Sandy Watson

When America was attacked on 9/11, NATO members stood with us. In fact, more than 1,000 non-U.S. NATO service members paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan, never returning home to their families. When President Biden announced his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces on April 14, 2021, more than 6,000 non-U.S. NATO troops were still serving in Afghanistan, including approximately 1,300 from Germany. That total number of non-U.S. NATO service members was roughly double the number of American service members serving in Afghanistan in April that year. And some NATO allies remained to the last possible moment. Amid the chaos of the evacuation at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, Norwegians ran the field hospital used to treat the 13 Americans killed in a suicide bombing on August 26. As late as August 17 that year, nearly 800 NATO civilian personnel remained in Afghanistan for essential tasks, including air traffic control, logistics, communications, and security during the withdrawal of U.S. forces. They stood with us to the end. Some talk big. Some put their lives on the line to honor their commitments. That is what many of our European allies did. They were true friends and allies to us. The way we are treating them now is shameful and self-defeating. From the 2021 file: thedispatch.com/article/afgh…