‘Really ill-informed’: Afghan veteran slams Trump’s Nato comments

Former army major Simon Strombom is the managing director of the NZ Remembrance Army. Photo / Mark Mitchell

By Finn Blackwell of RNZ

A former army major is calling comments made by US President Donald Trump ill-informed and sensationalist.

Trump has angered allies, claiming Nato troops “stayed a little back” from frontlines in Afghanistan.

The comments have drawn ire from the likes of UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer, who labelled the remarks “insulting and frankly appalling”, urging the president to apologise, according to CNN.

Roughly a third of those Allied personnel killed during the war came from non-US forces, including 10 New Zealanders.

The UK joined the US in Afghanistan from 2001, after it invoked Nato’s collective defence clause following the 9/11 terror attacks.

More than 450 British soldiers were killed.

Former army major Simon Strombom is the managing director of the NZ Remembrance Army and served in Afghanistan.

He also received a Distinguished Service Decoration.

Strombom told RNZ he commanded troops from Nato nations and found them exceptionally professional.

“I was heavily exposed to the professionalism and the challenges that the Nato, particularly British and the Canadian, troops had,” he said.

The comments were ill-conceived, Strombom said.

“What do you say, sensationalist comments to try [to] take a position that really is really ill-informed.”

Strombom said it would be hard for those who had lost loved ones in the conflict to hear those comments from a US president.

“I would be pretty upset if I had lost friends or a relative in those operations, particularly down in Kandahar,” he said.

“It’d be pretty hard for a family to have suffered such a loss and then to hear comments like that, just basically undermining the actual sacrifice of the families, it’s pretty poor form.”

Strombom said he had particular respect for British troops.

“I’ve always had a hell of a lot of respect for the discipline of British troops, and the professionalism of them, even down to their territorial army,” he said.

Trump's NATO Afghanistan claim condemned as insult to fallen troops. Photo / Getty Images

Trump hadn’t really understood the situation, Strombom said.

“The majority of the weight of the coalition headquarters - there were 48 countries in the headquarters we were in - America made up probably a quarter of those troops, but the rest of them were predominantly from Nato.”

Strombom doubted Trump would apologise for his comments.

Defence Minister Judith Collins said the country took great pride in the professionalism, courage, and commitment of all who served in Afghanistan.

“We responded to the call for assistance alongside our partners, and our people served willingly and with professionalism in challenging and often dangerous conditions,” she said.

“We continue to honour the memory of New Zealand Defence Force personnel who lost their lives in Afghanistan, and we acknowledge the enduring loss felt by their families, friends, and colleagues.”

- RNZ