Diplomacy · Knoxville and Warsaw
Poland's Sikorski rebukes Hegseth over remarks on allies' role in Afghanistan
Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski answered US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who told cadets in Tennessee that few allied countries had been involved in combat in Afghanistan. Sikorski pointed to the 44 Polish soldiers killed in Ghazni province.
- 2001US launches Enduring Freedom, which Poland backs
- 2002Poland sends GROM contingent and first 300-strong group to ISAF
- 2007Poland takes responsibility for two Afghan provinces
- 2021End of the NATO presence, per the 2001-2021 range RMF cites
Hegseth's remarks in Knoxville
On Saturday, 17 October, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke to cadets at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville about his own service in Afghanistan. He said that perhaps five allied countries, or closer to one or two, had been involved in kinetic operations there. He recalled seeing flags of about 50 countries at the allied headquarters in Kabul, and said soldiers joked that the ISAF acronym stood for 'I Saw Americans Fighting'. He had made a similar joke about the ISAF acronym last year, which also drew criticism.
Warsaw hits back
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski replied on X, addressing the US secretary directly. He wrote:
“Tell this, Mr Secretary, to the families of the 44 Polish soldiers who died securing the difficult Ghazni province.”
Poland was responsible for operations in Ghazni, among other areas, a province regarded as one of the hardest in the country. Jan Grabiec, head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, wrote that allies should not mock blood shed together. He said Polish soldiers are owed an apology and noted that hundreds of Poles were wounded during the Afghan mission, in addition to the 44 killed. Hegseth's comments also fit a wider pattern. In January, Donald Trump described American allies in Afghanistan as having stayed somewhat back from the front line, a remark that provoked outrage and protests on both sides of the Atlantic. After criticism from European leaders, including the British prime minister, Trump later praised the courage of British soldiers.
The NATO mission and the Polish role
The Afghan mission is the only time NATO has invoked Article 5, its mutual defence clause. More than 1,000 NATO soldiers died in it, including 459 Britons and 44 Poles. RMF gives a broader count of about 3,500 soldiers from allied countries killed between 2001 and 2021, around 2,500 of them Americans, so the two figures cover different scopes.
- United Kingdom
- 459 soldiers killed
- Poland
- 44 soldiers killed
Data from the article text
Poland backed the US-launched Enduring Freedom operation that began in 2001. In 2002 it sent a contingent including GROM special forces, sappers and logistics personnel, along with a first group of 300 soldiers to the NATO-led ISAF. Poland took responsibility for two Afghan provinces in 2007, and its contingent peaked at over 2,500 troops.
After ISAF ended, Polish troops joined the advisory and training mission Resolute Support. The Polish presence in Afghanistan lasted almost two decades, and that record is now at the centre of the dispute.