Sec Def Peter Hegseth Jokes About Afghanistan Allies
Spoiler alert: the joke wasn't funny
I am old enough to remember when, across multiple occasions, Republicans made a lot of noise about how moving a bust of Churchill demonstrated that Obama, and later Biden, disrespected our British allies. I wonder how those same Republicans will handle this “joke” Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth made during a tense Senate hearing yesterday:
Sorting by the highest number of casualties per country, here are the top 6 nations that lost soldiers and staff during the Afghan war:
| Country | Deaths | Population (2010) | Deaths per million |
|---|---|---|---|
 USA | 2,461* | 309 million | 7.96 |
 UK | 457 | 63 million | 7.25 |
 Canada | 159* | 34 million | 4.68 |
 France | 90 | 63 million | 1.43 |
 Germany | 62 | 82 million | 0.76 |
 Italy | 53 | 60 million | 0.88 |
All in all, 32 coalition countries lost people during that war. And while, without a doubt, the highest number of casualties were from the US, it’s also worth noting that we are a significantly larger country than any other coalition member. When controlled for population, it is notable that the overall rate of the UK’s sacrifice of its blood and treasure closely matched that of the US.
But hey, what are facts and shared sacrifice in the face of an American exceptionalism joke? And what really matters in the US/UK relationship is that the Churchill Bust is back in the West Wing.
Here are some added “highlights” from Hegseth’s time in front of the Senate yesterday:
For example, Hegseth refused to disclose any details about the cost of retrofitting the plane being donated by the Qatari government to become a new Air Force One:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to answer questions from Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) regarding President Trump’s luxury jet from the Qatari government, including the cost of refurbishing it to become Air Force One and how long it would take.
“You have signed a contract with a company to reconfigure the Qatari aircraft. What is the price of that contract?” Reed asked Hegseth at a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing.
Hegseth replied that the information “cannot be revealed in this setting,” prompting Reed to fire back.
“Why can’t it be revealed? This is the appropriation committee of the United States Senate. We appropriate the money that you will spend . . . and you cannot tell us how much the contract is for,” Reed said.
And Mitch McConnell doesn’t seem to trust that the President and the Secretary of Defense are not about to abandon our allies in Ukraine:
Gee Mitch, if only there was something you could have done in 2021 to prevent all this…
Also want to point out that a member of the British Royal family served in Afghanistan. I don’t recall which Trump family member served.
How many Afghans who fought on the side of the US died in the war?
@Kathy:
Good question and I should have covered that. According to Wikipedia:
And let’s not forget that the Trump administration has honored the sacrifice of the Afghans by cancelling immigration programs for people who helped our military (at great risk to themselves) and establishing a travel ban.
@Matt Bernius:
So Hesgsheth was too drunk to realize he saw Afghans fighting.
I was active on the milblogs early during the Afghan conflict and had several friends from my Centcom buddies deployed there. They always spoke highly of the British effort and also several other groups like the Canadians and Danes (who also had an adjusted casualty rates about the same as ours). The Georgians had an even higher adjusted casualty rate. There were groups like the Germans about whom I think lots of people weren’t happy about, but its a disgrace to casually dismiss the efforts of other who also lost, in proportion, significant numbers.
Steve
I have a stupid question. The war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 resulted in 2420 American KIA, 20,000 Americans wounded, and bloodshed by other nations. Was the outcome worth this price? Should we shame the leaders of our country who achieved this? Was anyone responsible in charge?
Hegseth is an amoral pig, a drunken, lying frat boy (with apologies to the millions of decent frat boys) who sexually assaults women. With the drinking, he actually checks a box that even Trump can’t claim.
I don’t remember a cabinet member ever being this smug and arrogant. Virtually without reason. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out but in my life experience guys like that don’t end well.
Oh…and I’ve seen reports that he can’t fill positions below him.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/report-no-one-wants-to-work-with-pete-hegseth?srsltid=AfmBOoodsO5SckdeLuKGNJUDf6spgnzqpX6294-E9ccqHXHFypM7PpYE