Dutch government falls over Afghan troop mission

[Sol Invictus]

Independant.co.uk | 20 February 2010

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's coalition government collapsed this morning when the two largest parties failed to agree on whether to withdraw troops from Afghanistan this year as planned.

The fall of the government, just two days short of the coalition's third anniversary, all but guarantees that the 2,000 Dutch troops will be brought home this year and will eventually prompt new parliamentary elections.

The collapse, the fourth for a cabinet led by Balkenende in eight years, throws into doubt the scope and timing of planned budget cuts for next year as the Dutch economy battles to emerge from the global downturn.

"I unfortunately note that there is no longer a fruitful path for the Christian Democrats, Labour Party and Christian Union to go forward," Balkenende, who leads the centre-right Christian Democrats, told reporters.

Read More Here (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dutch-government-falls-over-afghan-troop-mission-1905407.html)

[Sarmata]

Independant.co.uk | 20 February 2010

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's coalition government collapsed this morning when the two largest parties failed to agree on whether to withdraw troops from Afghanistan this year as planned.

The fall of the government, just two days short of the coalition's third anniversary, all but guarantees that the 2,000 Dutch troops will be brought home this year and will eventually prompt new parliamentary elections.

The collapse, the fourth for a cabinet led by Balkenende in eight years, throws into doubt the scope and timing of planned budget cuts for next year as the Dutch economy battles to emerge from the global downturn.

"I unfortunately note that there is no longer a fruitful path for the Christian Democrats, Labour Party and Christian Union to go forward," Balkenende, who leads the centre-right Christian Democrats, told reporters.

Read More Here (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dutch-government-falls-over-afghan-troop-mission-1905407.html)

"Christian Democrats" and "Christian Union" it's rather funny names for parties in such liberal and atheistic country like Netherlands?

[The Lawspeaker]

You have a wrong image of the Netherlands. In the former coalition two out of three parties were Christian and in a lot of rural municipalities the Christian Union, the Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij and other small local Christian parties are still firmly in control.
Should tell you something.

[Sol Invictus]

21 February 2010 | by Acharya S | Free Thought Nation (http://freethoughtnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=307:dutch-govt-falls-wilders-next-pm&catid=61:politics)

Ordinarily, I would take no great glee in the fall of a supposedly democratic government of a country that has proved itself over the past several decades to be one of the most civilized and enlightened societies in all of human history. But this time around, I have to wonder whether or not karma has caught up with this particular government, after it engaged in the absolutely immoral behavior of prosecuting one of its most courageous and prominent citizens merely for speaking the truth about a dangerous ideology.

The Dutch government has apparently fallen apart - ostensibly over Dutch presence in Afghanistan - and not a few people have wondered whether or not the great populist politician Geert Wilders will soon become Prime Minister. This development is stunning, because at the moment that same government is trying Wilders in its kangaroo court for "hate crimes" against Holland's burgeoning Muslim population, whose way of life and special demands are essentially destroying the fabric of Dutch culture.

Wilders has been under fire for years now, especially after releasing his well-done expose of Islamic supremacist mentality as found in the Koran and as practiced by thousands of individuals often described as "terrorists." For his courage, Wilders has been under a constant threat of being murdered by this same contingent, entirely proving his point.

Hopefully, this Dutch implosion will lead to Wilders grabbing the reigns and leading Holland - and, by inspiration, other parts of Europe - in a direction that will save its ancient culture from certain destruction at the hands of Islamists. Said Wilders at the news of the governmental dissolution, "This is a beautiful day. The worst cabinet in Dutch history no longer exists and people can let their voices be heard by voting in a few months' time."

Go, Geert, go!

[Sol Invictus]

Anyone want to take bets on how fast Geert is killed?