Dear All
The Dutch government has collapsed.
The reason for it going to the wall is that the Dutch Labour Party, the second-largest coalition party oppose Dutch troops staying in Afghanistan beyond 2010.
They couldn’t reach agreement with the Christian Democratic Party who were supporting a Nato request for troops to remain in the country.
Originally the Dutch were to pull out in 2008 but no one stepped into fill the breech so that withdrawal fell through.
At present 2,000 Dutch troops are serving in Afghanistan, the death toll is light by the standards of other members of Nato, since 2006, 21 have been killed, however any loss of life is bad for the families it effects.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said after a 16 hour marathon set of talks that no common ground existed.
Balkenende offered the cabinet's resignation to the Dutch Queen Beatrix following the collapse of the government.
The Dutch have woken up to the fact that this war in Afghanistan is no winnable, and as much as people are going round in circles, the truth remains the same.
The problem is Nato’s deployment of an army of occupation.
Although the removal of 2,000 troops is not a military significant move, it is a serious political one.
The Dutch are the first but will certainly not be the last; the continual occupation of Afghanistan cannot be militarily or politically sustained.
Military operations like Operation Moshtarak can capture territory and kill some Afghanis but it cannot change culture, the pieces simply move around the board.
Time is not on the side of Nato.
As of October 2009, International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) had more than 71,000 personnel from 42 different countries deployed.
But few if any political objectives of any real significance have been achieved.
You cannot blame the stance taken by the Dutch; it is a wake up call for the rest of the Nato contingent.
You are not winning on any front other than by force of arms.
And that can’t be a sensible way to practice democracy.
The West has to find some way to impose an Islamic dictatorship friendly to them.
For that to work; a lot of people are going to die in the short term but it will knit the country back together again.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
The Dutch government has collapsed.
The reason for it going to the wall is that the Dutch Labour Party, the second-largest coalition party oppose Dutch troops staying in Afghanistan beyond 2010.
They couldn’t reach agreement with the Christian Democratic Party who were supporting a Nato request for troops to remain in the country.
Originally the Dutch were to pull out in 2008 but no one stepped into fill the breech so that withdrawal fell through.
At present 2,000 Dutch troops are serving in Afghanistan, the death toll is light by the standards of other members of Nato, since 2006, 21 have been killed, however any loss of life is bad for the families it effects.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said after a 16 hour marathon set of talks that no common ground existed.
Balkenende offered the cabinet's resignation to the Dutch Queen Beatrix following the collapse of the government.
The Dutch have woken up to the fact that this war in Afghanistan is no winnable, and as much as people are going round in circles, the truth remains the same.
The problem is Nato’s deployment of an army of occupation.
Although the removal of 2,000 troops is not a military significant move, it is a serious political one.
The Dutch are the first but will certainly not be the last; the continual occupation of Afghanistan cannot be militarily or politically sustained.
Military operations like Operation Moshtarak can capture territory and kill some Afghanis but it cannot change culture, the pieces simply move around the board.
Time is not on the side of Nato.
As of October 2009, International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) had more than 71,000 personnel from 42 different countries deployed.
But few if any political objectives of any real significance have been achieved.
You cannot blame the stance taken by the Dutch; it is a wake up call for the rest of the Nato contingent.
You are not winning on any front other than by force of arms.
And that can’t be a sensible way to practice democracy.
The West has to find some way to impose an Islamic dictatorship friendly to them.
For that to work; a lot of people are going to die in the short term but it will knit the country back together again.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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