UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer rebuked Trump’s “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks and called for an apology. The uproar resonated in New Zealand, which participated as a US ally in the invasion and 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. While they have criticised the Gaza genocide, their defence of the war in Afghanistan demonstrates that they have no principled opposition to imperialism. Both major parties aim to integrate New Zealand further into the war against Russia and far-advanced US preparations for war with China. But the political establishment’s glorification of the military and silence on the criminality of the Afghanistan war underscore the fact that there is no anti-war tendency in parliament or the ruling class.