The Dutch government will provide "political, but not military support". -- Minister-President of the Netherlands J. P. Balkenende
This is the compromise statement issued by the head of the Dutch coalition government on how the Netherlands would respond to a request by the United States government to support a military intervention in Iraq, without the backing of the United Nations Security Council.
But what did this mean in practice ...?
In the United Kingdom, the Chilcott Inquiry has been hearing testimony of the role of the British government in the US-led military intervention in Iraq, while in the Netherlands, the Dutch "Davids" Commission has also been holding an inquiry into the role of the Netherlands in the intervention.
Listen to international law expert, Professor Nico Schrijver explain the background to, and comment on the preliminary findings of the Davids Commission.
Come and share your own views!
Come to next week's Development Research Seminar!
Speaker: Professor Nico Schrijver (University of Leiden)
Title: The Dutch Committee of Inquiry on the War in Iraq
Abstract:
On 12 January 2010 the Dutch Committee of Inquiry published its report. The committee analysed the decision-making process during 2002-03 which resulted in the Dutch government providing political (not military) support to the American-British invasion in Iraq in March 2003. The 7-member independent committee, established by the Dutch government and endorsed by parliament, examined the contours of the Dutch foreign policy and concluded that the decision was largely determined by Atlantic solidarity considerations. Furthermore, the Committee found that the invasion had no solid mandate under international law, since it could be based on neither the law of self-defence nor the body of Security Council resolutions on Iraq. The Committee also reviewed the role of the national intelligence and security services as well as of UNMOVIC (led by Hans Blix) and the IAEA (led by Mohamed ElBaradei). While in various countries similar committees of inquiry have been established (most notably in the UK, the so-called Chilcot inquiry), the Dutch commission under the chairmanship of Willibrord Davids, the former president of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, is the first one in Europe to publish its findings. This seminar discusses the formation of the committee, its terms of reference, its working methods, and its main findings which caused considerable political turmoil in the Netherlands in early 2010 and attracted world-wide attention.
Date: Monday, 15 February 2010
Time: 16:15 hrs until 17:45 hrs
Venue: Aula A, ISS* (The Hague)
Directions: www.iss.nl/About-ISS/Contact-directions
More info: www.iss.nl/News/Events/Development-Research-Seminar-Nico-Schrijver
Or: www.iss.nl/DRS
* ISS is the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam
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