Obama's Afghan Allies Bugging Out

Even as President Obama sends more American troops to Afghanistan, his NATO allies are starting to bring their troops home.

The Netherlands was one of only about a dozen countries making anything more than a token contribution to the U.S.-led effort in Afghanistan.

But the Dutch flag was lowered over their base in the central Afghanistan province of Uruzgan on Sunday as approximately 1,900 Dutch soldiers prepared to leave the country. American troops took their place, patrolling a province full of Taliban and poppy fields.

The last song played on Radio Uruzgan before it ceased broadcasting, according to the Australian newspaper, was "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" by the Animals, which became an anti-war anthem during the Vietnam era.

The Dutch departure, combined with the extraordinary unpopularity of the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, could lead to a rush for the exits.

Other countries are on their way out already. Canada has long intended to withdraw all of its 2,700 troops within a year. And just last month, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski urged NATO to draft a new strategy for leaving Afghanistan more quickly and said Poland will withdraw its 2,600 soldiers by 2012, regardless.

When Obama's surge reaches its peak of 100,000 troops, the size of the American force will even further dwarf the commitments of other nations. According to the latest NATO numbers, there are 9,500 British troops serving in Afghanistan; 4,350 from Germany; 3,750 from France; and 3,300 from Italy. Along with Canada and Poland, those are the only countries with more than 2,000 troops on the ground. (See this Wikipedia chart and the NATO website.)

The Dutch lost 24 soldiers in Afghanistan since they arrived in 2006. NATO's request that the government extend its mission triggered a political row that brought down the country's coalition government in February.

WATCH The Animals perform "We Gotta Get Out of This Place":

Comments

[KIVPossum]

08:51 AM on 08/03/2010

They are not 'bugging out', they have come to their senses.

[Rich Zubaty the Rude Guy]

12:54 AM on 08/03/2010

There's a better life for me and you. Thank you. We gotta get out of that place.

[fab40ies]

12:45 AM on 08/03/2010

BrassOnes: My grandfather emigrated (legally, I might add), from Holland and I am also an Air Force Veteran. So as both ethnically Dutch and a Vet I can tell you that the Netherlands has it written into their constitution that their military force is to be used to provide aid and enforce international law. So, they are legally bound to help other countries - can we Americans say the same thing? Until 2003 every Dutch citizen over 18 was tasked with protection of the country - they have since gone to a professional/volunteer military. This is one reason their crime-rate is quite low. It is unlikely someone is going to steal when everyone owns firearms. Since the military went 'professional' only those who 'hunt' are given a license for a weapon. However, as any Dutch person will tell you that simply meant that everyone over the age of 18 is now a 'hunter.' Find out something about other countries before you begin making disparaging remarks. The Dutch have a very highly trained military force and were a valuable asset - they've just had enough of an endless, and now pointless, military occupation.

[laphroaig63]

03:47 AM on 08/03/2010

I agree with your statements about the Dutch military, but if you really think the reason for the low crime rate in the Netherlands is that everyone ownes a firearm, you are the one who has to learn something about the Dutch.
Gun ownership in the Netherlands is extremely low even for European Standards with only three firearms per hundred people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_law#Netherlands

[Jimmy Boy]

12:14 AM on 08/03/2010

My ousin just got back after serving a tour for a year. I asked whatit was like. He said misearable. He said the people hate us, think we are an occupying force and no longer coperate with the US. He said they spent more time playing police to the tribes and baby sitters to the Afghan army. He said the US chain of command treats the soliders like crap. He only got 4 hours a sleep per night for 6 months in a row. On top of that losing buddies to IEDs will forever scare him. He said he wished we would just pull out because he thought it was hopless.

What's sad is he is willing to go back for another tour to help be with his buddies from his platoon. He misses them a lot and worries about them constantly.

I thought why does the US deserve such dedicated fearless soliders when our chain of command is a bunch of jerks. Doesn't seem right.

[BrassOnes]

12:14 AM on 08/03/2010

Who cares. The Dutch couldn't fight there way out through a girl scout troop.

[sharmaine73]

03:43 AM on 08/03/2010

What do the Dutch do anyway? What are they famous for again? Wooden shoes, tulips, and wind mills, right? Yeah, they're super intimidating. Yah.

[cmp]

06:33 PM on 08/03/2010

They are a major part of the Imperial banking system that controls the world, that's what they do.

[FogBelter]

10:57 PM on 08/02/2010

This was always George W Bush's war. He strong-armed and bribed other nations to participate, but this was Bush's deal. Hopefully the next time the United States heeds help for a legitimate reason what allies we still have will offer assistance. The United States credibility is shot over Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Jimmy Boy]

12:07 AM on 08/03/2010

Obama escalated the number of troops. Bush may of started it. But Obama now owns this mess.

I wish he would call Bush, ask where that Mission Accomplished banner is located and go to Afghanisan, Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, UAE, Korea, Japan, Europe and everywhere else and say Mission Accomplished, we are going home boys.

I can dream. I know that day will not happen.

[John Hay]

10:39 PM on 08/02/2010

As soon as Australia's federal election is decided there is no doubt that fed up Australians will publicly organize and demand the recall of all Australian troops from Afghanistan.

