The "Coalition of the Willing" just got smaller

by Plutonium Page

“Peace is vulnerable. That is shown when a regime chooses for years the path of threat and terror. The international community must then patiently abide by international agreements and thus try to dispel the threat... Hence the Netherlands gives political support to the action against Saddam Hussein which has been started... The action is now getting under way. But, hopefully, a time will very quickly come when the weapons will fall silent. Then we will have to do everything in our power to help the people in Iraq with their country's reconstruction.”                                    

-- Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, March 20, 2003

(Yawn...)

Sorry, Jan. After an extended mission in Iraq, the Dutch troops are finally coming home.

Details below the fold.

The Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, a.k.a. Harry Potter (apologies to Harry Potter fans) is just another one of Bush's poodles.

Although Balkenende initially folded to US pressure to keep Dutch troops in Iraq, he promised to bring the troops home in March 2005, and he's kept that promise:

Dutch troops have handed over command to British forces in the southern Iraqi province of al-Muthanna, officially ending the Netherlands' 20-month peacekeeping mission in the war-ravaged nation.

Dutch Chief-of-Staff Dick Berlijn attended the ceremony in the Iraqi city As Samawah along with representatives from local Iraqi authorities. British and Japanese military commanders also attended.

The ceremony at Camp Smitty saw the lowering of the Dutch flag and the raising of the Union Jack, news service NOS reported on Monday.

Dutch soldiers will remain in Iraq for another week to ensure a smooth transfer to British forces. Most Dutch troops will be home in the Netherlands at the start of April, but a helicopter deployment will remain in Iraq until mid-April.

So who's left in the "Coalition of the Willing"? You can read about it here.  Don't forget Poland!  Oh wait, it looks like they might leave Iraq this year, along with the Ukrainian troops.  Sorry, George.

Comments

[Kagro X]

Wow.

What does it mean when the Dutch finally tire of tilting at windmills?

[DHinMI]

One of the things I love about "Democracy being on the March" in places like Ukraine is that people get elected to office in part through opposition to their nation's involvement in the occupation of Iraq.

BTW, when ARE those Koreans supposed to arrive in Iraq?

[Plutonium Page]

Hey DHinMI,

No idea...

But I'll answer your question with another question. Which is more embarrassing: having Bush as your president, or having a Bush poodle as your prime minister?

[DHinMI]

I really shouldn't be expected to answer that question without first getting more information. I mean, I have no idea if the poodle is housetrained, if it's a toy, miniture or standard, if it's fur is cut in one of those frou-frou cuts...

[Mike S]

I've got you both beat. I have Bush as President and the Gropenator as Governer. Now that's embarrassing.

[janinsanfran]

When contemplating the ironies of life, I like to remind people that Ronald Reagan signed my UC Berkeley diploma in 1969. Pretty bad.