International

Despite denials from Dutch Minister of Defence Eimert van Middelkoop, NATO is in crisis. This is the conclusion reached by SP foreign affairs specialist and Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel in the run-up to the NATO summit in Lithuania, during which American Secretary of State for Defence Robert Gates and NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer are exerting huge pressure on a number of NATO countries to send more soldiers to the south of Afghanistan. “It's obvious that NATO's approach in Afghanistan is simply not working, " said Van Bommel. "The Taliban are growing stronger as a result of the way in which the war is being conducted and of the corruption of the Afghan government under President Karzai, which is losing ever more support amongst the people." Van Bommel argues that the Dutch government must use the summit to put forward demands for a completely different approach.