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| Afghanistan |
| Dutch Parliament Backs Afghanistan Troops |
| 2006-02-03 |
| THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly supported the deployment of up to 1,400 troops to southern Afghanistan, the premier said, reaffirming the country's central NATO role and ending more than a half year of political turmoil. No vote was held specifically to send the troops, but Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the deployment had widespread support. Generally, in the Dutch parliament, no formal vote is taken once the parties have made their positions clear. "The mission can go ahead. I will confirm that to the Cabinet tomorrow (Friday)," he said. The proposal to send the troops to the troubled Uruzgan province had run into vocal opposition, including from one of the three parties in the governing coalition, but the turning point came when the opposition Labor Party swung behind the mission earlier this week. "This mission has a chance to succeed. It will be hard, slow-going, and there will be setbacks," Labor party leader Wouter Bos said during the final debate, signaling his party's support. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 NATO staggers on for at least another 6 months. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-02-03 09:45 |