John Hay
Australia

[Nativesons]

10:38 PM on 08/02/2010

Coalition of the gone.
Got paydirt?

A surge in Balochistan as well may be virtually inevitable.

Balochistan is totally under the radar of Western corporate media. But not the Pentagon's. An immense desert comprising almost 48% of Pakistan's area, rich in uranium and copper, potentially very rich in oil, and producing more than one-third of Pakistan's natural gas, it accounts for less than 4% of Pakistan's 173 million citizens. Balochs are the majority, followed by Pashtuns. Strategically, Balochistan is mouth-watering: east of Iran, south of Afghanistan, and boasting three Arabian sea ports, including Gwadar, practically at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.

Gwadar - a port built by China - is the absolute key. It is the essential node in the crucial, ongoing, and still virtual Pipelineistan war between IPI and TAPI. IPI is the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, also known as the "peace pipeline", which is planned to cross from Iranian to Pakistani Balochistan - an anathema to Washington. TAPI is the perennially troubled, US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, which is planned to cross western Afghanistan via Herat and branch out to Kandahar and Gwadar.

Washington's dream scenario is Gwadar as the new Dubai
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KE09Df03.html

[Buakaw Por Pramuk]

10:46 PM on 08/02/2010

"Balochistan is totally under the radar of Western corporate media"

Afghanistan is almost totally under the radar of western corporate media. Everything but Lindsay Lohan is under their radar.

[floodberg]

11:24 PM on 08/02/2010

They missed Lohan? She must really be over.

[floodberg]

10:32 PM on 08/02/2010

COULD IT BE THAT THE US IS WRONG?

Could we be in Afghanistan for about a trillion reasons, none of which will benefit the Afghanis?

I lost high school friends in Vietnam. I remember the body counts on the front page and the live fighting videos on the evening television. These things got America mad, and we forced our government to get out.

This is clearly a war for Wall Street, not for Afghani Freedom or US Security. I hoped I would never see another one. Our corporately controlled media keeps the truth from us.

Time to take to the streets again. This time, I'll be using a cane, but I'll be there.

[Pieter Nieuwenhuijs]

10:41 PM on 08/02/2010

Ask the Russians! They were there for another cause, but still, with all the troops and equipment they never were able to get control of Afghanistan. With the killing of civilians and the destruction of the poppy fields, income for the poor farmers, the outcome is clear. There is no way the US will ever be able to win this war.

[podios]

10:53 PM on 08/02/2010

So many of us knew this way back when, but were written off as anti- American. End of story.

[Mencken Today]

10:17 PM on 08/02/2010

And now we will have to add the Dutch to our list of those "against us"...

[Buakaw Por Pramuk]

10:46 PM on 08/02/2010

we can add them to the axis of evil and naughty countries. Maybe we can even get our puppets at the UN to put sanctions on them.

[SpinDizzy]

10:13 PM on 08/02/2010

Are we going to let a lot of Dutch, Canadians and Poles beat us to the exit? I say let's make a race of it. We can get out of Afghanistan faster than these guys. Ready, set, go!

[ljkcan]

10:24 PM on 08/02/2010

Many don't realize Canada was suppossed to be out in 2009 after a vote in the House of Commons the mission was extended to 2011.

New polls show that Canadians do not want to see it extended again. Who has ever won a war in Afghanistan?. It breaks my heart to see more young American men and women going.

[SiberianRat]

10:13 PM on 08/02/2010

Thank you, Holland, for your help and sacrifice! You're a good friend (although you should quit supporting every one of our dumb militaristic stunts, but you're a good friend).

[podios]

10:09 PM on 08/02/2010

Your Attention Please: From now on Dutch Chocolate will be officially known as Freedom Chocolate. Thank you for your cooperation.

[SiberianRat]

10:22 PM on 08/02/2010

And Freedomaise sauce on our eggs.

[podios]

10:32 PM on 08/02/2010

Sorry. I forgot that one.

[ljkcan]

10:04 PM on 08/02/2010

It may seem like a token amount to many Americans, that being said Canadians have been there from the beginnig even when Bush took his little side trip to Iraq we stayed.

The mission has been extended once to 2011. Our numbers may be small but as a Canadian and to those who have lost loved ones in the bloody unwinable war, don't refer them as token.

[ljkcan]

10:07 PM on 08/02/2010

sorry beginning.

[flabingo]

09:22 PM on 08/02/2010

Hopefully the administration will not start a boycott of Dutch cheese, because of their disloyalty.

[SiberianRat]

10:06 PM on 08/02/2010

Disloyalty?? Holland is one of our most reliable allies, and they should be thanked rather than called disloyal.

[ljkcan]

10:18 PM on 08/02/2010

I agree they are reliable allies. This is no joke as some would take it it is lives. We are occupiers of a foreign nation.

[Buakaw Por Pramuk]

10:48 PM on 08/02/2010

they belong on the axis of naughty and should have UN sanctions placed on them.

[kulturkampf]

10:24 PM on 08/02/2010

Never mind their strange cheeses.It's time the truth was told: Heineken beer is overrated,overpriced and has an unpleasant skunky aftertaste.

[SiberianRat]

10:42 PM on 08/02/2010

SO TRUE!