast to reality.
“When America needed us after 9/11, we were there,” former Danish platoon commander Martin Tamm Andersen said.
Denmark has been a stalwart ally of the U.S. in Afghanistan, with 44 Danish soldiers killed there, the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces. Eight more died in Iraq.
The latest controversy surrounding Trump comes at the end of a week when he has faced criticism — and pushback — for his threats to Greenland.
Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on European nations opposed to his ambitions to annex Greenland, which raised questions over the future of NATO. And though Trump backed down after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in which he said they formed the “framework” for a deal over Arctic security, trans-Atlantic relations have taken a hit.
His latest comments are unlikely to improve relations.
Diane Dernie, whose son Ben Parkinson suffered horrific injuries when a British Army Land Rover hit a mine in Afghanistan in 2006, said that Trump’s latest comments were “the ultimate insult” and called on Starmer to stand up to Trump over them.
“Call him out,” she said. “Make a stand for those who fought for this country and for our flag, because it’s just beyond belief.”
Taking her up on that, Starmer said “what I say to Diane is, if I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize, and I’d apologize to her.”
