Once more I am ashamed to be Dutch.

The Dutch cabinet has fallen over the Iraq issue. The left-wing PVDA has chosen the fleeting comfort of public opinion and opposes an extended mission for Dutch troops in Afghanistan.

The result is that at the end of the current mission in August all Dutch troops will withdraw from the Uruzgan province.

This is a Very Bad Thing. I could try to explain why, but this NY Times opinion piece does a much better job. An excerpt:

“The war in Afghanistan is not just about America’s security. It, too, is about denying sanctuaries to Al Qaeda, which has also carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Europe. NATO is stronger when it stands together. The Netherlands weakens itself and all of its allies by choosing to stand alone.”

The irony is that the PVV, the party of Geert Wilders, also opposes the Dutch presence in Afghanistan. This is stupendously ignorant of them.

Wilders keeps on pointing out the dangers of Islamic extremism in the Netherlands, but utterly fails to realize that this is exactly why we need to oppose Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too, Geert. The success of our struggle for western values over Islamic fundamentalism doesn’t end at the Dutch borders. You either get on that train all the way, or not at all.

In Afghanistan we’re fighting for much more than our own safety. Our withdrawal from that fight makes us nothing short of spineless ignorant cowards.

We should all be ashamed. I certainly am.