And the best wishes for the New Year.

As opposed to previous years we won't be traveling to Southern California, but I will still be taking a break from the blog. This year was another record year for Peaktalk in terms of visitors, which given the summer hiatus and some interruptions during the fall is remarkable. And encouraging. So, I want to thank all of you again and especially those that have turned into regular contacts by giving comment and ideas via e-mail.

This was also the year that some longer pieces came to fruition for other outlets and I plan to do more of that next year. Enjoy the Christmas and New Year break, I hope to be back in January.

Not sure if the song itself was ever intended to become a lasting Christmas classic, but the video ensured that this Frankie Goes To Hollywood hit will forever be part of the festive season.

Great song, moving video. Enjoy.

This week, in The Netherlands:

Defence Minister Henk Kamp angrily rounded on Tuesday on Socialist SP MP Harry Bommel who accused the Liberal VVD minister of involving the Netherlands in the "dirty war" in Afghanistan.

"This is impolite to the armed forces and the Cabinet. You should be ashamed. Who is dirty here if roadside bombs are laid that hit the population?" Kamp said.

Kamp was questioned by the SP and green-left GroenLinks over the military operation against the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, in which Dutch troops are involved.

Van Bommel said the Dutch mission in Afghanistan was sold as reconstruction, but claimed that war was now being waged.

Van Bommel is right in pointing out that the Dutch cabinet has never been clear about the mission, any such clarity and sense of mission would have voided the effort before it even had properly started. But Van Bommel is also shameless in revealing his willingness to play politics with a decent mission that seeks to bring peace and stability to a nation ravaged by war, and in the case of the Taliban a real 'dirty war'. The Dutch after the election have become an uncertain NATO partner and we will be lucky to see the mission continue with current toop levels. Forget about any increase or expansion.

And in Canada too political expediency and uncertainty are undercutting the work of the NATO partner that has been doing most of the recent heavy lifting:

Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe has threatened to call an election if the Conservative government refuses to redefine Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

“I don't think the aim of Mr. Duceppe is so much Afghanistan but rather to rush into an election and not give the Liberal party the capacity to organize ourselves. We will work hard and be ready for an election whenever it will come,” Mr. Dion said.

And the French have this week decided to scale back their involvement:

As violence mounts in Afghanistan, France is pulling 200 of its best soldiers out. But military officials here insist France remains fully committed, with 1,100 troops still based in Kabul.

Nevertheless, France's decision to withdraw its Special Forces comes amid concerns in Paris that NATO's mission in Afghanistan has grown confused and that the alliance may be overreaching in its efforts to stabilize and rebuild the nation

The irony - and my tentative prediction for 2007 - will be that things may change for the better in Iraq, but that NATO will stumble and ultimately fail in Afghanistan. It would be a sad day for NATO, for its partners, and for the Afghans. But it would be an even deeper tragedy to witness how a predominantly European effort to bring safety and security would once again fail due to a lack of political will and moral resolve.

NOTE: Canada's Stephen Harper provided some of that moral mettle this week in an end of year interview:

"I will never, as Prime Minister of this country, abandon the short-run needs of our men and women who are in a war theatre, nor will I abandon the long-term needs, this country's long-term security interests, for any political reason, for any political poll, or anything," he said in a year-end interview with Sun Media.

"If we're defeated in the House, if we lose an election, so be it. I could not live with myself if I played political games with the lives of Canadians."

So, watch what happens to Canada's PM. If he manages to stay in power - either by adroitly managing his minority government or winning an election - it will be an indication that there still is a market for staying the course and trying to win in Afghanistan.

Merging socially liberal attitudes with a conservative platform? Jonah Goldberg nails it in this excellent column:

Giuliani needs to articulate a Fortuynish vision for the American context. This might mean a zero-tolerance attitude on terror, a crackdown on crime (including corporate graft) and explaining how his mayoralty actually had socially conservative effects by liberating New York from the stranglehold of the identify-politics left.

