Afghanistan is back on the political agenda, writes Giles Scott-Smith on TheHollandBureau.com

Some interesting political re-positioning going on in The Hague last week. In the parliament D66 and GreenLeft introduced a motion in support of a training mission in Afghanistan. The mission can be protected by the Dutch military. The cabinet is asked to explore the possibilities.
Did the last couple of months not happen? Both D66 and GreenLeft were opposed to continuing the Dutch military mission in Uruzgan. Both supported the original Uruzgan development mission back in 2006, which soon became a security and development mission due to the level of resistance to NATO forces in the province. With this motion the two parties want to return to the original purpose. With elections in the Netherlands just around the corner, this is a nice way to show they are responsible on foreign policy issues.
This situation left the Labour party with a serious problem. Bos pulled the plug on the cabinet on 20 February exactly on this issue. Labour was pro a development mission, but against a continuing military presence. The necessity of Dutch forces to protect the development mission raises the essential question – how many soldiers constitute a ‘military mission’? The new motion didn’t address this point, and Labour have lost all trust in the CDA holding to agreements on limits to forces deployed. But also – elections are just around the corner. Voting in favour of the motion would have been a tough act to sell after the events of February. So they voted against the motion.
But this is no way ahead. Elections can do funny things with parties on the search for votes. Job Cohen, the party leader, is interviewed today on KRO’s Oog in Oog saying that Dutch involvement in Afghanistan may well continue “as long as its completely clear that it isn’t a new military mission.”
Such was the significance caused by this statement that KRO made it public already last Thursday, three days before the actual airing of the interview. In doing so Cohen is removing a major obstacle on the path towards possible Labour – CDA cooperation, and raising his statesmanlike image just a notch or two higher.
If the CDA does not become the largest party in the upcoming elections, allowing Balkenende to aim for the post of Minister President one more time, he will quit. Maxime Verhagen, with whom Labour cannot credibly work, has rejected party leadership ambitions, So should Labour pip the Christian Democrats at the polls, the way is clear for a new CDA leadership and a new beginning. All the traumas washed away.
Cohen still has to solve the problem of military / non-military mission. 250 soldiers could be enough. No-one doubts that some soldiers are essential. And no-one expects another NATO force to come along and do the protecting. The Dutch have to manoeuvre out of their own mess on this one.
The responses have been predictable. Labour voted against the motion alongside Wilders, the Socialists, and the Animal party – not a group that Cohen wants to be associated with. With Cohen going against that vote, the Socialists have wasted no time in accusing Labour of flip-flopping within a week. The Liberals said the same, but supported the flip-flop. Damage limitation was evident – Labour MP van Dam claimed that the Labour’s negative vote and Cohen’s positive statement were “precisely the same,” in doing so proving himself to be a political contortionist of some merit.
Best method to get out of this clinch? Bury it. While KRO tried to pump up the interest last Thursday, Friday was Queens Day, the national public holiday, perfect for wiping political shenanigans off the tv news headlines. The Queen and the royal family played a blinder in their visit to Middelburg and duly kept Cohen out of the news. For once the republicans in the Labour ranks could praise the monarchy for a job well done.