U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent characterization of NATO allies during the war in Afghanistan isn’t sitting well with a Windsor-Essex veteran. In an Interview with Fox News last week, Trump claimed the U.S. “never needed” its NATO partners, going as far as to claim allied troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” during efforts in Afghanistan. A retired master corporal, Mike Akpata served one tour in Afghanistan in 2007. He’s one of the more than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members who served in the region during the more than 10-year conflict. “I met soldiers on my tour that died in Afghanistan, gave their lives not for the United States or Donald Trump, but for Canadian policy, that ask to go support an ally,” said Akpata, a LaSalle resident. As part of his role, Akpata helped recover ally vehicles that had been hit by IEDs. During his deployment, he noted that 22 Canadians were killed. “It was our job to go out to, once the military police had conducted their initial investigation, recover the vehicles, bring them back to Kandahar,” he recalled. Between 2001 and 2014, 158 Canadians were killed, and thousands sustained injuries in the war. Unsurprised by the president’s remarks, Akpata said Trump seeks to “divide” in an effort to appear more powerful. “He forgot, or maybe he doesn’t know that the only time Article Five has been invoked is when the United States called and we all came, and then he challenged us to say if we would come, we need to remind him we were there,” Akpata told CTV News. Under NATO’s Article Five, it’s established that an armed attack against one country is considered an attack against all. The lone time the article has been invoked occurred in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.. In Akpata’s case, he said he no longer finds the president’s words hurtful, but fears they will reopen old wounds for families of the fallen. “We need to remind him that we spilled our blood. We need to remind him that Canada and our allies have always been there,” he said. In response, Akpata said it’s critical for the Canadian Government and fellow representatives from allied nations to step up and remind Trump of the sacrifices made. The response, he said, will have an impact on the next time Canadians are needed to serve in a conflict. “I wish there would never be another need for young people to put on uniforms and pick up firearms and go wherever. It’s going to happen,” he said. “How the government reacts right now, and governments react and support their soldiers, veterans, and families of the fallen, will determine the desire for people to serve in the future.”
