Vice President JD Vance is under fire from British military veterans for minimizing the ultimate sacrifice that over 600 service members in that nation made during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Vance’s comments came during a friendly interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity discussing the Trump administration’s hostility to Ukraine and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It also covered President Donald Trump’s rhetoric that has weighed in on the side of Russia during its war against Ukraine.
“The very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Vance said. “That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”
Trump has paused U.S. aid to Ukraine even though they have been relying on American help during the Biden administration to stave off Russian encroachment. The administration’s hostility to Zelenskyy has been widely panned by both Democrats and European leaders, while only those in Trump’s corner have publicly backed his stance.
Vance’s comments come after it was disclosed that the United Kingdom and France have been making plans to send peacekeepers to Ukraine to secure any possible end to the conflict.
But contrary to Vance’s flippant remark, both nations not only participated in recent wars but they also lost lives in combat and were fighting alongside American soldiers in those conflicts. France and the U.K. participated in the Afghanistan War following the 9/11 attacks, and the U.K. was part of the invasion of Iraq that began in 2003.
A total of 88 French soldiers have died in Afghanistan since they first deployed there in 2001. The toll was even higher for the U.K., with 457 dead in Afghanistan and 179 losing their lives in Iraq.
Veterans lashed out at Trump’s chief sidekick.
“I was part of British forces fighting in highly kinetic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latter in response to Article 5 following 9/11,” UK member of Parliament Ben Obese-Jecty wrote. “The disrespect shown by the new US Vice President to the sacrifices of our service personnel is unacceptable.”
Helen Maguire, another member of Parliament who also served in the military in Iraq said, “JD Vance is erasing from history the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I saw firsthand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together shoulder to shoulder. Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality.”
Maguire called on UK Ambassador to the United States Lord Mandelson to ask for a formal apology from Vance.
Johnny Mercer, a former member of Parliament and a military veteran who served in Afghanistan, said, “Vance needs to wind his neck in. Show a bit of respect and stop making yourself look so unpleasant.” He also referred to Vance as a “clown” and called on him to “check his privilege.”
“Vance has insulted the Veteran community, we are outraged 🤬,” veteran Shaun Pinner wrote.
Another veteran, Macer Gifford, wrote, “J D Vance insulted British troops that have made tremendous sacrifices in support of America. Don’t do us down to make your political points you sh*t eating clown.”
His fellow veteran Andy Aitcheson was even more blunt: “F*ck you @JDVance you sh*t eating, grifter c*nt.”
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer didn’t directly reply to Vance but noted, “The PM and I think the whole country is full of admiration for all British troops who have served for instance in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom have lost their lives in the process and fought obviously alongside allies including the United States.”
Even one of Trump’s most staunch allies, right-wing member of Parliament (and bigot) Nigel Farage took Vance to task.
“JD Vance is wrong. Wrong wrong wrong,” Farage said. “For 20 years in Afghanistan pro rata our size against America’s we spent the same amount of money, we put the same number of men and women in. We suffered the same losses.”
After the blowback, Vance attempted to backtrack and claimed his comments were misinterpreted because he didn’t specifically mention U.K. and France in the statement. But those are the two countries floating the peacekeeping issue.
Then he doubled down, arguing that many countries offering to support peacekeeping efforts “have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful.”
The incident is another major stumble for Trump and his team on the world stage—but this time they’ve insulted America’s greatest ally and again put the “special relationship” in a bad place.
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