For newcomers, I have long argued the case for this approach by pointing to both Fortuyn and Giuliani. In fact, the case was made on this site by directly comparing Fortuyn and Reagan.

Every Christmas season consists of the usual rituals and in the Dorsman house the festive period always starts with playing Band Aid's classic 'Do They Know It's Christmas'. And every year I enjoy this great serving of 1980s nostalgia.

But it's been years since I last saw the video and to be frank, it made me even more nostalgic. To see Bono and George Michael at a time when we could not have imagined that they would turn out to be enduring musical talents capturing new generations is revealing. And it was saddening to see the late Paula Yates as a proud young mother, full of life. And yes, in a way it's equally sad that very little has been accomplished in Africa so far, things have actually deteriorated for the world's most troubled continent since 1984.

This year we've adopted a child through WorldVision as a way to contribute and help, but also to instill a sense of responsibility and awareness in our young daughters. Today they were thrilled to open the mail and find a photo of Elisa Menayame Nkembi from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This blind four year old is now being considered a part of our family and the first letters and postcard to her have already been drafted. Will it make a real difference? Maybe, I am not overly optmisitc on that front. But at the very least we can make an effort and share it with a next generation, here and in Africa.

Anne Applebaum files her report.

This year was - without a doubt - the year of the books about Europe and Islam. Berlinski, Bawer, Buruma, Phillips, they have all become must-reads in order to get a better understanding of what ails the old continent. Mary Eberstadt of the Hoover Institution has brought these writers together to illustrate how their common topic is now channelling the west's penchant for scapegoating America. Eberstadt argues that:

In sum, given the information now assembling about just what is going on in Europe, about how accomodationist European politicians already are, and about how much more they are being called upon to do to appease restive Muslims both Islamist and otherwise, a new, unorthodox answer to the puzzle of anti-Americanism suggests itself. Perhaps these days, on the Continent, the widespread, all-explaining urge to lay everything at the door of the U.S. has little to do with America proper. Perhaps it does not have much to do either with the post-Cold War unipolar world. Perhaps it is not even really about Iraq.

No, perhaps the anti-Americanism of today is best understood instead as a way of being furious in public with somebody for the insecurities and anxieties wrought by Islamist terrorism in this world, including in increasingly Muslim Europe -- an option made even more attractive by the safe bet that Americans, unlike some other people, are unlikely to respond to this rhetoric, let alone to editorial cartoons, by burning cars, slitting throats, or issuing death threats in places like Paris and Amsterdam and Regensburg and London.

It is a bit of a roundabout way to explain anti-Americanism i think, but the piece has so many worthwhile passages that I would still recommend it. Especially since it also looks at the US and how the West in general in characterized by "the refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts, or feelings".

The end-of-year, holiday nonsense continues, and at GayPatriot you can vote for your Favorite Grande Conservative Blogress Diva. Although she's good blogger I've never really understood the Althouse-mania, so maybe you can throw in a vote for Tammy, Michelle or - like I did - for Virginia.

As most of you know, I strongly favor Giuliani as the man for 2008. Dan Drezner has an inventory of some of the divergent data on Rudy's chances and despite common wisdom that his social liberalism will cost him, things aren't looking all that bad for America's mayor.

Amid tight security and an ongoing debate, the opera Idomeneo finally took the stage in Berlin last night. Still, a bitter taste lingers:

Director Hans Neuenfels did not attend Monday's performance and publicly ridiculed the Deutsche Oper's performance.

Although Neuenfels complained that the rehearsals hadn't gone well, he also said he was still sore over the Oper's original decision to cancel the show.

In this case the absurd act of self-censorship sparked a debate and an eventual reversal, but Neuenfels is right in pointing to the stain of stifling free speech which will forever be associated with this opera.

Related Post
Merkel, Mozart & Muslims

For those of you who frequent the Vodkapundit and wondered about his absence, do read Stephen Green's account of his recent health issues.

