Afghanistan was not an offensive NATO operation (being a direct response to an attack on a NATO member), and was supported by a unanimous UNSC Resolution (1368).
NATO never conducted an offensive operation in Iraq, though some NATO members (separate from the alliance) did.
NATO was not involved in Iraq, though many members were under the banner of the "coalition of the willing".
Afghanistan was not an offensive war but mutual defense invoked over article 5. We can debate whether that covered the duration of the war, but when article 5 was invoked it was not seen as controversial nor viewed as an offensive war.
> Afghanistan was not an offensive war but mutual defense invoked over article 5. We can debate whether that covered the duration of the war, but when article 5 was invoked it was not seen as controversial nor viewed as an offensive war.
I have heard this said before, but it was never explained to me how invading another country is considered defense and not offense.