Netherlands calls in US ambassador after criticism from Gates

[rodeodance]

Source: afp

Netherlands calls in US ambassador after criticism from Gates

27 minutes ago

THE HAGUE (AFP) - The Dutch government has summoned the US ambassador here to explain comments from US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who criticised NATO forces in southern Afghanistan in a report on Wednesday.


Gates told the Los Angeles Times newspaper that international troops deployed in the south -- mainly from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands -- were not properly trained to fight an insurgency.

"We do not recognise ourselves in the image conjured" by Gates, Dutch Defence Secretary Eimert van Middelkoop told reporters...........

He argued that Dutch troops had acted with experience and professionalism.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080116/wl_afp/usafghanistannatogatesnetherlands_080116194508;_ylt=AjUJSkAighfIx27YdTHc8MCs0NUE

[flasoapbox]

1. Way to piss off your "allies"

Heckuva job, Robby.

[Robbien]

2. Not just the Dutch. Our Canadian friends to the north are not happy about this either

Neither are the Brits.

and the GOPers in DC aren't making things much better

In Washington, Congressman Duncan Hunter, ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, warned that Congress could restrict access to defence contracts for allies who did not pull their weight.

Well, I guess this kind of behavior can be expected from a nation who invades and occupies other countries.

[rockybelt]

3. Who will be the single ally left

when bush, cheney,gates,rice, etal ge through with them?

[loudsue]

5. Poland? n/t

[14thColony]

4. Clueless

Our allies are running themselves into the ground trying to do our bidding. The Brits I worked with in Afghanistan were getting aabout two weeks off before they went to Iraq, and some knew that after Iraq it was a short break and then Brunei, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, or the Falklands. We forget they have lots of their own deployments they also have to cover; we don't notice or care because those are not within the realm of Imperium Americanum. The Canadian Army is also severely strained by the tempo of deployments in Afghanistan. I think some forget that their militaries are tiny in comparison to ours, and soldier-for-soldier I'd say they're pulling more weight than we are, with less defense budget and at a higher political cost. We should be thanking them daily for still being in there at all.

[DCKit]

6. "27 minutes ago THE HAGUE (AFP)"

Hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more from the Hague in the coming years. Keep pokin' 'em with your pokey stick Duncan. I'm sure it'll all turn out for the best.

[damntexdem]

7. Are we going to war with the Netherlands?

If so, will the U.S. budget for the war -- or will it be Dutch treat?

[flasoapbox]

8. If we don't fight the Dutch over there, we'll have to fight them over here...

...luckily if they come here, they'll probably bring pot and hookers!!1!

[elehhhhna]

9. uh oh. I'm dutch. Should we turn ourselves in to the Fed now, or wait 'til the round up?

[provis99]

10. way to go, Gates you clueless fuck

The Dutch and Canadians are doing all of the fighting, while the Americans sit cooped up in their garrison bases, and Gates has the gall to criticize them? The Bush administration sure goes out of their way to ensure America is hated by everybody, don't they?

[tuvor]

11. Posted your message in the Canda forum, rodeodance.

Thanks, it'll be interesting to see how our Minister of Defence, Peter MacKay, will handle this.

Well, it would be if there were a hope in hell of such a thing happening.

[tuvor]

13. CBC: U.S. critique of Afghan allies wasn't aimed at Canada: MacKay

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates wasn't talking about Canada when he verbally attacked the skills of the allied troops working in southern Afghanistan, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday.

MacKay said Gates called him Wednesday to explain that the comments he made in the Los Angeles Times were meant to be a general reflection on NATO's shortfalls when it comes to battling insurgents.

"His comments were certainly not directed at Canada,'" MacKay told reporters in Ottawa, recounting the conversation he'd had with Gates five minutes earlier.

"He said, 'I specifically made no reference to any country and Canada is the last country I'd make those comments about.'"

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/01/16/gates-comments.html

Still BFFs. Whew!

[MasonJar]

12. And I am sure that the British will be just thrilled!!!!

[tuvor]

14. British comment...

British Conservative legislator Patrick Mercer called the comments "bloody outrageous."

"I would beg the Americans to understand that we are their closest allies, and our men are bleeding and dying in large numbers," Mercer said. "These sorts of things are just not helpful among allied nations."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/01/16/gates-comments.html

[ohio2007]

15. NATO is executing the war their way. If Gates doesn't like it

let hime send in more marines and take over the taliban hemland province and show them how its done


;)

NATO isn't going to pony up the difference needed per NATO force commanders on the ground

[Lisa]

16. "it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies" -- US War Dept., 1942

This is a quote from a publication* by the US Government, advising American GIs on how to behave when working with Allied troops and civilians. Too bad Secretary Gates doesn't seem to have taken that into consideration.

It's one thing for him to go around implying that the Canadian public (me, for example) are being unsupportive -- after all, there are so many of us in this country who do not approve of his and Bush's leadership of "The War on Terror", that he can consider himself seriously outnumbered. (So, understandably he might lose his temper and lash out in frustration!)

But disrespecting Canadian soldiers who are working very hard and risking their lives is uncalled-for. I may not agree with this war, but I sympathize with the troops (some of whom I know). And it's unfair of him to blame them for his errors.

I should note that the 1942 publication urged US servicepeople to understand that just because people from other countries weren't being aggressive, didn't mean that they weren't strong and dedicated. The vast majority of Americans I have met do not need such reminders. But Secretary Gates evidently does.


*"Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain", recently reprinted. ISBN 1-85124-085-3