It seems the Dutch are unwilling to stand up for the principles that assure freedom and liberty for citizens of a democratic country.

They will loose what they value most by appeasing forces that are anti-democratic and believe in the suppression of the human spirt and the oppression of individual rights to exercise liberty and freedom as a unique person.

By David B. Brooks | October 20, 2007 4:50 PM

This country has lost its way in any department you can think of, and doesn't have a clue! This has been going on for years. Once wonders where it will end up.

By Cassandra Troy | October 21, 2007 11:10 PM

The Dutch people paid heavy price for her nonsense... these peoples erected a wall of hate betwen native and muslim immigrants.... everyone has her/or his opinion and its better to keep ones opinion with oneself.

If outsiders think that the government is not doing enough than they had better take her and pay for her safety.

By qamar bukhari | October 22, 2007 11:19 AM

While I share the above respondants' contempt for this government (and its predecessors), I fail to understand why the government - and we taxpayers - should continue to foot the security bill for someone who has exercised her democratic freedom of choice and relocated to another country.

By Chas Conway-Stewart | October 22, 2007 12:51 PM

Better to keep one's opinions to oneself? And your opinions? One should be able to express one's opinions - no matter how one-sided and self-serving - without fear for one's life. The true enemies of democracy and freedom are those who threaten anyone who happens to disagree with them. Fear of difference is fear of life itself.

By Chas Conway-Stewart | October 22, 2007 1:53 PM

I concur with Mr. Conway-Stewart. As an American I am shocked at Mr. Bukhari's stance. A free society permits one to express their beliefs. Only someone who wishes to supress and control would disagree.

By Charles Croke | October 22, 2007 2:17 PM

I rest my case. Let me spell it out for those not versed in Western style democracy: it is in deep trouble if nobody is asking themselves anymore why the witch hunt on Ali is on in the first place!

That's how accustomed we've become to intimidation by a group of pocket potentates who don't tolerate any vision, other than their own. The mentality is also creeping in, that it's the critics' own fault for getting into trouble.

This is blaming the victim, coupled with a refusal to hold the perpetrators responsible for their actions! This impunity in turn is undermining the rule of law and confidence in the state as well as politics itself.

Society is caving in. Ayaan is once again acting as the moral canary is the democratic coal mine.

By Cassandra Troy | October 22, 2007 3:04 PM

I agree in freedom of speech but not at the expense of other people Paying. It is not right for the Dutch tax payer to pay as she chose to leave the Netherlands for her own benefit.

By W.Oosterbroek | October 22, 2007 5:18 PM

Ayaan Hirsi Ali a moral canary? Well, she certainly sings a fine tune, but surely she is more of a moral and ideological butterfly, espousing the causes most likely to lead to her own glorification.

Let’s not forget that this is the woman who left the Dutch Labour party when she learned she was unlikely to win a seat in parliament and gain a platform for self-aggrandizement. Where did she go? To the much more right-wing (so-called) Liberal VVD party.

When this proved too stifling – the party and parliament had the cheek to expect her to perform her duties as an elected MP, and she was having to compete for attention with the equally risable and self-seeking Rita Verdonk – she quickly left the country to work for an even more right-wing think-tank in the US.

I have no doubt at all what cause Ayaan Hirsi Ali really serves. Her own.

By Chas Conway-Stewart | October 23, 2007 9:44 AM

Ayaan represents everything that most Muslims crave for but are afraid to come out of their shells.

We have deep admiration here in the US for her openness, her courage, and intellect that is rare in any person under threat. Is there something missing about the Dutch political correctness on its inability to recognize friend or foe?

Or are they just content to jump into the bandwagon when things are rosy and would have no qualms about unceremonously dumping you when things get a little hairy.

There seems to have quite a number of fair-weather-friends in the parliament these days. But again, they are politicians just behaving like politicians, true to their color.

By Carlos Borjal | October 23, 2007 6:25 PM

I'm sorry, Carlos, but I've seldom read anything quite so ingenuous and so confusing and confused. Please explain yourself a little better. Who is or was jumping on the bandwagon and which fair-weather friends are jumping off?

By Chas Conway-Stewart | October 23, 2007 8:43 PM

You don't speak for all Americans. I don't appreciate Hirsi Ali one bit. She lied her way into the Netherlands and lied her way out of it. Hirsi Ali should pay for her own security since she created an unsafe atmosphere for herself.

By Sandra | October 29, 2007 1:08 PM

No, of course not. My opinion reflects entirely my own. Why is money always a big issue where politics is concerned? It’s a small price to pay for her outspoken stand against radical fanatics.

It’s a rarity in the Muslim world to see a woman challenging the excesses of her own religion that send shivers to the male dominated society of Islam.

She has become the ambassador of the West whose work is very much marginalized by people who are so bent into questioning her integrity because of mistakes she made in her early life.

She’s a different person now, well educated, matured, and has a remarkable intellect you don’t find on everyday-people of the world. Denmark has offered to pay for her protection, would that be ironic if she accepts it while the Dutch government turns its back on her own citizen?

By Carlos Borjal | November 7, 2007 2:36 PM