In a cable labeled "confidential" sent on December 19, 2006, it is stated that the Dutch Minister of Defense Henk Kamp presented a special insignia for soldiers who were in the battalion under the auspices of Unprofor in BiH in 1995, which caused a sharp reaction from the media, as reported by Beta.
Although the insignia was intended to honor Dutch soldiers who "served honorably and conscientiously under difficult circumstances", it was not well received by Dutch society, which is still troubled by the failure to prevent the massacre of Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica .
The soldiers returned home with criticism that they were incompetent
In the dispatch published on February XNUMX, it is stated that "cowards from the Dutch battalion" in the Netherlands are blamed for not doing anything to prevent the massacre, while the soldiers claimed that the defense of Srebrenica was not possible due to inadequate mandate and weapons, as well as the lack of UN support.
Soldiers returned home to criticism that they were incompetent, and many sought treatment for trauma. The massacre led to the fall of the Dutch government in 2002 after a report by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation cleared the soldiers of much of the blame, as they were outnumbered and poorly armed, but partly blamed the government that sent them.
The consequence, according to the cable signed by the deputy chief of mission at the embassy, Chat Blakeman, is that the Dutch government must meet selected criteria before the parliament agrees to send troops abroad.
Stopped sending Dutch soldiers to Afghanistan
The most significant request concerns greater powers to avoid failure to fulfill the task, which, the Dutch believe, happened in Srebenica. Because of this, the sending of Dutch soldiers to Afghanistan was stopped several times.
Because of the sign to the Dutch battalion from Srebrenica, protests were organized in Sarajevo and The Hague, and that move was criticized by the Mothers of Srebrenica, as well as the media and organizations for the protection of human rights in the Netherlands.
The Dutch believe that they should work for the rule of law in the world
Another cable, sent in 2000 from the US embassy in The Hague and published by WikiLeaks on February XNUMX, states that the majority of the Dutch believe that the rule of law in the world should be worked for, if necessary with military operations, but that no one wants to be again exposed to the risk of failure like Srebrnica.
Among the criteria, the Dutch authorities included a clear mandate from the UN or other international organizations, the abolition of dual command and sustainable political and military objectives. "It is no coincidence that the Dutch have distanced themselves from commitments on the ground in places like Kosovo, Cyprus or Western Sahara," the 2000 cable said.
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