Dutch Extend Afghanistan Mission

[tomahawk6]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7121818.stm

The Dutch military mission in Afghanistan will be extended by two years, Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has announced.

Dutch troops had been scheduled to leave Afghanistan in summer 2008.

The decision to extend the mission follows a call by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden for European nations to stop helping US forces in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden said that he - and not the Afghans - was the "only one responsible" for the 9/11 attacks.

Dutch troops are stationed primarily in the southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan.

Since the Netherlands joined the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) last year, 12 Dutch soldiers have been killed.

 

[Rayman]

Makes you wonder if Bin Laden did that on purpose to get that kind of reaction in his hopes that the AQ could take on more of the Coalition Forces.

Or maybe they are getting down to the wire....dout that.

 

[Flip]

I think BinLaden is trying to reframe his existence in the public mindset.

I doubt AQ will ever be truly welcomed by the Taliban again.
I think his whole "jihad" enterprize has an image problem.

"Jihad" wasn't supposed to go this way...... ;D

 

[retiredgrunt45]

If you look prior to 9/11, the U.S didn't do much in the fight against terror, save for a few cross words, a few cruise missiles and the such. It wasn't till after Bin Laden and AQ brought down the WTC, that he woke a sleeping giant. I think upto that point AQ really looked at the U.S as a passive threat.

I don't think he was fully prepared for the U.S response and it took him a bit by surprise. When the U.S Moved into Iraq, it gave him a real sense that this was serious and that he would have to find ways to combat this, but he came up short, because he had his sights on America herself and instead the U.S brought the fight to him, this is what he didn't expect and this is were his jihad faltered.

I think that Arab states are becoming increasingly more disillusioned with AQ and it's only a matter of time, before AQ becomes enemy number one, within the Arab community. Arab People eventually will become tired of the killing and the mayham and ultimately will destroy AQ themselves. It's only a matter of time and I think it will be sooner that later.

Bin Laden is a madman who has had his 15 minutes of fame and he will follow his loser fellowship down into history with names that are synonymous within this loser club, such as Hitler, Mussolini and Napolean.

And God said to Adam

"goodness and righteousness shall be the light and evil will forever be shrouded by the blackness of the night"