And, while we're on the topic, Cathy Seipp is recovering from lung cancer surgery.

Stephen and Cathy - both of whom I had the pleasure of meeting in NY last year - are dealing with diseases that will never really go away. The word 'strength' is actually a misnomer here, stoic perseverance and ignoring the disease's presence is - judging from my own experience - the best and only way forward.

Dan Drezner - in the WaPo - makes an inventory of the various ideas that seek to reinvigorate US foreign policy. This excerpt in particular struck me as thought provoking:

On at least one key dimension, all the contenders for Kennan's throne agree. They all stress the importance of fostering open markets to advance economic development and U.S. power. Just one problem: As Benjamin Page and Marshall Bouton point out in "The Foreign Policy Disconnect: What Americans Want From Our Leaders but Don't Get ," the greatest gap between U.S. policy elites and the American public revolves precisely around international economic policy. As the recent midterm elections demonstrated, economic populism plays far better with Americans today than does free trade.

The grand strategy that wins out in the end may be the one that -- regardless of specific positions on Iraq or terrorism -- convinces Americans that it is possible to have free and fair trade at the same time. By a hair, then, the front-runner is Lieven and Hulsman's ethical realism. By economizing on other forms of power projection, ethical realism potentially frees up resources to cushion the domestic costs of globalization.

As Drezner concedes, markets alone are insufficient to form a viable and sustainable platform for long-term foreign policy.

Most of my analysis of Europe's problems has always been that social and moral decay are going hand in hand with the inability to address the immediate challenges posed by globalization. The recent popularity of both Europe's extreme left and right plug into this new economic alienation, witness the rejection of the draft EU constitution.

The challenge it would seem for both the American and European elites is to initiate a steady journey towards further economic liberalization at home and abroad. On the domestic side, it will equip the West to better deal with challenges coming from for instance China and India and it will at the same time forge deeper relationships with these emerging economic powerhouses. And like us, these are equally interested in quelling the disruptive forces of jihadism or resurgent collectivism in their respective backyards.

In Afghanistan. No comment necessary, I believe.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali reflects on the relationship between Jews and Muslims in the wake of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial conference last week. She highlights an important aspect:

Western leaders today who say they are shocked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conference this week denying the Holocaust need to wake up to that reality. For the majority of Muslims in the world, the Holocaust is not a major historical event that they deny. We simply do not know it ever happened because we were never informed of it.

Read the whole thing.

It's always a guess as to who ends up being Time's Person of the Year and almost every year the choice is both surprising and accurate. This year - it will come as no real surprise to blogreaders - it is you:

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It's not even the overhyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.

It has been in the making for a few years, but 2006 marked the end of the century of 'big'. We're now into the age of 'small', open source, do it yourself, whatever you want to call it. Whenver I get asked (or ask myself) why I keep blogging, this revolutionary trend is essentially the answer.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey is unimpressed:

At least, however, they made a decision and selected someone. The entire point of a Person of the Year is to acknowledge that some people play larger roles in history. Naming all of us may make us feel good about our anonymity, but in the end it's either pandering to millions of readers or a refusal to take a stand on anyone. Choosing everyone is an abdication on the entire purpose of the project.

They didn't choose everyone, they picked a phenomenon that allows everyone to generate content. Looking around the blogosphere I get the impression that no matter what Time would have picked they would have received a gratuitous bashing from the 'unimpressed' crowd. More instructive is Paul Kedrosky's warning:

" ... from a financial perspective this has to mark some sort of near-term market top for user-generated content, blogs, social networks, me-media, etc "

Probably.

Kirsten Powers, a former Clinton appointee and columnist, is as perplexed as I am by what is on offer these days as role models at your local toy store. Powers has some revealing photos on her blog in order to illustrate the sad state of affairs.

