Expatica - Protection of Bush during his visit to Southern Netherlands comes at high cost to Dutch taxpayer

ExpaticaProtection of Bush during his visit to Southern Netherlands comes at high cost to Dutch taxpayer.

The southern Dutch province of Limburg went on a virtual war footing this weekend as George Bush arrives to commemorate the end of World War II. The Dutch authorities have mobilised 1,600 police officers, 1,000 soldiers, 200 military police and 300 support staff. The regional police chief in southern Limburg, Wim Velings, has said the costs of the security operation have extended into the millions of euros. All this to guarantee the security of the US President and guests participating in the memorial at the US military cemetery Margraten as part of commemoration services to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Two members of Limburg's provincial legislature turned down their invitations to attend the Margraten ceremony. Labour PvdA's Jos Zuidgeest and Helma Gubbels of the green-left GroenLinks cited the invasion of Iraq as the main reason for refusing to attend what they called the "reprehensible puppet show". Several thousands of "Dutch Stop Bush" campaigners rallied in central Amsterdam on Saturday to show that "large sections of the Dutch population reject Bush's world order and the support afforded to it by Balkenende II". The demonstrators protests against Bush included the "illegal occupation of Iraq" which to date has cost the lives of "more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 1,600 American soldiers; abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, blocking resolutions against Israel in the UN in relation to Palestine and the so-called war on terror."