For those who fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, president’s remarks have cut deep
It was shortly before dawn and Bruce Moncur was eating breakfast when the American warplane roared overhead.
The 22-year-old reservist had been stationed in Afghanistan for three weeks when the A-10 Warthog strafed the camp west of Kandahar City where and he and 30 other Canadian soldiers had spent the night.
Moncur was struck by shrapnel and thrown to the ground. When he regained consciousness, he was bleeding from a large head wound, and believed he would die. The friendly fire attack killed one Canadian solider and left five others gravely wounded. Now an elementary school teacher, Moncur had nearly 5% of his brain removed, and had to relearn how to walk, talk, read and write.
Donald Trump provoked a storm of diplomatic fury with his claims that Nato allies had “stayed a little off the frontlines” in Afghanistan. The comments were condemned as “insulting and frankly appalling” by the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who joined other leaders in expressing disgust and anger at the president.