There are however ways in steering our kids away from Britney & Barbie and of course the Bratz - which our girls find extraordinary cool - and that is by encouraging other options. And believe it or not, our kids have developed an unusual ability to translate our disapproval to finding workable alternatives. Last week they submitted their wish lists which are quite wholesome with the Cabbage Patch doll probably as the best example of a return to basic values. No idea where they got it from and I have also no idea how they cope with schoolfriends that drown in Bratz-stuff, but they do it.

Yet, there are other less ambiguous options to neutralize the confusion resulting from the Brat-Hilton-Whore culture and that is Fulla:

Fulla as you can see has discovered virtuousness, something we can't instill early enough in our young kids. And what's more, Fulla bucks the trend of being young and independent:

Maan Abdul Salam, a Syrian women's rights advocate, said Fulla was emblematic of a trend toward Islamic conservatism sweeping the Middle East. Though statistics are hard to come by, he said, the percentage of young Arab women who wear the hijab is far higher now than it was a decade ago, and though many girls are wearing it by choice, others are being pressured to do so.

Trying to find a middleground between Britney and Fulla and taking the time to learn young girls to make positive choices may seem obvious, but there are few parents that can actually manage it. It is too easy to succumb to the crass culture on offer, or, to just accept that "a certain idea of womanhood" has some undeniable and easy answers. Take your pick.

Ontario Court Justice Marion Cohen deserves an award for taking political correctness to a level where even Muslim organizations balk:

A judge's order to have a Christmas tree moved from the lobby of an Ontario courthouse for fear it would offend non-Christians backfired Thursday, drawing the ire of everyone from the Muslim Canadian Congress to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Ontario Court Justice Marion Cohen ordered the tree moved from the lobby of the Toronto courthouse to an out-of-the-way corridor because it was a Christian symbol that might not make everyone entering the building feel comfortable.

"This is stupidity and takes political correctness to new heights," said Farzana Hassan, president of the Muslim Canadian Congress.

"We should ban political correctness, not the Christmas tree."

The judge by the way is mistaken about more than one thing. The origins of the Christmas tree are not Christian, but pagan.

Another Dutch crisis. To recap:

• The Dutch government fell in June over the Hirsi Ali affair, which prompted fresh general elections;

• This implied that the sitting cabinet under prime minister Balkenende was formally demissionair or 'without a mission’ which means it was reduced to being a caretaker government;

• On November 22 a new election took place, where the Balkenende government failed to get a majority, however it continued acting in its caretaker capacity until a new coalition government would be formed;

• One week after the election the new parliament (with a marginal majority for the left-of-center parties) was inaugurated and as its first point of action adopted a motion calling on Immigration Minister Verdonk to suspend her deportations of illegal aliens;

• Verdonk refused arguing that executing the motion represented a major policy shift that would have to wait until a new coalition would have taken over affairs from the caretaker government.

• The opposition then forced through a motion which essentially demanded Verdonk to resign, one which was again denied by the Balkenende caretaker team.

The last point created an unprecedented crisis, in which both sides initially refused to budge. To Michael van der Galien this affair underlined the descent of his beloved home country into a banana republic; I would be a bit milder and term it a constitutional crisis.

Last night, after a long negotiation a compromise was reached where certain deportations are halted and where Verdonk was forced to give up the immigration part of her portfolio for the remaining months she is in office. In offering up that part of her responsibilities she signaled her disagreement with being forced to carry out a motion that negated her own policies.

Since there was no historical precedent it came down to balancing Verdonk’s correct argument about being unable to fundamentally shift a policy based on her own caretaker status against the moral imperative of a parliamentary majority. The latter won and many illegal immigrants who had exhausted - and lost – all legally available procedures can now stay for likely an indefinite period. Critics have argued that this reversal will open the door to many other illegal aliens and that the new majority on the left has acted a little overzealously in making a political point while failing to oversee its long-term implications. That sentiment is correct and that is why Balkenende probably tried to support Verdonk for as long as he could.

