You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Afghanistan
Dutch become 1st NATO member to quit Afghanistan
2010-08-02
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Netherlands became the first NATO country to end its combat mission in Afghanistan, drawing the curtain Sunday on a four-year operation that was deeply unpopular at home and even brought down a Dutch government.

The departure of the small force of nearly 1,900 Dutch troops is not expected to affect conditions on the ground. But it is politically significant because it comes at a time of rising casualties and growing doubts about the war in NATO capitals, even as allied troops are beginning what could be the decisive campaign of the war.

Canada has announced it will withdraw its 2,700 troops in 2011 and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has promised to pull out his countryÂ’s 2,600 soldiers the year after.

That is likely to put pressure on other European governments such as Germany and Britain to scale back their forces, adding to the burden shouldered by the United States, which expects to have 100,000 troops here by the end of next month.
If NATO doesn't want to be there, fine. But we'll need to draw forces from somewhere to make up for it. I suggest our remaining forces in Europe should be drawn down even further. We can keep the hospitals and airfields in Germany and the naval bases in Italy, but eventually Europe has to defend itself. If they don't want to do it in Afghanistan they can do it at home.

I don't say this in anger: the Euros helped out in Afghanistan, and we should acknowledge that. But there's still work to be done there, and if the Euros can't help us any more, then they have to pick up the slack elsewhere. Iraq is done. There's no large scale fighting elsewhere. The Euros don't have enough of a combined navy to do anything off Somalia. So they can defend the home front and we'll pull our forces. Seems like the best we can do for now.
The Dutch departure was sealed after Prime Minister Jan Peter BalkenendeÂ’s government collapsed earlier this year over disagreement among coalition members on whether to keep troops in Afghanistan longer. His Christian Democrat party suffered heavy losses at parliamentary elections in June.

Twenty-four Dutch soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2006. Most of the Dutch soldiers were based in the central province of Uruzgan, where they will be replaced by soldiers from the U.S., Australia, Slovakia and Singapore.

The Dutch pioneered a strategy they called “3D” — defense, diplomacy and development — that involved fighting the Taliban while at the same time building close contacts with local tribal elders and setting up numerous development projects.

Dutch troops, some of them riding bicycles, mingled closely with the local population and often did not wear helmets while walking around towns and villages as a way of winning the trust of wary local tribes.

“The international community and NATO are helping Afghanistan to stand on its own legs so the country can defend itself against extremists who want to use it as a breeding ground for global terrorism,” Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said in a message to Dutch troops.

NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz played down the significance of the Dutch move, saying it did not signal a weakening of coalition resolve.

“The overall force posture of (NATO) and of the Afghan security forces is increasing,” Blotz told reporters. He noted the surge of mostly U.S. forces that have recently taken control of key areas in Helmand and Kandahar provinces from British and Canadian forces.
Posted by:Steve White

#5  A propos European self-defence, it's interesting how the missile shield is being viewed. From the [Irish] Independent:

A US MISSILE shield to deter an Iranian strike on southern Europe is on course to be activated as soon as next year amid growing gloom over international efforts to halt Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.

As AFP (Agence France Presse] phrases it:

The United States is close to activating a missile shield over southern Europe as part of its effort to shore up regional defenses in the face of a missile threat from Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife   2010-08-02 11:35  

#4  ...I've said this before, and it bears repeating: the 'Allies' - and now without even the qualified exception of the UK - shut down their militaries after '91 to the absolute minimum possible to avoid killing NATO. They have a few 'palace guard' units (although the UK still maintains some real military formations)but that's it. If we were to pull any more of our forces out and tell the Allies "Hey, you gotta defend Europe now," they would panic...because there's nothing there to do it with.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2010-08-02 08:25  

#3  The Dutch, on the other hand, worked hard in their little corner of the region. I've a girlfriend who is just back from over there for six months as a civilian contractor, and she was very proud of what they accomplished... and frustrated her projects will not be continued. It sounds like the troops didn't want to leave.
Posted by: trailing wife   2010-08-02 06:22  

#2  I've seen comments from people I know who are currently deployed there to the effect of, a lot of the European troops might as well not be there to begin with, because they absorb our logistics but don't have ROE that let them make a difference.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2010-08-02 02:05  

#1  Yokay, I'll bite, NET > isn't diving up/surrendering early supposed to be FRANCE'S JOB!
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-08-02 00:11  

00:00