The Dutch minister of Defense, Mr. Middelkoop, plans to sue a Dutch radio program (Argos), because this program claimed that Dutch ground troops were involved in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2002. (For those of you who speak Dutch: the link to the article.)
The minister claims that this is not true at all.
I'm not sure about ground troops but today at the literary boot camp for soldiers a member of the Dutch Air Force told me that the Royal Netherlands Air Force was involved in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002.
From a base in Kyrgyzstan Dutch air force supported Operation Enduring Freedom.
No NATO-medals were given to military personnel involved in this particular mission, apparently this was not an official NATO-mission.
Did the parliament in The Hague give the minister back then permission to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom? Is the contemporary minister of Defense in the Netherlands a liar? In which case he should resign.
Or is he not informed? In which case he should resign as well.
The fact that he is suing his opponents might make Mr. Middelkoop worse than your average liar.
I love this statement on the website of the Ministry of Defense:
"Furthermore I would like to point out that Dutch military personnel is very loyal when it comes to informing the responsible minister."
Very loyal indeed.
Isn’t it also time to disclose that ISAF is the continuation of OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) with more or less other means?

PS The involvement of Dutch air force in OEF is not secret at all and has never been a secret, I was confused by the statements of this particular member of the air force who made it sound as if he was on a highly sensitive and secret mission in Kyrgyzstan back in 2002. I apologize.