The more salient part of course is that Balkenende was engaged by an opposition with whom he will have to form a new coalition to replace his own right-of-center coalition. The recent election result gives him no other option, but this affair will not have exactly created a lot of good faith between the parties that will have to govern the Dutch nation going forward.

And Verdonk? Her hardline ‘rules are rules’ – remember how she also vigorously applied them to Hirsi Ali - has made her a highly controversial politician. Yet, her un-Dutch principled stance has attracted votes; at the last election she even outpolled the leader of her own party by a significant margin.

The Dutch have in recent years indicated that they’re more than willing to gamble on a no-nonsense anti-establishment politician and Iron Rita may well capitalize on that sentiment down the road. Given the current atmosphere I would not rule out another early election and bruising Rita is far too ambitious to let such a good opportunity pass. If only to rehabilitate herself, and her policies.

Yes, I owe you a Dutch politics update. The outcome of last month's election was less than appealing from the perspective of forming a workable coalition government, but it appears the first hurdle has been taken:

The Socialist SP, the big winners from last month's elections, dropped out of talks to form a new coalition government on Thursday.

[ ... ]

" ... it had become clear in recent days that the differences between the CDA and SP were "numerous, serious and on some points, fundamental".

No surprises here, but the pressure will now be on Labour to negotiate a deal with the CDA that will please their supporters. Any perceived sell-out will strengthen the Socialist Party's hand further and result in the left further drifting away from the center.

Still, I expect a lengthy negotiation effort (Labour and CDA will need a small party to obtain a parliamentary majority) that could easily collapse and lead to yet another election.

It may get lost among all the media excitement over the Baker-Hamilton report, but it seems to me that another fruitful area for writing reports has emerged in Afghanistan. And I use the plural deliberately as one such report can look at the future of the nation and the West’s strategy towards fixing it, the other one can deal with the failure of NATO countries to share the burden of an increasing workload. Or better, the burden of combat:

Britain's Foreign Office minister says reluctant NATO allies need to “get real” about the threat posed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.

Kim Howells told a diplomatic audience at Canada's Foreign Affairs building in Ottawa that Britons are just as frustrated as Canadians about bearing the brunt of heavy fighting in the country's south.

German, Italian, French and Spanish forces patrol relatively quiet
sectors and have refused to allow their troops to engage in combat.
At the NATO summit two weeks ago, those countries agreed to loosen restrictions and promised to help Canadian, British, Dutch and American forces battling the Taliban, but only in emergencies.

This issue has been on the frontburner especially in the UK and Canada where frustration over selective opt-outs by ‘NATO partners’ is understandably growing.

Invoking the NATO’s Article V, its collective defense clause, after 9/11 essentially created the first real combat situation for the organization. By deploying to Afghanistan most NATO governments must have known that it hardly would be a mission focused exclusively on rebuilding and maintaining peace. It was a unique venture in that the peace still had to be established before it could be maintained, but no political leader was willing to wager some political capital on that unpopular notion. This approach solidified the evidence that leaders from Canada and key European nations failed in not only recognizing and articulating the dangers of the post 9/11 world, they willfully neglected to inform their citizens of the nature of the Afghan mission.

We’re now a good five years further and while Canada is under new management and thus less ambivalent, beyond Blair’s Britain and a half-baked Dutch effort there is very limited appetite for beefing up NATO’s efforts. Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Paris and Madrid are not the best places in Europe to invoke the spirit of common defense and joint operations.

I’ve often been asked when my Euro-disparagement first emerged and in response I pinpoint the embarrassing failure of almost all European nations to end the well organized civil war and mass-murder in the former Yugoslavia. Symbolic efforts, peacekeepers and observers paved the way for an ethnic bloodbath that only the United States seemed capable of handling in the end. Kosovo was kept whole by a version of NATO that at the time had a determined nation in the driver’s seat. And by all accounts, the risk profile for the Balkans was a much easier one to digest compared to a mountainscape littered with faith based suicide bombers.

