August 02, 2003

Dutch Send 1,100 Troops to Iraq, Relieving as Many U.S. Marines

Breaking ranks with many of its European neighbors, the Netherlands has sent 1,100 Dutch peacekeepers to southern Iraq so a nearly equal number of American marines can go home.

The Dutch force, which officially deployed late this week, is a response to American and British requests for help in the relatively secure Shiite-populated province of Muthanna, bordering Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

"For us there was no choice," the defense minister, Henk Kamp, said in an interview. "The Americans helped us in the Second World War. Now they are helping the people in Iraq."

The Dutch contingent is considerable for this tiny country and the mission has aroused a range of reactions. Some supporters say it reflects renewed gratitude for American help in liberating the Netherlands from the Nazis.

But others say the deployment is less about helping the Iraqi people and more about securing big contracts for Dutch companies doing business in Iraq.

The deployment is all the more striking because few European neighbors — notably France and Germany — are willing to do the same, at least not without a mandate from the United Nations.[Other than their other 16 resolutions, I guess.--Jen]
[...]
The Dutch troops will guard police stations and transport lines in a region that has remained largely devoid of postwar violence. The Dutch military expressed guarded optimism that Dutch troops would stay out of the line of fire.
[...]
Both the deployment and the war in Iraq were opposed by left-wing parties in the Netherlands including the Greens and the Socialists, along with a few members of the larger Labor Party who are concerned about getting drawn into an intractable conflict.

"It is an illegal occupation," said Hans van Heijningen, a foreign policy expert for the Socialist Party.
[You'd think any good Socialist/Marxist/Communist would know an illegal occupation when they saw one. Course they probably think all their military takeovers were "legal."--J.T.]
[...]
Mr. Kamp, the defense minister, denied business motives were behind the deployment.

"If there is a possibility to do business in Iraq, we want to do that business," Mr. Kamp said. But he said the main reason was "to help the people," adding that Iraqis had "suffered for dozens of years from Saddam Hussein and his terrible friends."

Parliamentary debate here in recent weeks has focused less on the motives behind the mission and more on how to avoid a repeat of a painful episode in the Dutch military's history.

Dutch peacekeepers failed to prevent the slaughter of thousands of Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995. One reason, according to a Dutch commission's inquiry, was that Dutch peacekeepers were not properly armed.

The Dutch military is not making the same mistake again. Colonel Swijgman said, "We brought the equipment and the weapons as if we were going to war."

Thank you, Holland for joining the rest of the Coalition on the moral high ground and leaving your neighbors, the French, Germans and Belgians, to wallow in their base, ungrateful and perfidious mud.
I've always liked the Dutch--from Van Gogh, Van Dyke, Rembrandt, and Vermeer to Mondrian.
(Didja know that the 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning was from the Netherlands, but became an American citizen after being an "illegal alien" for years?!)
Dutch chocolate, Delft china, wooden shoes, tulips and Edam and Gouda cheeses are alright with me!
Someday, I hope to visit (I've only been in the Amsterdam airport--twice!).
But the US is grateful and proud of your contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
You won't be sorry in so many ways...
And I'll bet many Dutch remembered on 9/11 that New York City really began as a Dutch colony.

Caption: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice steps aboard Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington before departing with U.S. President George W. Bush for his Central Texas ranch in Crawford, August 2, 2003.
Here's Dr. Condi looking very cool and composed after a very hot week;
Lib Dims were speculating (and hoping!) that she'd resign after her role in the dreaded "Niger yellowcake" brouhaha.
Well, Bush wasn't having it, called Condi "fabulous" (which she definitely IS) and I'll betcha Dr. Rice never even broke a sweat.
She knows she has the President's trust and support as well as that of most--Ahem!--of the American people.


President Bush, along with first lady Laura Bush, and their dog, Barney, step off Air Force One after arriving at TSTC Airfield in Waco, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2003. Bush will spend August on a working vacation at his ranch in nearby Crawford, Texas.
It's a good day: President Bush got another clean bill of health from his doctors, the First Family has landed safely in Texas for his working vacation and it's nice to see Barney (whom I've missed the past few months).
Old Barney always looks like he's gonna make a break for it!
Texas welcomes you back, Mr. President, but baby it is HOT outside!

Meanwhile in Baghdad...


Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, pays a visit to his acting Baghdad Police Chief Hassan al-Obeidi, who'd been injured in a weapons raid a day earlier, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday July 28, 2003. Kerik heads the Baghdad police force and was was dubbed the 'Baghdad Terminator' after he summarily dismissed a newly reinstated Iraqi official who turned out to be a member of Saddam Hussein'sBaath Party. He has determined to make Iraq police as one of the best forces.
If anyone can turn those Iraqi sad sacks into *real* cops, Bernie can!
And yes, he's a tough guy, but he has a tender enough hurt to visit his Iraqi colleague in the hospital, too.
America is so proud of Mr. Kerik and he's doing the Lord's work over there.
God bless and God speed, Bernard.
And in Gaza, there was this:


A Palestinian girl wears camouflage clothing as she looks at a portrait of slain Palestinian Rafat Ahmed Alozanen during a rally of President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in Beit Hanoun refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip August 2, 2003. Israel and the Palestinians are trying to resolve the fate of 20 militants held by Yasser Arafat's forces after taking refuge in his West Bank headquarters, Palestinian security officials said.
Road map or no road map, as long as the "Palestinians" continue to dress their children like this (a little girl, no less!), raise them to be "militants" and promote their culture of death, they'll never get their own state.
Nor should they.

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July 27, 2003

Our military morticians have simply got to stop slapping the make-up on Uday and Qusay!