Scottish veterans demand apology from Trump over Afghanistan claims

Janette Binnie from Aberdeenshire is still haunted by the events of May 2009.

Her 22-year-old son Sean was killed while serving with the Black Watch in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

Now, more than 16 years on, Donald Trump’s comments about allied forces have reopened painful wounds for families like hers.

The US President claimed Nato troops stayed away from the frontline during the conflict, prompting condemnation from those who served alongside American forces and from families of the fallen.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Trump said: “We’ve never needed them.

“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan…and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines.”

Janette described those remarks as a disgrace.

She told STV News: “I’m 16 years down the line (since Sean’s death) and have I learnt how to live and be human again? Of course I have. Are there days that I miss Sean? Are there days that I crumble? Of course there are.

“But this man has took it right to the forefront. Basically what he’s said is that every veteran, every soldier, that they’re nothing. I’m sorry but my son was worth a lot more than that.”

Sean’s body was returned to the UK draped in the Union flag after he was killed while on patrol. He was one of 457 British lives lost during the conflict.

Hundreds more bear both the physical and mental scars of frontline action.

Janette believes Trump’s remarks show a fundamental lack of understanding of the bonds forged during the war.

“He’s got no knowledge,” she said. “No knowledge of the sacrifices, the humanity, the comradeship. It’s a second family and he’s not got a clue that man.

“There are boys who are still in touch with boys from the American forces, who they built up a trust and brothership with, so if they didn’t work with them, how could they not have been on the frontline?

“Of course, they were on the frontline.”

Her anger was echoed by veterans across Scotland on Friday.

At a veterans’ breakfast in the north-east, there was outrage at what was described as a lack of respect for those who fought and died.

One veteran told STV News: “My son-in-law is a veteran from Iraq and Afghanistan and they were not rear echelon people, they were up the frontline.”

Another added: “It’s absolutely shocking. The guys who have fought for the country, they have lost legs, they’ve been blown up.”

Trump’s comments have also triggered a furious response from politicians.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the remarks were “insulting and frankly appalling” and suggested he should apologise.

“I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country,” Starmer said on Friday.

After the 9/11 terror attacks, the UK joined the US in Afghanistan after Nato’s collective defence clause was invoked for the first and only time in the alliance’s history.

UK Armed Forces minister Al Carns, who served five tours in Afghanistan, said British troops fought and died alongside their American counterparts.

The former Royal Marines colonel said: “On Afghanistan, frankly, this is utterly ridiculous. Many courageous and honourable service personnel from many nations fought on the front line. Many fought way beyond it.

“I served five tours in Afghanistan, many alongside my American colleagues. We shed blood, sweat and tears together. Not everybody came home.

“These are bonds, I think, forged in fire, protecting the US, our shared interests, but actually protecting democracy overall.

“And I’d suggest whoever believes these comments come have a whisky with me, my colleagues, their families, and importantly, the families of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for both of our nations.”

The Afghanistan Veterans Community said in a statement they were proud of those who served and would “never forget the 457 UK Service persons who paid the ultimate sacrifice, our wounded and the families and friends who live on”.

Trump’s remarks have also drawn criticism from across the UK political spectrum.

Labour MP and former RAF officer Calvin Bailey, who served alongside US special operations units in Afghanistan, said the claim “bears no resemblance to the reality experienced by those of us who served there”.

Meanwhile, Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, said it was “sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also criticised the president, writing on X: “Trump avoided military service five times.

“How dare he question their sacrifice. Farage and all the others still fawning over Trump should be ashamed.”