So as Washington’s hands are tied, European leaders in places like Paris and Madrid are deeply mistaken to believe that somehow Kandahar and Kabul can emerge from the rubble, in much the way that Sarajevo and Priština did. Few will understand the urgency, and even fewer will want to put precious political capital on the line to turn the Afghan mission, and NATO’s long-term future, into a success. Needless to say, the outcome of such inaction is worrisome to say the least.

Final word: while admirable we also have to see if British and Canadian efforts can endure mounting domestic criticism and political turbulence.

UPDATE: Some useful comments from Fareed Zakaria on the need to succeed in Afghanistan:

As Iraq has descended into chaos over the last three years, Washington policymakers have often pointed to Afghanistan as the success story in the war on terror. Even those who worry about the situation on the ground agree that the United States and its NATO allies have the right strategy in place; they just think we've devoted too few resources to the problem. In fact, Afghanistan is in danger of becoming a version of Iraq, where the central government has collapsed, disorder is rife and a Qaeda-backed insurgency controls large swathes of the country. In addition, the policies that the United States has in place are at best inadequate. We have tried to handle Afghanistan with an Afghan strategy. But it is now clear that the only way to stabilize the country is to have a Pakistan strategy.

As always, these solutions are multilayered.

This weekend the Dorsmans ventured out into the downtown area for some Christmas lights event, preceded by the obligatory visit to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants. The décor is rather basic to say the least, but the food is spectacular and especially the casserole of Stewed Eggplant with Minced Pork in a Spicy Chili Sauce is not to be missed during the cold winter days.

We were sitting towards the back of the restaurant and had polished off most of the plates when a terrible noise erupted at the front of the restaurant. And not just noise, some chairs were repurposed as projectiles by dodgy looking characters who for some reason had entered the restaurant. We’ve never been in a situation like this with the kids, nor were we able to really understand what was going one but our instincts worked extremely well. Like most other patrons with young ones we grabbed the kids and immediately seized up the situation, assessed the likelihood it would come close to our table and scoped a way out which in this case would have been through the kitchen out the back. The fight between the two men moved further into the restaurant, but somehow ended as soon as it had erupted and the restaurant staff managed to ease them out while alerting the police who arrived in no time. The spectacle of some Chinese chefs solving the situation with their sharpened chopping knives did not materialize which, with the kids present, was probably for the better.

It turned out that a homeless man had gotten into a debate with someone who aggressively rejected his call for spare change, attacked him and followed him into the restaurant which was probably the most immediate place for refuge. By the time the police arrived both were gone. What struck me about the incident – other than that Vancouver has quite a bit of work to do to get the streets clean for the 2010 Olympics – was that all parents reacted similarly and rapidly. The brain signals that conflict avoidance and escape are best, but it also appears to be not fast enough to assess the exact nature of the danger while offering up a worst case scenario. Knife wielding thugs making their way towards our table was the one that popped up in my mind.

Anyway, it all ended as quickly as it ended with no one hurt, but I just thought it was an interesting story. And, a useful learning experience for a six and four year old for whom the concepts of aggression and homelessness were totally alien. They confirmed they weren’t scared, but I can’t escape the feeling that they’re still deeply puzzled about the recesses of city life. And in a way, I am too.

Ayaan Hirsi’s tainted relationship with her adoptive homeland. The latest:

The [Dutch] cabinet has denied that it put Ayaan Hirsi Ali in political isolation following the terrorist murder of Theo van Gogh. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin rejects suggestions that Hirsi Ali was sent to the US to prevent her unleashing more Islamic violence with her sharp tongue.

Columnists Afshin Ellian and Leon de Winter wrote in an article in newspaper De Volkskrant in October that the government decided to send Hirsi Ali temporarily to the US following the 2 November 2004 murder of her friend and filmmaker Van Gogh. A Muslim cut his throat on the street in Amsterdam and on his body, stuck a knife with a letter saying Hirsi Ali would be the next victim.

