For some odd reason that is not the kind of congratulations I'm happy to receive. I wonder what country will have to take our place?

By Barney | July 29, 2010 11:44 AM

Well I know I sure feel better now that the Tally Ban likes us

By Bobke | July 29, 2010 2:12 PM

I would like to congratulate the Taliban for eliminating their opium fields, stopping the flow of heroin in this world, ridding themselves of terrorists, and treating their women like human beings......... but none of this will ever happen. Barbarians.

By tvis | July 29, 2010 3:44 PM

Perhaps Nederlands can look to the Taliban for protection from Islamic fundamentalists. That would certainly take a load off of the United States of America!

By Paul C Arroyo | July 29, 2010 4:45 PM

I believe the Dutch nation as a whole should just reject the congratulations. We do not deal with sub humans at this level.

By Nico | July 29, 2010 4:59 PM

Well, I guess, eh? Not the kind of thing I would be proud to receive. A lot of pain and agony and killing could have been prevented if these Taliban crazies would have been more cooperative with getting Afghanistan back on its feet in the first place.

In any case, if more foreign troops pull out, the Talibannies can go back to beating and stoning women, to keeping them shrouded and subjected, to preventing girls from getting an education, etc. They represent relics from the Middle Ages. Bah!

By KenM | July 29, 2010 5:20 PM

From Time Magazine:
The Plight of Afghan Women: A Disturbing Picture http://bit.ly/az98v2

Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years. Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.

No wonder the Taliban are happy - back to business as usual.

By Shanta | July 29, 2010 7:10 PM

Afganistan is unwinnable. It always was; most of the world already knew it. All should withdrawn and let them get back to killing each other as we ourselves did 500 years ago during our religious reformation - there is nothing to be won in such a country. Not hearts, not minds, not power, not gold, not oil.

Congratulations from the Taliban is like a 2 year old telling you your jokes are funny. They don't quite get it. We just need the military generals from those countries who haven't fought their before to wake up and finally smell the coffee too.

By osita | July 29, 2010 7:42 PM

I guess by withdrawing the Netherlands will be a safer place? But how long is this stuff going to go on for?

By Phil | July 29, 2010 9:49 PM

I would like to grasp the change (offered by tvis) to congratulate the Dutch people in particular (and the westerners in general) because they don't consume heroin and cocaine, the don't send their soldiers to the other side of world to "free" people who don't like to be freed and they treat the women like a commodity sold in red light district. The civilized (white) man.

By Nikos | July 29, 2010 11:40 PM

Err... may I remind you that the Taliban did nearly eliminate the opium fields in the years before Afghanistan was invaded ? For sure, their methods were a wee bit unethical (they beheaded the farmers) but one has to concede that the results were there : the production had dropped by 90% compared to previous years. The opium production rose again and then exploded after the invasion, due to the corrupt and weak Karzai government, the warlords, the Taliban needing money... in short, due to the lack of a strong central power bent on cracking down the poppy fields. As far as their treatment of women is concerned : first this kind of attitude is widespread there and our so-called 'allies' (Karzai and warlords) are not women liberation activists, far from it. Second, what do you expect of NATO ? Removing burqas at gun's point ? What we Westerners see as liberating their women is surely seen by most Afghans as an offence pushing them into joining the Taliban. That's why policy makers have stopped believing they can change the condition of woman there. They just keep banging on this on TV to garner support for the war. I mean, this is a cultural change that will take a lot of time. Also : when will we finally wake up to the fact that most of the so-called 'Taliban' are ordinary Afghans that have grown fed up with NATO occupation, just as they did against the Soviets and were then called 'freedom fighters' by Reagan.
Last but not least : I'm British, my country has had more than 300 dead there in order to cow-tow the Americans... so I would like to congratulate the Netherlands and can only hope Britain will follow suit by declaring victory and withdrawing asap. Mind you, the last person who successfully invaded Afghanistan was Gengis Khan, and his methods were something that far outshined the Taliban in barbary.

