Detention, serious issue for potential Dutch mission in Afghanistan

The Dutch government and media have been debating over recent weeks the viability of Dutch forces taking over control the Southern Afghan province of Uruzgan (under NATO command) in May 2006. The UK and NATO invited the Dutch to take control of this troubled province, as a part of the large expansion of NATO participation in the ISAF, International Security Assistance Force.

Reuters reported this week that Dutch Military Intelligence, the Military establishment and Cabinet members have real fears about the management of detention in such a possible deployment.

Aside from the documented killings of detainees in Kunar Province and Bagram by US forces, in Afghanistan, Uruzgan province has been the site of abuse-related controversy.

Allegations of mass detention of villagers in Uruzgan arose last year in the documentary Taliban Country, and of course most recently, two American soldiers were charged only weeks ago in connection with physically attacking detainees in the same province.

Articles in the Dutch alternative and mainstream media have raised the question as to whether it is in the national interest to send troops into a counterinsurgency-type situation.

Reuters reports that the Dutch will require a Memorandum of Understanding with the Afghan government specifically regarding detention.

It is important to observe that Holland's only other major peacekeeping operation, during the war in Bosnia, was widely considered a disaster. The shame and controversy over the perceieved Dutch battalion's failure at Srebrenica led to the resignation of an entire Dutch government.