International

The disparaging remarks of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates regarding the performance of soldiers in southern Afghanistan reveal cracks in NATO's front, says SP Member of Parliament and foreign affairs specialist Harry van Bommel. Gates said that NATO troops in the south of Afghanistan did not know how to combat an uprising, a criticism which was directed in part at the Netherlands.

The European Parliament this evening debated the strategy for limiting CO2 emissions from cars. SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard, commenting on the debate, said: “Now the centre-right liberal group seems to be dancing to the tune of the car manufacturers’ lobby. They want to allow even higher emissions than does the European Commission.” Liotard’s views incurred the wrath of the Parliament’s rapporteur on the issue, the German liberal Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, but that didn't stop her from filing a number of amendments to Chatzimarkis’ report in an attempt to give it teeth.