Coalition collapse sparks appreciation of another coalition

Much has been written about the missions and sacrifices made by American and British troops in Afghanistan the past eight years, making every strident effort to root out Taliban insurgents and bring peace between rival tribal factions. What hasn't been heralded in the English-speaking press as much are the same contributions and sacrifices other nations have made in Afghanistan, assisting the US & UK through NATO.

One nation's such contributions have just come to light as their government, asked by NATO commanders to extend their mission past July 2010, has collapsed over whether or not to do so.

Over the weekend, the coalition government of Netherlands, led by centre-right prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, dissolved following the mass resignation of 12 ministers from the Dutch Labour Party. As a result, parliamentary elections are set to occur in June. This coalition government (Balkenende's fourth as prime minister) lasted three years, established when Balkenende's Christian Democratic Appeal aligned with Labour and the centre-left ChristianUnion over his previous, more conservative, coalition partners Democrats66 and People's Party for Freedom for Democracy.

The Dutch currently have about 1400 troops stations in the Afghan province of Uruzgan, bordered on the south by Kandahar. Along with 480 Australian soldiers and Afghan military and civilian officers, the Dutch-led task force has maintained peace in the central province for almost four years. In the process, they've lost 21 soldiers, most notably Dennis van Uhm, the son of the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff, General Peter van Uhm. Dennis' death occurred one day following Peter assuming his current post.

At least 25 nations are involved in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. For the US-led effort to root out terrorism, lay the groundwork for a more empowering life for all Afghans, and continue to win their hearts, it's important to not only build and maintain a coalition, but recognize all components of it when credit's due. I suspect most American and British readers aren't aware that hunkered down with British support teams in Helmand are 750 Danish and 150 Estonian troops, or that assisting the German-led reconstruction teams around the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif are 175 Latvians. Even the Republic of Georgia, just 18 months after Russian forces invaded the contested regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, plans to increase their numbers in Afghanistan from 150 to 1000. And Turkey, while hesitant to increase their troop levels alongside the US surge, maintains a force of 1700 troops training Afghan police officers in and around the capital Kabul.

For anyone who regularly includes the American and/or British soldier in their daily prayers, I would ask that soldiers from the various countries that make up this coalition be included as well. For the largest aspects of a coalition to succeed, its smaller components must too be supported and lauded.

As for Balkenende's future, while I do not profess to know a lot about Dutch politics, I find it doubtful that he will not be called on by Queen Beatrix to form a new coalition government this summer.