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| Afghanistan |
| Combat death rattles Holland |
| 2007-04-24 |
| KANDAHAR–Outside the little clapboard church on base, Dutch soldiers gather to commiserate and mourn. One, squatting on his haunches, sobs into his hands. A colleague wraps comforting arms around his shoulders. They are not accustomed to this – grieving for the dead, their own. Early last Friday, the Netherlands suffered their first combat casualty in Afghanistan, a soldier killed when he stepped on a roadside bomb. It happened less than two kilometres from Forward Operating Base Robinson – where Canadians troops are deployed – in the Sangin River Valley, just over the border in Helmand province. Last night, the remains of Cpl. Cor Strik were flown out of Kandahar Airfield following a ramp ceremony that was closed to the media, save for a Dutch TV crew – and they can only broadcast their footage after the 33-year-old victim's funeral is held back in Holland on Friday. They do things differently, the Dutch. That idiosyncrasy in approach – rightly or wrongly, defensible or questionable – also explains why this was their first combat fatality, compared with 54 deaths for Canadian troops in the same period, just over a year in the volatile southern provinces of Afghanistan. The Dutch, with some notable and under-reported exceptions, do not fight. This is not meant as an indictment or slur against their character because it has nothing to do with courage or lack thereof. It's all about orders, rules of engagement determined by The Hague, and caveats imposed on Holland's contribution, some 2,000 troops in all, to the NATO coalition. These caveats – and most alliance nations have insisted on them – have been tremendously frustrating to NATO command and most especially Canada, whose soldiers are doing so much of the heavy combat lifting, with casualties to match. "What are we doing here?" a young Dutch infantryman asked rhetorically yesterday when approached by the Toronto Star. "That's a good question. Who knows? "Is this a war or is this nation-building? On the Dutch news, that's what everybody is asking. The Hague seems uncertain what they want from us. There are forces pulling in both directions. Our country is torn over this mission. But I am just a soldier and we do what we are told." Sound familiar? This young Dutch soldier – a driver with an infantry logistics crew – can't give his name because those are the media rules of engagement as ordained by Dutch military command. The hierarchy is in strict control of all information dissemination. The aforementioned TV crew was actually flown into Afghanistan by the military, although they were allowed unusual freedom of movement with Dutch troops deployed in Uruzgan, the increasingly tumultuous province north of Kandahar. Video shot shows Dutch troops doing remarkably un-Dutch things, including kicking open doors in an aggressive village search for Taliban militants and then, by way of atonement for damage inflicted, handing out money to civilians to pay for the damages just caused. The soldier interviewed by the Star, and a mate, are both with Task Force Uruzgan. They were just 700 metres from the improvised explosive device that killed their compatriot (and an American soldier who arrived shortly thereafter, part of the counter-IED crew, who also stepped on a mine.) "I heard the big bang but I didn't know the bad news until a few hours later, that he was one of ours," he says. "Very sad." The Dutch are a solid NATO ally in the Afghanistan coalition of 37 nations – though the brunt of security, patrol and combat assignments fall to the Canadians, Americans and British. Helicopter transportation – the lifting and delivering of troops – is also largely a Dutch responsibility, using mostly Chinooks purchased from Canada. But there has been keen anxiety, and conflict, back in Holland about the nature of Dutch activity in Afghanistan. The Hague's decision to deploy troops, last February, came only after intense parliamentary debate, a wrangling that had extended for six months. Just as the disaster of Somalia still resonates with Canadians, the Dutch are haunted by the "Srebrenica Factor," where Dutch peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to prevent the massacre of thousands of Muslims by Serb forces a decade ago. In the end, the Netherlands sent 1,400 extra troops to southern Afghanistan, on top of the 600 they already had in place in Kabul as part of the International Security Assistance Force. The Dutch are currently in overall command of NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, Maj.-Gen. Ton van Loon taking over from Canada last fall in the rotating formula. The myth is that Dutch forces have essentially shunned combat, emphasizing make-nice reconstruction and redevelopment projects in Uruzgan, for which Holland has primary responsibility, concentrating their efforts in the less dangerous areas – earlier "pacified" by Americans, especially in the basin around Tarin Kowt, the provincial capital. It's an approach that appeals to many Canadians, some of whom earnestly call for this country's troops to do ditto, as if any of these benign undertakings could be launched without somebody first assuming the perilous security duties which, yes, do involve raids and searches and sometimes disgruntled civilians. In truth, Dutch troops have shown their mettle in Uruzgan – how much of this has been explained to folks back home is difficult to ascertain from here – and, while generally not provoking or firing first, they have certainly fired back. So, they do fight, somewhat, sporadically. Certainly, a tip of the sword component – Tiger Company, the Dutch airborne infantry unit operating out of FOB Robinson, and several hundred other troops attached to Operation Achilles in Helmand province – fight as required, according to interviews conducted by the Star. They conduct patrols and secure zones in hostile environments. Yet other soldiers who've returned from those areas continue to grumble that their Dutch colleagues often prefer to withdraw from enemy range when things heat up. The last time the Star was at FOB Robinson was a year ago so this reporter has been unable to independently confirm either version of events. But the Dutch have spilled their blood here: Three killed in aviation accidents, one in an armoured car crash and an apparent suicide. Now, their first hardcore insurgent-caused casualty. Combat virginity lost. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 The funny thing about "surrender" is that, whether the enemy kills you = enslaves/controls you + your society, etc. THE FINAL DECISION ON ONE'S [FINAL]FATE BELONGS TO THE ENEMY, NOT TO YOU, NOR YOUR SOCIETY, NOR YOUR GUBMINT. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-04-24 20:57 |
| #3 Armies that don't fight! |
| Posted by: Bugs Hupusose2306 2007-04-24 12:41 |
| #2 It's not their war Mac. Just as it's not our war when their cities erupt. Brussels, the formerly Dutch speaking majority city is now 56% foreign. The tipping point approaches. Better get moving on relocating NATO headquarters. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-04-24 11:42 |
| #1 "Their first hardcore insurgent-caused casualty." Listen closely. Hear that sloshing sound? It's from where all the blood leaking from my heart for these poor Dutch has pooled in my shoes and is getting splashed as I walk. What a bunch of wimps in both their government and their military! |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-04-24 11:30 |