9 Dutch soldiers dead - Did the Dutch Government hide the truth about the Dutch troop deployment in Afghanistan?
Tuesday's suicide attack in southern Afghanistan, which left at least 17 civilians dead and a number of Dutch soldiers injured, has again raised questions about Dutch involvement in Afghanistan. A year ago, the deployment of Dutch troops in the Afghan province of Uruzgan was sold to the Dutch public as primarily a reconstruction mission but it's becoming clearer by the day that this is a military operation with all the attendant risks.This makes the debate about extending the mission beyond its current 2008 deadline a controversial one. Now that it's clear the Dutch are in Afghanistan to fight, how will the government persuade the country to accept the dangers of staying on?
The line between propaganda and truth is sometimes hard to determine, the only sure thing is that there are going to be some fireworks in the Dutch parliament when the extension of the mission is debated later this summer. Comment EU-Digest: In the run-up to the 2006 decision to participate in the mission, the Dutch government put the emphasis on reconstruction and the resolution to send troops to Afghanistan passed.Now they have been caught lying it is interesting to see what they will say when it comes to extending the mission beyond 2008. In the meantime 9 Dutch soldiers have already been killed.
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