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Prince Harry has issued a public response to President Donald Trump's recent comments dismissing the role of NATO allies and the military in Afghanistan.
Prince Harry responded to President Trump's comments on NATO's role in Afghanistan, talking about the “sacrifices” made by military personnel. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) (AP)Trump, in an interview with Fox News at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said that non-US NATO troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines” during the Afghanistan conflict.
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What did Prince Harry say?In a detailed statement, Prince Harry said that Article 5 of the NATO Charter was triggered for the “first and only time” after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.
He reminded Trump that NATO allies at the time stood together with the United States in pursuit of shared security goals. He said, “Allies answered that call."
Prince Harry further added, “I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed.”
He reminded Trump of the sacrifices that military personnel made at the time. He said, “Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost.”
In his statment Prince Harry demanded respect for all those who were present in Afghanistan and said, “Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace.”
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Prince Harry was himself deployed in AfghanistanPrince Harry was one of the military personnel who was deployed in Afghanistan twice during his 10-year military career.
Prince Harry writes about his experience in his book Spare, detailing that during his deployment, he killed about 25 Taliban soldiers.
In early 2008, he was discreetly sent to Afghanistan for ten weeks, but he was later withdrawn due to reports from the media about his deployment in Afghanistan.
He was sent to Afghanistan a second time in September 2012 as a gunner and co-pilot of an Apache helicopter.