U.K. Publicly Shames Hegseth Over Insult to Troops

Kylie Cooper / REUTERS The U.K. has issued a rare public rebuke of U.S.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he falsely claimed that most non-American NATO troops in Afghanistan avoided combat.

Hegseth made the comments during a speech at the University of Tennessee, recalling his own service in Afghanistan.

He claimed that although dozens of countries contributed to the NATO mission, only “one or two” were involved in combat operations by the end of the war.

“I was a captain in Afghanistan and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.

It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission there,” he said.

“Except there were maybe five that contributed.

It was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations.

In fact, the patch ISAF, we joked it meant ‘I Saw Americans Fighting’.” The remarks drew a sharp response from the U.K. government.

Asked about them at a Downing Street briefing, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Hegseth was “wrong” to diminish NATO allies’ role.

“The facts speak for themselves when it comes to the U.K.’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 our values, and more than 450 British personnel never returned,” the spokesperson said.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

“Their sacrifice and that of other NATO forces was made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally.