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The head of Australia\u2019s largest veteran organisation has categorically rejected Donald Trump\u2019s claim that allied soldiers \u201cstayed a little back\u201d from the frontlines when they supported the US campaign in Afghanistan, calling the comments \u201cunfathomable\u201d.<\/p>\n
The US president made the comments on Fox News<\/a> on Thursday, saying he was \u201cnot sure\u201d Nato would meet the \u201cultimate test\u201d of defending the US if it were under threat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never needed them \u2026 They\u2019ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan<\/a> \u2026 and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines,\u201d he said, adding the US had been \u201cvery good to Europe and to many other countries. It has to be a two-way street.\u201d<\/p>\n Forty-seven Australian service personnel lost their lives fighting in Afghanistan, while 261 were wounded and almost 40,000 served in what became Australia\u2019s longest war.<\/p>\n The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) national president, Peter Tinley, said he had no doubt the \u201cvast majority\u201d of Australia\u2019s 630,000 veterans would be \u201cabsolutely disgusted and outraged at what really is a cowardly attack by the president on those who can\u2019t defend themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n He said the families of the personnel who died would be \u201ccompletely affronted by the fact that their sacrifice \u2026 has been denigrated to the extent that it has. It\u2019s just unfathomable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s as senseless as throwing paint on a war memorial and only serves to hurt. It\u2019s completely disingenuous,\u201d he told Guardian Australia on Saturday.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n Tinley served as the deputy commander of the special forces task group and was deployed at short notice to Afghanistan to participate in the military response to the September 11 attacks on the US. It was the only time Nato<\/a> has invoked its mutual defence clause, stating that an attack on one member represents an attack on all.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were the lead force for General James Mattis, who went on to be Trump\u2019s own Secretary of Defence in his first administration \u2026 and then we continued to participate in the longest continuous operation in the history of Australia. Thousands of Australian soldiers, sailors and aircrew participated in that conflict,\u201d Tinley said.<\/p>\n