Stay the course in Iraq

As The Economist so eloquently puts it this week:

'The cost to America of staying in Iraq may be high, but the cost of retreat would be higher. By fleeing, America would not buy itself peace. Mr Zarqawi and his fellow fanatics have promised to hound America around the globe. Driving America out of Iraq would grant militant Islam a huge victory. Arabs who want to modernise their region would know that they could not count on America to stand by its friends.'

Read the whole thing.

14:50

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On the death of Louis Sévèke

I've been clearing up some confusion over the murder of Louis Sévèke, a leftist activist who did some great work exposing some less than desirable practices by the former Dutch intelligence service BVD (now AIVD) .

LGF Watch was under the impression that I hadn't reported on the case, which I had, albeit on my Dutch blog. I even provided some links to both Sévèke's articles and a blog with some reporting on the issue.

As for an update, there simply hasn't been much news since his murder. I fear his death may not be related to any spooky stuff at all, but to the string of recent mob killings in the Netherlands. Sévèke often ventured into criminal investigations as well. Winston Smith of LGF Watch says he considered a similar possibility.

"The mafia angle has occurred to me to, esp. in light of the fact that one of the "underworld figures" who was recently assassinated in Amsterdam was also a real-estate agent. And of course Sévèke was very active in the kraker (squatter) movement. He's bound to have had many enemies among the real-estate mafia."

It's all speculative, of course. Nevertheless, I work for Quote, a business magazine which got shot at in 2003 after some articles about connections between criminals and the 'normal' world. The police recovered 19 bullets at the office, and one more at the home address of the owner (in the ceiling of his son's bedroom). The fact that they took aim at a not exactly leftist business magazine suggests that these people could care less about your political persuasions.

I'm not suggesting a connection, but am trying to illustrate that the Dutch underworld is not to be underestimated. You don't want to irritate these guys too much. My fear is Sévèke may have done just that.

14:01

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Dutch government critical of Bush administration

Now it looks like an extra group of Dutch Special Forces may not be bound for Afghanistan to deal with terrorists because of the Bush administration's unwillingness to be clear about the rules by which the GWOT is fought. Secretary Ben Bot of Foreign Affairs made the following statements about the alleged secret prisons in former Eastern Europe:

"The United States must not play hide-and-seek. Sooner or later, it will come out anyway," said Bot on the EU's request for clarification on the alleged CIA prisons. Bot also said the Americans "have sought out the boundaries" of what is permissible in the fight against terrorism."

Secretary Ben Bot is a weasel (i.e. a diplomat) and I don't like him at all. But he does have a point. If there is nothing going on, why hasn't the Bush administration offered a staunch denial of the existence of such prisons?

The Bush administration has even managed to irritate the VVD. This is exceptional, for the conservative VVD is very much a pro-American party. What struck me was the harsh language that was used by MP Hans van Baalen, normally an ardent supporter of the United States and a proponent of the war against Iraq (for the record, so was I):

"The VVD supports the United States, but this support can be lost. (...) Even terrorists have rights, even though we condemn their actions. (...) The war against terrorism can only be won from a position of moral superiority, and that will be lost if we have to condemn our own actions."

I tend to agree. We play this game by sticking to the rules (rules which, by the way, we made ourselves). Either that, or calls for a time-out are warranted, if not to follow through on those calls, then to make sure the West is united in upholding similar moral values. After all, it was the United States that took great strides towards universal human values by encouraging human rights, first by cooperating with other countries in the United Nations to get the UDHR adopted, then through the Helsinki Accords.

This legacy must not be lost or even tarnished. And if it takes some harsh words of a proud friend of the United States to keep its current administration from forgetting the end by being uncritical about the means, so be it.

12:08

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