The main parties in the Dutch government are against sending troop reinforcements to Afghanistan while two military unions in the Netherlands think more Dutch troops should be sent to Uruzgan to combat the threat of attacks.

The main parties in the Dutch government are against sending troop reinforcements to the Afghan province of Uruzgan. Military unions are calling for extra troops after an attack on a Dutch convoy on Friday killed two soldiers, one of them the son of the newly appointed Dutch Chief of Defence. The latest casualties also seem to be affecting public support for the Dutch contribution to the NATO mission.

Two military unions in the Netherlands think more Dutch troops should be sent to Uruzgan to combat the threat of attacks like the one that took place on Friday. The Netherlands currently has 1,650 troops stationed in Afghanistan. They include 1,200 ground troops stationed in the southern province of Uruzgan plus members of the air force, which provides F-16 fighter planes and Apache helicopters.

But the figure of 1,200 is deceptive - the majority of this force carries out support tasks and never actually leave the two Dutch bases. It's estimated that the Netherlands has around 500 troops in the province who are actually able to go ‘out of the gate', but of course they aren't on duty 24 hours a day.

Too few people
Given that there always has to be a reserve unit, or Quick Reaction Force, on stand-by to turn out in case of emergency, at any given time only about 150 soldiers are left to do the everyday work on the ground, such as making contacts with the local population, exploring, and if need be engaging the Taliban. So on the face of it the military unions' appeal for more troops doesn't seem out of place. Wim van den Burg of the union AFMP sums up the problem:

"You actually have to monitor the area, and we simply have too few people to manage it. As soon as we turn round, things go on behind our backs that we actually don't want happening, and we can't keep an adequate check on it. We really need a lot more people."

The two deaths on Friday bring the number of Dutch soldiers killed by roadside bombs to five, out of a total of 16 killed in accidents, attacks and combat. This means that ‘Improvised Explosive Devices' (IEDs) proportionally form the greatest threat. Not surprisingly then, a Dutch IED Task Force has recently been set up, and there is a constant exchange of information on the latest enemy techniques with NATO allies in Afghanistan.

Drop in public support
The threat presented by roadside bombs is evident from the fact that columns of military vehicles are often headed by engineers using metal detectors to check the road and roadside. But this method is no guarantee of safety, as last Friday's attack makes only too clear. The best means to counter roadside bombs is said to be tips and information from the local population.

The death of the two soldiers on Friday has led to an immediate drop in public support for the Dutch military presence in Afghanistan. A poll at the weekend showed that a majority of people now oppose the mission. Among army personnel too, the losses are having an effect, says chairman of the Christian military union ACOM, Jan Kleian.

"The frustration among the men is naturally increasing on this point too, because they say, 'Every week in every village, we're doing the same job,' so there's a problem of morale. But what I find much worse is that if you have evidence that it leads to casualties, you have a particular duty to prevent it [i.e. attacks, ed.]"

Probably no extra troops
It's highly unlikely that the Netherlands will decide to send any significant number of extra troops to Uruzgan. The policy is to train the Afghan army as quickly and thoroughly as possible to enable them to take on the work themselves. There is to be a review of whether the vehicles deployed in Uruzgan need adaptations, such as additional armour plating. But experience in Iraq shows that an IED can take out even the heaviest tank- it's just a matter of how many kilos of explosives the insurgents use.

22 April 2008

By RNW Security and Defence specialist Hans de Vreij

[Copyright Radio Netherlands 2008]