they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines.
The promise
In an interview in Davos, Trump minimized the role of allied troops in Afghanistan. He said NATO partners had sent forces but suggested they had remained away from the front lines. He linked the remark to his recurring doubts about whether allies would support the United States when needed. The broader argument behind his criticism was that the United States bears an excessive share of collective defense. Allied officials and veterans rejected his characterization, pointing to their countries' combat service and deaths. The controversy was particularly sharp because the Afghanistan mission followed the alliance's invocation of collective defense after the September 11 attacks.
