The stupidest thing about this whole NATO debate is what it was actually like when we were there. It was always a team effort. We gave fire support across the Helmand river to the Danish under attack in patrol base Alpha-Xray (see pic for one of the actual guns we used), and we were as gutted as anyone when we saw the Chinook flying in and knew they had casualties. We handed over our patrol base to an Estonian unit whose commander was on his second tour of Afghanistan - the first having been with the Soviet Army in the 1980s. I once hitched a lift from Bastion to Gereshk with the Czech Special Operations Group. My platoon were very grateful for the slivovitz they gave me. A small shot went down a treat in a hot chocolate after a long and stressful night patrol. Visiting the Dutch in Tarin Kowt was always a pleasure. Their nurses were quite the sight for sore eyes after weeks in the field. Likewise the Canadians over in Kandahar, especially the Van Doos, sister unit of my first regiment. And of course - American dining facility access was highly prized. You can’t argue with steak and crab legs in a war zone. I did six months with the US Army 7th and 1st Groups across Southern Afghanistan. Once I had earned their trust, we were one team with one task. Everyone played their part. We all got along. We all did our best. Trump and his idiotic fans are all such ignorant blowhards. Part of the reason this is so unpleasant is that it takes something noble and collaborative, and scorns the bravery of everyone who deployed. And, from my experience, every soldier who deployed, from every country, would have gone into harm’s way for the soldier to their left or right, irrespective of which national flag they wore. Trump debases everything he touches.