Everyone took risks in Afghanistanpublished at 11:08 GMT
Frank Gardner
Security correspondent
President Trump’s comments are
baffling in this context as thousands of non-US troops risked their lives – and
many lost them – in some of the fiercest fighting, especially in Kandahar and
Helmand provinces.
It was not just UK forces that saw some of the most intense
combat there, as well as suffering horrific, life-changing injuries from hidden improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The Canadians, the Estonians, the Danes
and many other nations, including the UAE, deployed their troops to some of the
most dangerous parts of the country, in support of the US-led Operation
Enduring Freedom.
It’s true that not everyone saw
intense combat – there were thousands of Americans based in the relative safety
of Bagram airbase, for example.
But the fact is that every single person who
deployed to Afghanistan – men and women, military and civilian – risked their
lives to some extent in support of America’s call for assistance in the
aftermath of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.
To
ignore this sacrifice prompts the inevitable question: would they do it again
now?
