WILL THE DUTCH LEAVE AFGHANISTAN AFTER 2010?

Dutch Minister of Defence Eimert van Middelkoop has been summoned to the Lower House of Parliament today to answer questions on comments he made in the press last month on the Dutch participation in the Afghanistan mission.

Mr van Middelkoop came under fire after he told a journalist from the mass circulation De Telegraaf newspaper during a three-day trip to Afghanistan that "Obama could ring him ten times, but our mission in Uruzgan will end in 2010." The defence minister also ruled out Dutch involvement in a mission elsewhere in Afghanistan, saying that would be too much of a burden on the Dutch forces.

But in the meantime Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, both senior coalition Christian Democrats, have shifted position, leaving their Christian Union defence minister dangerously exposed. His image as a lame duck is not helped by his current appearance, bruised and with his arm in a sling after a skating accident, the minister is looking distinctly vulnerable. read more (radionetherlands.nll)

RENEWED DUTCH MISSION TO AFGHANISTAN WAS ALWAYS OPTION
read more (nrc.nl)
NEW AFGHANISTAN MISSION "UNDESIRABLE" read more (expatica.nl)AUSTRALIA REGRETS DUTCH WITHDRAWAL FROM URUZGAN read more (expatica.nl)
ISAF TROOPS MOVE ON TALIBAN STRONGHOLD read more (nrc.nl)
DUTCH TROOPS IN MAJOR URUZGAN OPERATION read more (dutchnews.nl)

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January 26, 2009