By William | July 30, 2010 1:31 AM

The thing that strikes me more than anything here is that there is only one comment on this story demonstrating any insight, intelligence or understanding of the situation: the last one, which should be directly above this one. Congratulations, William, you win the competition here.

By McD | July 30, 2010 9:00 AM

As usual the Netherlands washes their hands of their global responsibilities... capitulation should be the national motto.

By Quince | July 30, 2010 9:51 AM

I completely agree with William. You can't enforce cultural an religious change. It's their own way they have to go. And it can take a hundred of years before their civilization will reach the same point as the western civilization did, if at all.
Enforcing it will only bring violence to the region but won't change people's minds.
I'm Russian, we also had an Afghan conflict in our history. Nothing to be proud of.
Well done the Netherlands with pulling out.

By kostya | July 30, 2010 10:31 AM

That shows the intentions of Al-Qaeda to appreciate dialogue.We should understand the facts that No One Can Win the War in Afghanistan (the most sophisticated weapons and well trained forces have been there for the past 9 years and the situation is getting worst day by day).

Not only Netherlands but all participating countries should withdraw their military personnel a.s.a.p.

Dialogue with every group including Al-Qaeda,Taliban's is the only solution.

By Khalid Ahmed Chaudry | July 30, 2010 10:58 AM

O God and Heavenly Father,
Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

By Ashok | July 30, 2010 1:11 PM

The point of view of william is the ground reality. If we rely on media, then it is merely propaganda. How many women and children are killed by NATO carpet bombings, drone attacks and friendly fires ?. Surely, much more then punished by Tabliban. It is their country and they have the right to decide, how to rule and how to be ruled. If we can not establish a stable government in a decade in The Netherlands, then we have no right to teach the world how to rule. If we can not buckle our own "extremist", then we should not pointing to the extremist on the other side of the globe. They are invincible and we have to go to some other country to find oil and natural resources. If we follow the American, miseries will follow us.

By jerry | July 31, 2010 9:34 AM

I’d like to remind the Dutch (and unfortunately a few British as well) the Netherlands was, and still is, a N.A.T.O. member obligating them to defend other N.A.T.O. nations. The U.S. was attacked on 9/11/01 and invoked the N.A.T.O. Charter calling on its so-called partners for military assistance. Typical Europeans of walking away from the fight at the height of the war. Many in the world demand that it should be only our blood and treasure in dealing with confrontations involving enemies that would like to convert or kill us all (yes, even you Europeans). Our history alone has shown we usually have to stand alone or with conditioned and limited help.

By Bryon W. Gross | August 1, 2010 6:18 PM

@Bryon - cheers to that !

Just wondering why PvdA is not reacting ... By not opposing they confirm ?

By Sjaak | August 2, 2010 3:30 PM

As an Englishman the idea of walking away from any war is unthinkable and unlikely. I am very proud of our heritage and strength. As for the Dutch not being able to form a government, that is proof that democracy works and that the country has the right to choice without a dictatorship. Lets be real about one thing, the invasions of Iraq Afghanistan and Kuwait was about oil and money. The freedom of people is only a side line.

By Barry | August 2, 2010 5:45 PM

In response to: "As usual the Netherlands washes their hands of their global responsibilities... capitulation should be the national motto. - By Quince | July 30, 2010 9:51 AM"

In modern history, the national motto of the Netherlands IS "Capitulation at any cost." What a remarkably noteworthy - and so nobly cosmopolitan! - stance with regard to petty, unenlightened self-interest.

By Drawer22 | August 2, 2010 6:00 PM

Russia tried and lost in Afghanistan. And NATO will never win that war either. Here you have thousands of young life's lost and for what. My answer! bring all the troops back and than nuke that rats hole. If they still want to live in the stone age we in the west can comply with their wishes. I think it should take no more than 3 of 4 nuclear warheads to get our point across.

By Chris Leenders | August 2, 2010 8:20 PM