Dutch to Withdraw Troops from Iraq in March
"...The Dutch cabinet has decided to bring home the 1,350 Dutch troops in Iraq (news - web sites) in March next year, confirming a decision first made in June, the Dutch news agency ANP cited Defense Minister Henk Kamp as saying on Friday.
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The Netherlands first sent troops to Iraq in August 2003 and won parliamentary approval this summer to extend their stay until March 2005.
Iraq's interim administration wants to hold elections in January despite mounting violence, and the Netherlands has come under increasing U.S. and British pressure to keep its troops there after March.
Foreign Minister Bernard Bot recently suggested that might be possible in unforeseeable circumstances, but Kamp said the cabinet had ruled that out.
One by one, they are on the way out.There will soon only be three to four 'allies' left, together with American troops and Iraqi national guards which are heavily infiltrated by insurgents.
G.W. is toast.