During an interview for Fox News, Donald Trump stated that the United States "never needed" NATO support in Afghanistan. – They will say they sent any soldiers... but they stayed a small behind, distant from the front line," he said. These words caused a wave of outrage in Poland.
At least 33,000 Polish soldiers participated in the mission in Afghanistan. 44 people were killed: 43 soldiers and 1 civilian employee. Trump's message was immediately responded by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, national defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and erstwhile GROM commander Roman Polko, stressing that Polish troops fought on the front line and suffered real losses.
President Karol Nawrocki besides spoke. In the entry on X, he wrote, "There is no uncertainty that Polish soldiers are heroes. They deserve respect and thanks for their service. 44 brave Poles died in Afghanistan. They will always be in our memory."
Families of Polish soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq compose to Donald Trump
Even stronger words came from families who died in Afghanistan and Iraq. On Facebook, the household of the Lost Soldiers Association "Memory and Future" wrote, "Our blood was not "necessary." "We talk clearly: the sacrifice of our loved ones was real, their service mattered, and their memory requires fact and respect. We will not let their blood to be sacrificed on the altar of current politics," we read.
The association besides published an open letter to Donald Trump. It stressed that Polish soldiers "did not stand in the shadows and did not die in safe bases", but fought and died "in the places of the most severe clashes", carrying out a mission which was requested by the United States itself after the 9/11 bombings.
The authors of the letter compose plainly that suggestions about an "unnecessary" victim open wounds to families who over the years explained to children the meaning of the death of their fathers. "The victims were real, their ministry mattered, and their memory requires fact and respect," we read. The association demands the president of the United States to correct the words "forging the honour of a Polish soldier" and question the ethos of "brotherhood of arms".
At the same time, petitions were sent to the president of the Republic of Poland and head of the MFA. From Karol Nawrocki families anticipate a public speech in defence of the fallen and diplomatic actions towards the US. Radosław Sikorski was formally asked to issue a diplomatic note and a clear government position.
As underlined, the deficiency of consequence could be perceived as a approval to marginalize the Polish military effort and victims suffered by the families of the fallen.
