Ex-Nato chief: 'The Netherlands will feel the effects'

Former Nato secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer regrets the end of the Dutch military mission in Uruzgan. He also blames Nato for not getting across how the Afghanistan deployment relates to the fight against terrorism.

It hurts Jaap de Hoop Scheffer that the Netherlands will be the first Nato country to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. Bad for the Netherlands, bad for Nato and only good for the Taliban, De Hoop Scheffer said in an interview with NRC Handelsblad on Tuesday

Still, the former secretary general of the transatlantic alliance is not only looking to others in placing blame. “I look at myself as well. In Europe, we have failed to convince people the military mission to Afghanistan is necessary to defend ourselves against terrorism. I am convinced it is. But the Dutch government, and I myself as secretary general, have failed to present this case in a convincing manner. Now that is coming back to haunt us.”

Five years as Nato's top dog

De Hoop Scheffer was Nato’s secretary general from 2004 to 2009. The 61-year-old had risen through the ranks of the Dutch Christian democratic party CDA, for which he served as the country’s foreign minister from 2002 until he was appointed at Nato. Today, he teaches international politics and the practice of diplomacy at Leiden University.

The last thing he wanted to do, De Hoop Scheffer said, was join the chorus of former Dutch politicians who have been commenting the fall of the Dutch cabinet, He did however, want to talk about about the international repercussions the Dutch retreat from Afghanistan will bring.

“I did not stay up till four o’clock in the morning to see how the crisis would unfold,” De Hoop Scheffer said, recalling the fall of the Dutch government in the early hours of Saturday morning. “When I turned on the radio at seven it hit me: the Netherlands will feel the effects of this.”

“In the diplomatic world, these effects are subtle. After Spain’s 2004 change of government, the new prime minister [José Luis Rodriguez] Zapatero withdrew the Spanish troops from Iraq. The American government at the time did not appreciate this. Much later, an excellent Spanish general was proposed as a possible new chair for the Nato’s military committee. He didn’t get the job,” De Hoop Scheffer said.

'US could always count on Dutch'

“The transatlantic relationship has been a leitmotiv running through Dutch foreign policy since the Second World War. American administrations knew they could always count on the Netherlands. This leads me to believe that [American president Barack] Obama will be very disappointed over what has happened here.”

“Currently, 43 allied countries are active in Afghanistan and the Netherlands is the only one leaving now. One should not overstate the consequences this will have. The appreciation the Netherlands has earned will not disappear overnight. But this is not beneficial to our international standing.”

“On Monday, the news was on the front pages of both the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, the newspapers read by people that matter. Both papers voiced the fear that the coalition’s steadfastness has been affected by the move.”

“I certainly hope that [Dutch prime minister Jan Peter] Balkenende will be re-invited to the G20 summit, but this has definitely become less likely. The G20 is becoming an important financial and economic forum. It is important to show your face there.”

De Hoop Scheffer said he was grateful he did not have to endure the Dutch retreat from Afghanistan while still in office as Nato’s secretary general. “When the Netherlands debated extending the mission in 2007, I told The Hague they should not terminate the mission while I, a Dutchman, was in office. I felt it would be unacceptable.”

De Hoop Scheffer said he believed his successor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, is probably feeling ill at ease as well. “He wrote the letter requesting a smaller Dutch mission for another year in good faith. It was written in close coordination with the Dutch government. The Netherlands were practically sitting at his desk when he wrote it. It is quite a step from there to saying: ‘sorry secretary general, but the deal is off’. It is an affront. This is bad for the Nato’s standing.”

Later to be recognised

“Afghanistan is without a doubt Nato’s most important operation. It is the subject of constant discussion [at the headquarters] in Brussels. The Netherlands has a big say there. In meetings, the secretary general always recognises the most important countries first.” Dutch ministers were always among the first seven countries to be recognised by De Hoop Scheffer, he said.

“The Americans are not the only ones watching us closely, so are the Canadians, the British, Germans, Slovaks, Slovenians, Czechs, Hungarians and Polish. All these countries have troops in Afghanistan, and all of their government leaders are having a hard time finding public support for their deployment. Recent events in the Netherlands are definitely bad news for them. It will make it harder for these countries to maintain their forces in Afghanistan.”

Pushing member states to provide troops is part of the secretary-general’s job, De Hoop Scheffer said. “The ambassador tells you what the situation in his home country is. Then you call its minister of defence or foreign affairs and ask what the problem is. You tell them: ‘You aren’t leaving, are you?’ They will then respond, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ After a while you call again, and they will say: Jaap, you really need to call the prime minister now, or the president, this is above my pay grade. Then I would do that. The same must have happened between Rasmussen and the Dutch government.”

“Sometimes all this going back and forth over the phone yields no result at all. In such a case I would express regret and a minister would ask me to go light on him in the press. Other times, we would reach an agreement. Then the secretary general then sends such a letter, hoping it will help the country.”

True to his word?

In 2007, the Netherlands agreed to extend its mission to Afghanistan only after De Hoop Scheffer had confirmed, both personally and in writing, that it was absolutely clear to Nato the last Dutch soldiers would leave Uruzgan in 2010. What was that confirmation really worth?

“Circumstance have changed in many ways: the US has a new president, who has called the Afghan was a ‘necessity’ and sent extra troops. Other countries have also sent additional soldiers. A new strategy has been formed. This leaves national politicians with a choice: take all this into account and make new plans, or not. The Netherlands failed to make that choice.”

“The Dutch exit is a moral booster for the Taliban. They have internet as well, and are definitely watching us. They are also pragmatic however, and will not for a minute think fewer soldiers will remain in Uruzgan. The Americans will probably take over from the Dutch there.”