Should the Dutch extend their mission to Afghanistan?
Dutch ministers are creating confusion with recent conflicting statements about participation in new military missions to Afghanistan. When, in 2007, the decision to extend the Netherlands’ troop deployment in the southern province Uruzgan until 2010 was made, foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen told parliament: “I am not saying here that the Netherlands is not willing to take part in Nato missions after August 2010.” Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, in a recent television interview, said a possible request from the incoming US president Barack Obama would mark a “new choicepoint at which to reconsider” the Dutch presence in Afghanistan.
Yet their colleague minister of defence, Eimert van Middelkoop, has repeatedly said that the end of the Uruzgan mission is a final one. “The new president Obama can call me 10 times, but our mission in Uruzgan ends in August of 2010. We will not go to another region either. That is not an option,” he was quoted as saying in De Telegraaf newspaper in December. His seems to be the more popular opinion in the Netherlands. In an opinion poll reported in 2007, less than a quarter of those polled were in favour of extending the mission.
With an estimated 1,300 Dutch troops on the ground, the Netherlands is the ‘lead nation’ in Nato’s ISAF reconstruction mission in Uruzgan. They have been praised for their ‘Dutch approach‘ in dealing with the Afghan people in a less violent and more respectful way than some of their international partner nations. Their presence is not limited to Uruzgan: there are Dutch F16 fighters stationed in Kandahar and active-duty officers at the command centre in Kabul, for a total of about 350 troops.
What do you think? Is it important for the Dutch to stay involved by offering to support Obama’s plan to send more troops to Afghanistan? Or has the country done enough to support Nato’s initiatives? Is it time for other Nato partners to step up?
Monday 19 January 2009, 20:08
We admit, the stance of our Dutch government is downright weird. I have been involved in many building projects, but never did the client say; “We’ll build on this site for two years and then we abandon the scheme, irrespective of completion or progress.” It shows that our government has no commitment or any goal whatsoever.
But can we blame our government for their weirdness? Hardly, since Bush has forced the Dutch to assist him in his crusades, without being honest or clear as to the purpose of these attacks on the Muslim world. To this day we still don’t know what we are supposed to do in Afghanistan, so until Obama effectuates the change he has been announcing, exposes the lies of George Bush and offers us a real goal, it is impossible to judge the validity or feasibility of our task.
BIN LADEN
According to Bush we are in Afghanistan to hunt down and smoke out Bin laden, but according to several sources Bin Laden has been murdered more than 7 years ago (as also mentioned by Bhutto). Why then, are we still bothering the Afghans?
DRUGS
According to CNN the Americans are fighting out their most hypocritical of all wars, the war on drugs, in Afghanistan too, by burning down the crops of farmers. If Obama wants the Dutch to assist in these most evil attacks, we should tell him to shove it, in the rudest terms possible. Let him solve the issue in his own country first, before he terrorizes the rest of the world. Heroine is out of fashion anyway. Cocaine however, from America, is more popular than ever, and alcohol is still legal in the USA itself. The complete hypocrisy of the Americans concerning drugs should make it hard for them to find accomplices. The Dutch, who have opposed the International Opium Law from the start, are the last Americans should recruit for this pointless hunt.
TALIBAN
Eradicating the Taliban has been mentioned as a goal too. The likelihood of that mission succeeding is nil. Can we cure the American nation of its religious convictions by bombing them? Tell me Americans, how many bombs does it take, before you would abandon Christ? What? Will attacking your faith with weaponry only strengthen your resolve? Would your martyrs only increase your militancy? Then why should this be different for the Afghan people? Please note that the Soviet army, despite enormous casualties on both sides, has not succeeded in dissolving the Taliban either, and remember the Afghan alternative; the rule of war lords.
RECONSTRUCTION
Reconstruction has been mentioned by our Dutch government, but after all these years of supposed building work we have very little to show for it. Instead of reports on progress in building, we get reports on confrontations with locals. No surprise! You cannot dig sand or pour concrete with guns. If we would commission soldiers to work on building sites in Holland, allowing them to terrorize and shoot the local population, the building work would be delayed by controversy too. If the Afghan people want us to build up in their country, they would let us, but obviously there is something very wrong with our behaviour, which is why we are not welcome. If construction is our goal, we should withdraw all our troops and start paying money, so the Afghans can do it themselves. Also we could and should help the Afghans with access to markets and export. Dutch soldiers forced (!) farmers to grow apples, but when the harvest came in, there were no markets for the produce. A typical blunder of a completely uninterested and aloof occupier.
STRATEGY
Obama seems to be more intelligent than Bush in pointing at Iran and Pakistan as possible enemies, whose containment could be a reason for our military presence in the region. We are all ears. Much depends on Obama’s strategy, but he had better be honest, since we are completely fed up with the lies of Bush. Until we know what we are supposed to be doing in Afghanistan, we have no reason for continuing this war against innocent people, a war which until now has proven to be pointless, counterproductive, dangerous, immoral and expensive.
Thursday 5 February 2009, 4:36
I think that Dutch soldiers should not extend the mission to Afghanistan….