There was a legally acceptable public mandate for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen said during a debate with the upper house (senate) on Tuesday night.

This was the opinion of the Dutch cabinet at the time and remains the case today, Verhagen said. In addition, the invasion also fulfilled the criteria that the cabinet wants to continue to apply when supporting military action, ANP quotes Verhagen as saying.
The minister said that the political support given to the US by the Netherlands was legitimate on the basis of ‘a compilation’ of the UN Security Council.
Verhagen also dismissed suggestions by the Labour party (PvdA) that he had tried to hide the fact that parliament was divided on the Dutch government’s decision to support the US invasion.
He said that he had sent MPs a letter in 2003 containing all the ‘fors and againsts’ as well as noting the fact that MPs had differing opinions on the issue.