Afghanistan mission: should the Dutch withdraw? - by Hans de Vreij
In deciding on the future of its mission in Uruzgan, the Dutch government has to take into account practical factors, such as the fact that certain deployed units, most notably combat engineers as well as attack and transport helicopter pilots crews, are stretched to the limit - and the fact that the ISAF contribution has turned out to be far more costly than originally foreseen. But another factor may weigh even more heavily - support from Parliament and public opinion. Officially, it's up to NATO to find a successor to the Netherlands, if the country were to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan next year. Also officially, the Dutch government is not ruling out a total withdrawal. Unofficially, however, the government and military have made it clear that the Netherlands is inclined to continue the ISAF mission and keep the lead role in Uruzgan province, albeit it with a certain reduction in troops and air assets.
Hence, both NATO and the Netherlands are now frantically seeking a third country willing to contribute troops to the current Dutch/Australian 'Task Force Uruzgan' next year. There have been talks with Norway, a country with which the Netherlands has strong military ties. But the Norwegian coalition government appears to be split over the issue. Which may explain why last weekend, the commander of the Dutch Armed Forces, General Dick Berlijn, mentioned Indonesia and Ukraine as 'examples' of countries which could play a role in Uruzgan. However, the Defence Ministry has stressed no serious negotiations with those two countries have taken place as yet.
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