| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| More Dutch troops bound for Afghanistan |
| 2005-12-22 |
| The Dutch government said on Thursday it planned to send up to 1,400 additional troops to Afghanistan for expanded NATO peacekeeping; but opponents of deployment could mount resistance in parliament. "The cabinet today decided to further help Afghanistan build a safe and peaceful country," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told a news conference after meeting his coalition cabinet. He said heavily armed troops could expect to be sent in June for a period of two years. The smallest governing coalition partner, the centrist D66 party, as well as the opposition Green and Socialist parties are against the deployment. Parliament does not have the power to veto deployment but a vote against could undermine the plan. The planned mission has revived memories in the Netherlands of the massacre of Bosnian Muslims by Serb forces in the Srebrenica enclave in 1995 when they were ostensibly under the protection of lightly armed Dutch U.N. troops. "It is up to parliament to decide whether to let Afghanistan slide back to the Taliban and al-Qaeda or to continue rebuilding the country," Defense Minister Henk Kamp told the news conference. "I think this is the most important mission for Afghanistan and for fighting terrorism in the world," he said. NATO agreed earlier this month to boost its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to about 15,000 troops next year from around 9,000, with Britain due to take command and deploy troops in the south alongside Canadian and Dutch forces. But Dutch concerns have mounted about the plans to send extra troops to the more dangerous south in addition to some 600 Dutch troops already serving in the country. The government won security guarantees for its troops from NATO allies earlier this month as well as an agreement with the Afghan authorities that no detainee handed over to them by ISAF would face the death penalty, but doubts persist. Kamp said the Dutch military unit would be "robust" and ready to fight if necessary. The Dutch contribution would include six f16 fighter jets, six Apache combat helicopters, armoured vehicles, mortars, and armoured sleeping containers. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 You GO DUTCH! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-12-22 21:44 |
| #1 I'll say it. Thank you Holland for being a good ally. We do not forget over here. They are going in as NATO not blue helmets this time. |
| Posted by: JAB 2005-12-22 21:35 |