TARIN KOWT, Afghanistan -- On June 15, a suicide bomber struck a Dutch army education delegation in the town of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, killing one Dutch soldier and 11 Afghan children. The blast was the opening salvo in a five-day battle pitting hundreds of Taliban fighters against the 3,000-strong Dutch-led Task Force Uruzgan and hundreds of Afghan police and militia. At stake was control of a key valley connecting Pakistan's Taliban bases to the opium production centers in Helmand province.
The Tarin Kowt battle represented the first major fighting for the Dutch army in decades. Since the end of the Cold War, the Netherlands' armed forces have seen steady cuts in its manpower rolls and combat equipment and increasing emphasis on reconstruction and international peacekeeping operations. This shift away from traditional warfighting has been marked by some tragic and embarrassing episodes. ...
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