Sometimes the "Coalition of the Willing" becomes the "Coalition of the Wished-It-Hadn't". Ben Bot, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands and a member of the same government that entered the Netherlands into the "Coalition of the Willing", openly raised doubts on Wednesday about the wisdom of the US invasion of Iraq.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/10/05/afx2262290.html
THE HAGUE (AFX) - Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said that with hindsight, the US-led invasion of Iraq that was supported by the Dutch government although it did not contribute troops*, was 'maybe not wise'.
It was the first time that the Dutch government has distanced itself from the invasion.
After questions in a meeting in parliament about whether or not the invasion of Iraq was wise, Bot replied: 'Now looking back the answer could be that maybe it was not wise'.
According to Bot it 'would have been wiser' to continue on the path of diplomacy longer and to investigate the possible presence of weapons of mass destruction more thoroughly.
*The Netherlands did send troops to Iraq after the invasion. (my note)
Frankly, this probably shouldn't surprise any Netherlands watchers. Ben Bot is a career diplomat and not a Bush bootlicker like Balkenende or former FM and current NATO SG Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. However, going off message--especially when you're the first person in government to burst the bubble--is strictly forbidden, so today PM Balkenende stated that it was
"not government policy to raise questions over Iraq".
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06580382.htm
It sounds like they're taking pointers from the Bush White House. However, they're also taking after the Bush White House in terms of popularity. Polls indicate that the current right-wing government would 15 seats short of a majority and 19 seats behind the left parties in a parliament of 150 seats.