[Donald Trump’s comments] were not only inaccurate—they were deeply unfair to the men and women who served and sacrificed in Afghanistan.
In light of recent public comments about NATO’s role in Afghanistan, I feel a responsibility to share what I witnessed as the commander of the 50‑nation coalition that fought there.
From 2011 to 2013, I commanded all NATO forces and all U.S. forces outside the NATO mandate in Afghanistan. It is important to restate a simple truth: NATO was in Afghanistan because the United States was attacked on 11 September 2001. Article 5—the Alliance’s solemn commitment that an attack on one is an attack on all—was invoked for the first and only time in response to that assault. When America was attacked, our NATO allies came immediately to our side, and they fought shoulder to shoulder with U.S. forces across Afghanistan.
Any suggestion that NATO forces held back from combat is simply false. I witnessed their courage every day. I stood at a nearly continuous series of ramp ceremonies as we sent home the fallen—Americans, yes, but also Danes, Brits, Canadians, Poles, Estonians, Italians, French, Germans, and so many others. They fought in the thick of battle, and they paid in blood, in wounds, and in lives.
Some nations contributed smaller numbers of troops compared to the United States, but for several allies, their contributions—relative to the size of their militaries—exceeded our own. Yet they came, without hesitation, and they gave everything they had.
The coalition I led included all 28 NATO nations at the time, plus 22 partner nations who joined the fight and fought well. Australia, a non-NATO member, paid a very heavy price for its service in Afghanistan and joins the list I’ve recounted above of those nations which gave so much. Many nations came not because they were attacked, but because America had stood with them in their darkest hours. I will never forget a European defense minister, tears in his eyes, telling me his country had not been struck by terrorism—but during the long years of Soviet occupation, America had never abandoned them. Now free, they felt a moral obligation to stand with us.
None of this diminishes the extraordinary service and sacrifice of American troops. Every American has reason to be proud of them. But as the commander of a 50‑nation coalition, I remain equally proud of our allies who fought beside us, and I grieve for every family—American and allied—who lost a loved one in that long war.
These nations and their troops deserve our highest respect. I saw their courage firsthand, and I will honor their service for the rest of my life.
John R. Allen is a retired U.S. Marine Corps four-star general and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (2011-2013)