Hegseth Says One or Two Allies Fought in Afghanistan. London, Warsaw and Prague Answer With the Dead
Hegseth said one or two allies fought in Afghanistan. Poland, the UK and Czechia replied with 44, 457 and 14 dead. What was said, and by whom.
In this article
Context
On Saturday 17 October, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth told ROTC cadets in Knoxville that of the dozens of flags at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, “it was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations.” On Monday 19 October Poland’s foreign minister, Czechia’s foreign minister and the British prime minister’s office each replied with casualty figures.
Stars and Stripes carried no Pentagon reply by Monday evening. The exchange reopens an argument that NATO allies thought January had settled, when Donald Trump told Fox News that allied troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” London reproached him then with almost the same words it used this week.
Key takeaways
Hegseth spoke of one headquarters in Kabul. Warsaw, London and Prague answered with their dead: 44 Polish soldiers, 457 British personnel by British media’s count, and 14 Czech soldiers. Downing Street’s October wording matches its January wording.
What Hegseth said
Hegseth spoke on Saturday 17 October to ROTC cadets and recruits at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Stars and Stripes reported. He recalled his time as a captain in Afghanistan: “we would go to headquarters in Kabul and there would be 50 flags.” Then the count: “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.”
He repeated a joke about the ISAF patch: “We joked that it meant, ‘I saw Americans fighting.’” He ended on fairness: “it’s demoralizing when you feel like it’s not burden sharing.”
Analysis
Three replies, three casualty counts
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, answered on X with “Tell that to the families.” He named the “44 Polish soldiers who died securing the tough Ghazni province.”
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday: “Their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten, and it is wrong to diminish their role.” The spokesperson added that “more than 450 British personnel never returned,” The Hill reported. British media put the UK toll at 457, according to Stars and Stripes.
Czech foreign minister Petr Macinka told the daily Novinky that allies should honour every life lost in joint operations, Radio Prague reported. Radio Prague counts 14 Czech soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Ben Hodges, a retired general and former commander of US Army Europe, called the comments “shameful” on X, Stars and Stripes reported. Amy McGrath, a Marine veteran who flew two tours in Afghanistan, told the paper: “When our SecDef diminishes their sacrifice, he damages trust with allies we may need again.”
Analysis
Did NATO allies fight in Afghanistan?
Yes. NATO invoked Article 5, its mutual defence clause, for the first and only time on 12 September 2001, the day after the attacks on New York and Washington.
Senate Armed Services Committee figures from 2021 put the dead at more than 1,100 NATO and partner troops, against 2,465 US service members, Stars and Stripes reported. It cited a Polish Radio report for Poland’s own count: 43 soldiers and one civilian paramedic dead, more than 200 wounded.
Hegseth’s phrase was “kinetic operations.” The three governments cited graves instead.
How the statements connect
On 22 January Trump told Fox News: “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan. And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson replied that British and allied forces served “in the service of collective security,” and that “their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Yahoo News reported. Defence Secretary John Healey said: “The UK and NATO allies answered the US call.” Emily Thornberry, who chairs Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, called Trump’s remarks “so much more than a mistake.”
“Their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten” appears in the January reply and in Monday’s. So does “wrong to diminish.” The prime minister behind them changed in between.
Trump spoke in a television interview. Hegseth spoke to cadets, and Stars and Stripes quoted McGrath on that audience: allies “we may need again.”
What to watch
The first marker is a Pentagon reply to the three governments: a restated count, a clarification or silence.
The second is who speaks next. In January, Healey and Thornberry responded within a day, according to Yahoo News. This week only foreign ministers and a prime minister’s spokesperson have spoken. A defence minister in London, Warsaw or Prague would widen the dispute.
Any later US statement on burden sharing will be read against 44 Polish, 14 Czech and 457 British dead.
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