US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE1566

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001566 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MOPS, MARR, PREL, PGOV, IZ, NL 
SUBJECT: DUTCH PARLIAMENT ENDORSES CABINET DECISION TO 
EXTEND IRAQ DEPLOYMENT 
 
REF: The Hague 1454 
 
1. (U) An overwhelming majority of the Dutch Parliament 
voted on June 22 to endorse the cabinet decision to extend 
Dutch participation in the multinational force in Iraq for 
eight months. (The Dutch have approximately 1300 troops 
serving in Al Muthanna province as part of the UK's 
Multinational Division SE.) Only the left Socialist and 
Green Left parties and three dissident members of the main 
opposition Labor (PvdA) Party (in total 19 of 150 members) 
opposed extension.  Although the Labor party had publicly 
opposed extension in recent months, PvdA spokesman Koenders 
stated during the debate that his party had been convinced 
by the government's arguments to remain in Iraq, and that 
adoption of UNSCR 1546 had been a decisive factor in the 
party's endorsement. 
 
2. (U) Although extension is an executive decision, which 
only requires the cabinet's approval, Prime Minister 
Balkenende, Foreign Minister Bot and Defense Minister Kamp 
spent much time generating broad support for the decision in 
parliament.  A broad parliamentary endorsement was also 
viewed as vital to the troops' morale and retaining public 
support.  The cabinet deliberately postponed making a 
decision on extension one week - from June 4 to June 11 - 
to allow UNSCR 1546 to be adopted.  These efforts clearly 
paid off. 
 
3. (U) Much of the debate in parliament focused on the 
duration of the extension.  Some parties did not want to 
rule out another extension beyond the present eight months, 
but FM Bot stated that "longer is not under discussion." 
One major argument for the proposed extension was to have 
the Dutch troops provide security before and during the 
elections, which should be held by January 2005.  In Bot's 
view, there is accordingly a safe margin between the 
elections and the planned withdrawal by mid-March 2005.  Bot 
did not, however, completely rule out that the Dutch troops 
may have to stay longer if exceptional circumstances were to 
occur, but stated that in that case the government would 
again seek the parliament's endorsement. 
 
4. (SBU) Comment: The broad parliamentary endorsement of the 
cabinet's decision, to include the main opposition, 
represents a significant victory for Balkenende, Bot and 
Kamp.  Dutch governments always prefer to make potentially 
controversial decisions (such as military deployments) 
backed by a super-majority in parliament. In this case, the 
cabinet was not only prepared to proceed without Labor's 
backing, but also if necessary without the support of its 
own junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats (D66) 
which had also expressed concern about extension.  The 
proposal and subsequent passage of UNSCR 1546 - and the 
cabinet's decision to delay action for a week to ensure that 
a resolution was in place - allowed D66 and then PvdA to 
climb down from their earlier opposition to extension 
relatively smoothly.  Depending on the evolution of the 
political process in Iraq, Balkenende, Bot and Kamp will 
likely have to repeat this process come January 2005 should 
further extension of the Dutch deployment be required.  End 
Comment. 
 
MINIMIZED CONSIDERED 
Sobel