Recently growing attention has been given to US citizens who have joined the jihad in Pakistan. But the phenomenon is not limited to Americans, writes Giles Scott-Smith of TheHollandBureau.com.

The story of the men from The Hague who turned up as ‘tourists’ on the Kenya-Somalia border in July 2009 is well known. Now stories are emerging of Dutch involvement in military action against NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The Telegraaf today includes an article on a 21-year-old Dutch-German citizen, Danny R., who has recently been killed in Pakistan. The paper is quoting Der Spiegel, which itself received the information from the German BVD. Danny had chosen the path of radical Islam in Berlin and together with a group from the city travelled to Pakistan last September. So far six known Germans have been killed in fighting in the region, and there has been a lot of attention given to the online exploits of (presumed killed) Eric Breininger / Abdulgaffar El Almani.
As the Telegraaf notes, Westerners are ideal not just as reinforcements but as propaganda material for online video clips, proof that the holy war is supported by the very same nationalities as the enemy NATO forces themselves. As yet, no Dutch citizens have appeared, but it may only be a matter of time.
The Telegraaf quotes an AIVD source that there are around 15 known Dutch jihadis in the region. Alongside this and the Kenya-Somalia case, there have been two Dutch killed in fighting in Kasmir and the arrest of Wesam al-D by US forces for his involvement in IED operations. In total, several tens of Dutch citizens are involved in jihadi activities in various locations. The chosen route for going abroad appears to be via Morocco, and from their to Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, or Pakistan. Others go to attend a madrassa in Egypt.
The concern of the security services is often not just related to what these individuals do in Afghanistan-Pakistan. Following training, they can as Dutch citizens return to the Netherlands, ready to answer the call for further action. However, the AIVD source claims that these Dutch jihadis cannot easily return to the Netherlands because “they have been away too long and on return will be immediately arrested or put under permanent surveillance.”
This last comment is of course the most interesting, because it suggests an all-knowing intelligence and security service that has already identified the right suspects. It is above all a good confidence-building measure to show that the threat is completely covered and will be dealt with should that be necessary.
The recent declarations that the AIVD needs to expand its operations abroad to track developments that may affect Dutch national security is not entirely at odds with this comment, but it does come close. For if the service is already so effective in tracking the main threats, it does raise a question why there is a need to expand its operations.
In this context it is interesting to read the AIVD’s report for 2009 next to the equivalent report from the Military Intelligence and Security Service, the MIVD. As well as support for Dutch military operations abroad, the MIVD also produces threat analyses and “investigates potential threats and the military forces from nations that could form a threat to the security of the Netherlands and the NATO area” (p. 11).
In terms of the kind of war that is going on in South Asia, where the distinction between military and civilian forces ranged against NATO is not very clear, and the international range of these forces (from training camp to terrorist) is proven, it looks as if the MIVD already presents itself as the best prepared for tracking these developments.
Whereas the AIVD report talks of cooperation with around 180 other services abroad, and close cooperation with around 30 of them, the MIVD report chronicles the activities of the service across all regions of the world, including Yemen and Somalia. In his recent critique of the AIVD’s intention to expand its presence abroad, Bob de Graaff commented that competition between services can be useful for keeping each “sharp” and “services don’t always have a monopoly in knowledge.”
Of course, the resources of the AIVD outstrip the MIVD. But one does end up wondering where one service might end and the other might begin.