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Hegseth says only a few NATO allies were involved in fighting in Afghanistan
Recalling his deployment to Afghanistan, Hegseth said he would visit NATO headquarters in Kabul, where the flags of around 50 countries were displayed.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said that only a small number of NATO allies were actively involved in combat operations in Afghanistan, despite dozens of countries contributing to the alliance’s mission in the country.
Hegseth made the remarks while speaking to ROTC cadets and military recruits at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on October 17, during a stop on his “Send Me Tour.”
Recalling his deployment to Afghanistan as a captain, Hegseth said he would visit NATO headquarters in Kabul, where the flags of around 50 countries were displayed.
“It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there,” he said.
However, Hegseth questioned the extent of those countries’ involvement in combat, claiming that only a few contributed to fighting operations.
“Except there were like maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that, by the end, were actually involved in kinetic operations,” he said.
NATO’s ISAF mission was established in 2001 following the September 11 attacks and operated in Afghanistan until the end of 2014. It was succeeded by the Resolute Support mission, which focused on training, advising and assisting Afghan security forces until its conclusion in 2021.