Downing Street has publicly rejected Pete Hegseth’s claim that most non-American Nato soldiers in Afghanistan did not take part in fighting, in a rare direct rebuke of a senior figure in Donald Trump’s administration. The US defence secretary made the comments in a speech at the University of Tennessee, where he said he had served as a captain in Afghanistan and described seeing 50 flags at the headquarters in Kabul.
Hegseth told the audience that there were “maybe five” countries contributing and that it was actually closer to “one or two” that were involved in kinetic operations by the end of the mission. He also joked that the Isaf patch meant “I Saw Americans Fighting”, a line that landed hard because it cut against how Britain and other allies remember their role in the Nato operation in Afghanistan.
The PM’s spokesperson said the facts spoke for themselves when it came to the UK’s and Nato’s contribution to Afghanistan. Thousands of British and allied families made huge sacrifices to play their significant part in that war and uphold their values, the spokesperson said, adding that more than 450 British personnel never returned. Their sacrifice, the spokesperson said, was made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on an ally.
The clash matters because it goes to the public record of the war itself. Hegseth’s account suggests a small group of allies did most of the real fighting, while Downing Street says that is wrong and that the role of British and other Nato forces should not be diminished. The government’s response also stands out because the UK is usually careful about publicly criticising Donald Trump and his team.
The argument has an added edge because Keir Starmer previously condemned a similar claim by Donald Trump as “insulting and frankly appalling”. The latest dispute now leaves one unresolved question hanging over the debate: how many non-American Nato countries were actually involved in kinetic operations by the end of the Afghanistan mission, and whether that history is about to be reopened from the top of US politics again.
