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See my diary and excellent discussion on Uruzgan mission @ET … [110+ comments]
(RNW) – The Dutch government has fallen as a rift between coalition parties over extending Dutch military participation in Afghanistan could not be healed.
“Later today, I will will offer to her majesty the Queen the resignations of the ministers and deputy ministers of the PvdA (Labour Party),” Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told journalists.
News of the collapse came in the early hours of Saturday morning following 16 hours of crisis meetings and days of speculation that the differences between the coalition parties had simply become too great to bridge.
Uruzgan
The issue where a compromise could not be found – whether or not to extend the military mission in the unruly Afghan province of Uruzgan – was itself not new. The cabinet decided back in the autumn of 2007 to extend the mission to Uruzgan by two years.
But the Labour Party felt it could not compromise again on an extension of the military mission. The criticism of Dutch support for the invasion of Iraq, presented by the independent Davids Commission in early January, only reinforced the Labour Party’s resolve.
Uneasy compromise typified the coalition from the beginning. The centre-right Christian Democrats (and its predecessors) had governed with the centre-left Labour Party before. But the two parties have trouble forming a stable coalition.
Balkenende IV was no exception. Difficulties were already apparent during the negotiations to form the government in the winter of 2007. All three coalition partners, the two larger parties plus the smaller Christian Union, had to compromise on major issues.
During three years of government, many decisions were made only after long disagreement inside the cabinet. These included plans to raise the government pension age, how long to try to keep government expenditures up in the wake of the economic downturn, and whether or not to keep investing in the development of a new fighter plane, the Joint Strike Fighter.
Save face abroad
The fall of the government may, paradoxically, help the Netherlands save face abroad. At NATO headquarters, as well as in the United States, there is little understanding for the Labour Party veto of extending the military mission in Uruzgan. The Netherlands pulling out of Uruzgan is a source of irritation both in Brussels and Washington. The Netherlands even risks losing its hard-earned seat at the G20 meetings.
The Netherlands and Afghanistan, how are we involved?
Since 2001 the Netherlands has been helping to bring stability and security to Afghanistan by providing humanitarian relief and development aid, and deploying troops.
Currently there are approximately 1500-1800 2000 Dutch troops stationed in Afghanistan, mainly as ground forces. The Netherlands also has six Apache and five Cougar helicopters, as well as six F16 fighter aircraft in the country.
The Netherlands is active not only in the southern province Uruzgan, but also in other parts of the country such as Baghlan, Bamiyan, Kabul and Kandahar. What our military forces have experienced there stands them in good stead for the difficult task facing them in Uruzgan. This province is one of the poorest and least developed provinces of Afghanistan.
Nature of the mission
Trust building is essential to the Dutch presence in Afghanistan. The soldiers invest a lot of time in making contact with local people, local authorities and unofficial leaders, including spiritual leaders. Greater trust is not just a basis for development, it also increases troops’ own security.
The Dutch respect the Afghan people and are knowledgeable about religious beliefs, local customs and traditions. We do our utmost only to use force as a measure of last resort. This approach is nicknamed the ‘Dutch approach’, though actually it is the approach of all ISAF partners. Security and stability are prerequisites of development. Apart from taking political, military and economic factors into account, Dutch efforts in conflict-sensitive regions are also development-oriented. This integrated approach, known as Defence, Development & Diplomacy (the 3-D approach), is necessary if sustainable peace, freedom and development are to be achieved.
What has been achieved so far?
The Netherlands is one of the leading bilateral donors for reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. The Netherlands has pledged an amount of € 150m for reconstruction of Afghanistan over the period of 2006-2009, having already contributed € 180m so far. This makes the Netherlands the third largest donor to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). The ARTF, managed by the World Bank, supports running costs of the Government of Afghanistan. For instance, the ARTF contributes to salaries of more than 270,000 civil servants, including 144,000 teachers. Over six million children, nearly 35% of them girls, will be enrolled in school in 2007/08, compared to a little more than a million students five years ago and very few girls. Also, about 13 million rural people in all 34 of Afghanistan’s provinces have benefited from improved water, roads and other small infrastructure projects through the National Solidarity Program.
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THE HAGUE (Dec. 8, 2009) – Rarely has Washington expressed such a keen interest in Dutch politics. Vice-president Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton, US ambassador to Nato Ivo Daalder and US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke – all of them called on the Netherlands in the past few days to keep its soldiers in Afghanistan beyond the agreed withdrawal date in late 2010.
Invariably they doled out compliments for the Dutch approach in Uruzgan province summed up in ‘the three d’s’: development, diplomacy and defence – although Holbrooke added he didn’t understand the first thing about Dutch politics.
Vice President’s Call with Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos
IMO the Dutch Labor Party (PvdA) will pay dearly at the polls for this poor decision. The Dutch nation will not be taken seriously on the international stage. Wrong choice at the wrong moment. The economic recession is deep and crucial decisions have to be made in the coming weeks effecting the Dutch social structure. The Labor dogmas are not a wise path to follow. The Uruzgan mission under the Bush presidency was a troubling choice, the new strategy developed and implemented under President Obama will lead to a successful exit of military engagement by the end on 2011. The Dutch strategy in Uruzgan, the 3-D approach, is the blueprint for the ISAF mission.
If Dutch Labor wanted to exit the coalition, the discussion recently about the Davids Iraq Report would have given them a great opportunity. I just cannot grasp this new development, no winners just losers. The next election will see a move towards the extreme right in Dutch politics.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
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(Army Times) – The U.S. “ought to plan” for a 2,000-troop shortfall in Afghanistan because the Netherlands will likely withdraw its forces by August, Sen. John McCain said Monday.
The shortfall came into focus at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in light of the Dutch government’s collapse Saturday due to the war in Afghanistan’s unpopularity in the Netherlands. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende could not find enough support to extend the presence of Dutch troops in Afghanistan beyond an already planned August deadline.
Under questioning by McCain, R-Ariz., Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy said “we will have to see” whether the next Dutch government will agree to send troops to augment NATO’s plans to drive the Taliban insurgency from southern Afghanistan in coming months. McCain fired back that the U.S. should plan for their withdrawal, since the government’s collapse was caused by the war’s unpopularity.
“We might as well face up to the fact … that the Dutch are leaving,” McCain said. “That’s why their government collapsed. … I’m grateful for their participation. I have great sympathy for the losses they sustained.
U.S. official sees chance Dutch stay in Afghanistan
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Probably just got a little harder to stay with another 30 civs offed by NATO in yet another missile strike. Hearts and minds just went south even further.
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Or, Getting Past the Hype by Juan Cole
2. Can the demonstration of vitality and of a sense of progress mollify NATO publics long enough
to fight a prolonged war and do intensive training of troops and police over several years?
No. Over the weekend, the center-right government of the Netherlands fell over whether to keep Dutch troops in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan war is universally unpopular in continental Europe, and governments have troops there mostly in the teeth of popular opposition, because NATO invoked article 5 of its charter, ‘an attack on one is an attack on all’ with regard to the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks. It may take months after the next elections this spring for the Dutch to form a new government, in part because of the surging popularity of the far-right populist anti-Muslim ‘Freedom Party’ of Islamophobe Geert Wilders — a smelly party the others will probably not want in their coalition. Holland’s 2000 troops are likely to be withdrawn by late summer.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."