Phil Goff has accused Foreign
Minister Winston Peters of failing to stand up for New
Zealand soldiers after US President Donald Trump said allied
troops “stayed a little back” during the war in
Afghanistan.
In a sharply worded Facebook post on
Saturday, the former high commissioner to the United Kingdom
said Peters’ silence in response to Trump’s remarks was
“deafening”.
Trump’s comments came last week in an
interview with Fox News in Davos, Switzerland, when
questioned whether NATO allies would support the US if it
were attacked.
“‘Will they be there, if we ever needed
them?’ And that’s really the ultimate test. And I’m not sure
of that,” he said.
“You know, they’ll say they sent
some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did –
they stayed a little back, a little off the front
lines.”
The remarks sparked outrage among US allies,
including the UK, whose prime minister, Keir Starmer,
described them as “insulting and frankly
appalling”.
Goff contrasted those responses with what
he said was silence from New Zealand’s leadership, singling
out Peters and his role as foreign minister, for not
defending that record.
“No comment has come from any
government leader,” he wrote.
“Peters, who claims to
lead the patriotic party in NZ, has been typically silent as
he has whenever Trump has lied outrageously,” Goff
wrote.
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Goff said the comments were an affront to New
Zealand’s sacrifice in the 20-year conflict.
“For
Trump, a man who dodged the draft five times, to belittle
the efforts of those who came to the assistance of the US
after 9/11, and sacrificed their lives is
disgraceful.”
New Zealand lost 10 service personnel in
Afghanistan.
Goff, a former foreign affairs and
defence minister, said Trump’s remarks were deeply
personal.
“Ten New Zealanders died in the war. I
attended the funerals of several of them, including my
nephew Matt, and saw the grief and pain of their loved
ones,” he said.
He also pointed to the actions of
Willie Apiata, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for
bravery during a 2004 operation in
Afghanistan.
“Willie Apiata was behind the front line
when he won his VC, deep in enemy territory,” Goff wrote,
rejecting Trump’s claim that allied forces avoided
combat.
He urged ministers to follow the example of
countries such as Canada,
which have taken a firmer public line with the US
president.
While New Zealand is not a full NATO
member, it holds the position of highly valued partner under
the Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme
(IPCP).
In March of last year, Peters
removed Goff from his role as high commissioner to the
UK after the former Labour MP criticised the US president,
questioning whether he “really understands
history”.
Comments disrespectful to the fallen –
NZRSA
The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’
Association (NZRSA) has also condemned Trump’s
remarks.
In a statement, the organisation said Kiwi
troops served and died with NATO forces in Afghanistan and
any suggestion that allied soldiers “avoided frontline
combat was incorrect and deeply hurtful to veterans and the
families of those killed”.
“New Zealanders who have
been killed or injured in service in recent decades were
doing so in support of multinational
operations.”
Veteran: Claims
‘ill-informed’
Former army major Simon Strombom, who
served in Afghanistan, described Trump’s comments as
ill-informed and sensationalist.
Strombom, now
managing director of the NZ Remembrance Army, said he worked
closely with British, Canadian and other NATO forces and saw
firsthand their professionalism and exposure to
danger.
“The majority of the weight of the coalition
headquarters was not American,” he previously told RNZ.
“There were 48 countries involved, and the rest were
predominantly NATO.”
Strombom said the comments would
be especially painful for families who lost loved ones in
the conflict.
“It’d be pretty hard for a family to
have suffered such a loss and then hear comments like that,
undermining the actual sacrifice,” he said.
Defence
Minister Judith Collins previously said the country took
great pride in the professionalism, courage, and commitment
of all who served in Afghanistan.
Peters’ office has
been approached for comment.
Trump has since partially
walked back his remarks, praising British troops on his
Truth Social platform as “great and very
brave”.
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