Wednesday, January 13, 2010



Another nail in the coffin

A Dutch committee of inquiry has found that the Iraq war was illegal and that the Netherlands' support for the invasion was unjustified. Its the usual story - selective use of intelligence by politicians focused on toadying to the US, lies to the public and the Parliament; unlike the UK, though, the Dutch Parliament didn't buy the bullshit, and as a result Dutch forces did not participate in the invasion itself. Still, it casts the leadership of the time in a very bad light, and makes a strong case that Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende misled Parliament. The Dutch Parliament is likely to be looking into that, and hopefully they'll be able to hold him to account.