US defence secretary Pete Hegseth holds talks with Wes Streeting at the Pentagon last Thursday.Pete Hegseth has been criticised after he mocked the contribution Nato countries made to the war in Afghanistan.
The US defence secretary was branded “dishonest, disrespectful and dishonourable” over his comments, which he made in a speech to US army cadets.
Hegseth suggested that “maybe five” countries contributed to the mission, with just “one or two” actually fighting.
In fact, more than 1,100 non-American troops from 31 different countries were killed in Afghanistan, 457 of them from the UK.
Hegseth: “I was a captain in Afghanistan and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.
“It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the Nato alliance and the [International Security Assistance Force] mission there. Except there were maybe five that contributed, it was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations.
“In fact the patch ‘ISAF’ we joked it meant ‘I Saw Americans Fighting’.”
Hegseth on Afghanistan:
I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.
It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there.
Except… pic.twitter.com/zWIVXNuY5y
A community note on X added to a video of his remarks said: “Over 1100 non-American soldiers from 31 US-allied countries were killed fighting in Afghanistan, approximately 1/3 of the total combat deaths.”
Hegseth was condemned on social media for his comments.
Shameful. Over a thousand Allied Soldiers were killed in Afghanistan fighting alongside US Soldiers and Marines. Why would the Secretary think it was appropriate to disparage our Allies in front of these young Cadets, future Officers? https://t.co/DI8vkHxWuI
— Ben Hodges (@general_ben) October 18, 2026Tell that, Mr @SecWar, to the families of 44 Polish soldiers who died securing the tough Ghazni province. https://t.co/vm4TM0sMJO
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) October 18, 2026I was also a Captain in Afghanistan in the dismounted close combat role. I never got time off to go to Kabul HQ.
You are dishonest, disrespectful and dishonourable @PeteHegseth
You shame your country as @SecWarhttps://t.co/sZLdv0l0Ru
457 UK armed forces personnel died during the war in Afghanistan. Beyond those and US fatalities, a further 703 individuals from 30 nations were killed. Hegseth owes each of their families an apology. https://t.co/2p1pJ9Mojz
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) October 18, 2026Just a despicable smearing of our allies in Afghanistan. This man has no business representing this nation and our armed forces. https://t.co/TXUtTMx9Dq
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) October 18, 2026Just say, “Thank you.” pic.twitter.com/OF6gsX7mQA
— Tepid Legality (@92huskies) October 18, 2026Donald Trump was forced to climb down at the start of this year after he also attempted to downplay Nato’s contribution to the Afghanistan war, which followed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001.
The US president falsely alleged that coalition troops had “stayed a little back” from the frontlines during the conflict.
Keir Starmer publicly urged Trump to apologise for his “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks.
In a major U-turn, Trump later posted on Truth Social: “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America! In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken.”
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·