Bugging out on allies

Not what we did in the Netherlands in 1944-45. Are we going to leave close allies in the lurch?

AUSTRALIA'S long-term military commitment in Afghanistan is under threat after a decision by the Dutch Government to withdraw all of its troops by 2010.

The decision follows a grim warning this week by new Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, who told a NATO conference in Scotland that the increasingly bloody war being waged against resurgent Taliban extremists would be lost unless NATO and its allies agreed to dramatically rethink their tactics.

Mr Fitzgibbon told The Australian yesterday he remained hopeful The Netherlands parliament would reconsider...

The Dutch parliament decided on Tuesday night to withdraw the troops, after announcing last month that the deployment would be extended by two years to December 2010 [emphasis added]...

Now, if Canada pulls out of combat at Kandahar in Feb. 2009, where will that--for almost two years--leave the Dutch and Aussies to the north in Uruzgan with their southern flank largely unprotected? Will any Canadian politicians, and I include the Conservatives, even note this issue which has a moral, er, perspective?

Say it ain't so Stéphane, Gilles, and Jack. And Steven.

But maybe the Americans or Brits will do their duty when we choose not to. Retch.