NATO Allies Express Disappointment as Trump Questions Commitment

A German soldier deployed to Kabul following 9/11 has spoken out against America’s renewed aggression, after Donald Trump claimed NATO troops were ‘off the frontlines’

A soldier deployed to Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 has said Donald Trump’s desertion of NATO and is “heartbreaking” as the US President denigrates troops who fought for his country.

Trump, who has been insisting in recent weeks that NATO would not come to the aid of America if it was under attack, ratcheted up his rhetoric while speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. While he admitted that troops – more than 130,000 of whom were sent to the Middle East after the organisation triggered its Article 5 mutual defence clause – had strung to the aid of the US, he suggested that, despite the deaths of 3,500 of those troops, they stayed “a little off the frontlines”.

The soldiers lucky enough to return have been left broken hearted to see the current US administration deny their good will, despite having walked into the conflict with the best of intentions.

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Speaking to the Mirror, Alex W, a German soldier who was deployed with the country’s second deployment to Afghanistan in 2003, said the recent comments from Trump were “heartbreaking” after he and others “answered the call”. Alex was a normal conscript in 2003, and opted to extend his stay in the German army after Article 5 was invoked, eventually choosing to go to Afghanistan despite being given the option to refuse the “considerably more dangerous” placement.

He was stationed in and around Kabul, where his main duties were to communicate with elders, assist rebuilding efforts, educate police and the local military, and provide guard and protection duties for ISAF troops, “and the Americans of course”.

Alex saw the “death of comrades first hand” in a suicide bombing, but has been left feeling like their sacrifices were trampled on and “forgotten”. He said: “We saw death of comrades first hand in a suicide attack on a German bus that was on its way to the Kabul airport on June 7, 2003 where at least five German soldiers died.

“So we answered the call, supported where and however we could and in the end everything like that is forgotten and trampled which leaves a sour taste – one has to think what NATO is worth these day to the US; not a whole lot.”

Alex is also furious with the Trump administration for laying the groundwork for the eventual reclamation of Afghanistan by the Taliban, saying it was “a huge fault of Trump and decisions made in his first term” as “the hasty withdrawal of all remaining troops led to the chaos and the quick fall of the country”.

He said it was “truly heartbreaking to see after all the blood and tears poured into rebuilding, educating and support over all the years since 2001”.

Alex remains hopeful that the military alliance can endure, however, noting there exists “even more resolve from everyone else in the alliance” even if America is stepping away. He said: “We must stand strong against American aggression and saber rattling regarding Greenland, we can not allow it to be taken by force or otherwise.

“If America and Trump can just continue to do whatever they want we will have a full on collapse of international rule of law at our hands, we must stay as strong against this as we are against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”