The Dutch are pulling out of Afghanistan and are thus the first country in NATO's mission to leave. When taking into consideration that NATO considered the Dutch mission a role model worthy of emulation by other European nations, the political value of the withdrawal is by far bigger than the loss of the 1950 Dutch soldiers. This seems to me to be the beginning of the end, in the West's attempts to end the insurgency. Not all agree. I read a blog by Ann Marlowe (a lady with a lot of on-the-ground experience in Afghanistan), which suggested that less Western troops in Afghanistan were exactly what is needed to beat the insurgency. In a nutshell, the logic is that foreign troops are the rallying point for the Taliban - remove the rallying point and you take the wind out of the Taliban sail. Good blog, check it out: "COIN Heresy"
What think ye?
What think ye?