In her biography – English version to be released in February 2007 – Ayaan Hirsi Ali devotes some twenty-four pages to her bizarre adventures following Van Gogh’s murder. The Dutch security services arranged, as a precautionary measure, for her to disappear from the public scene, which resulted in two separate overseas stays in the northeastern US and a brief sojourn in Germany. The levels of security as well as the various actions of the justice apparatus appeared to be overzealous and at times even illogical.

Hirsi Ali describes that initially she was barred from phone and internet access, allegedly to avoid her being tracked down by would-be assassins. A curious approach as I can’t imagine any jihadist monitoring internet activity would instantly conclude that someone googling ‘Van Gogh murder’ in a Best Western in Portland, Maine would pinpoint that as the secret location of the infamous Dutch parliamentarian of Somali descent. At the same time her security detail went to the extreme lengths to avoid her being recognized, but when a Turkish hotel proprietor in Germany identified her correctly as that Dutch-Somali parliamentarian “whose friend had been murdered” Ayaan was told it was late, not that big a deal and asked to stay in the said hotel where she consequently spent a restless night.

It is beyond the scope of this post to summarize the whole two month adventure, but in view of the news above and what Hirsi Ali says in her book, I believe the claim that she was ‘neutralized’ in the immediate aftermath of the Van Gogh murder is credible. What is also evident to me is that this was not a deliberate move by Dutch authorities, but that its potential became evident during the process of securing Hirsi Ali. She was moved around a lot the first few days and security levels went up steadily, while at the same time the reactions to the murder in Dutch society accelerated to levels where the outcome was increasingly unpredictable. The Dutch government had an obligation to protect Hirsi Ali, but in doing so realized it had the perfect means to silence her too. And surely, that is something that will never be formally acknowledged.

Hirsi Ali herself won’t speak out on this either, and for good reasons by the way. Although she has moved to the Washington, DC area, her security is still partly provided by the Dutch government and it would be rather counterproductive and ungrateful to question their work based on what essentially is a theory of some of her friends. That by the way should also be taken to heart by journalists who can’t resist asking her about her security. Hirsi Ali can’t and won’t answer these questions not because she needs to remain tactful towards her minders, but because her life remains on the line for as long as she lives.

In a very worthwhile column about the Israeli angle:

Might it not be closer to the truth to say that Arab radicalism is the cause of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute – not the result of it? There is no peace because Israel’s neighbors – and too many of the world’s Muslims – cannot accept the right of a non-Arab, non-Muslim minority to live unsubjugated in the Middle East. That is the true “core” of the dispute, and it cannot be fixed by negotiation.

Well it can and should be fixed by a negotiation, eventually. But only one that has substantially different representatives from the Arab-Muslim world at the table than the ones we have become so used to. Frum's analysis drives home a crucial point: resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict hinges to a very large extent on a structural reform of Islam.

The lack of posts this week is not an early Christmas break, but rather the result of a mad dash to get to the holidays in one piece. And having everything done and in place so that we can actually take a decent break. So posting will be somewhat intermittent in the weeks ahead, a bit of a shame as there is an awful lot to comment on.

Especially the situation in Iraq, and with The Gathering Storm Andrew Sullivan has written a piece that should be consumed by both the left and the right. It’s not high end foreign policy analysis, that is not Sullivan-territory, but it suggests a few thought provoking scenarios. Moreover, it underlines my basic theme that the larger conflict we are facing today is one within the Muslim world and one with deadly potential to spill over into our streets. We may have to sit through a number of X-masses where the ‘Peace on Earth’ theme may be further out of reach than anytime in the past fifty years.

As you know, I've always considered 'liquor boards' highly problematic institutions, especially in cases where they curb free trade and force the consumer to fork out obscene amounts to fund government budgets and fat nunion contracts. But now it appears that free speech is equally endangered by overzealous liquor administrators, in Maine this time:

The state’s Bureau of Liquor Enforcement in September rejected three beer labels proposed by Shelton Brothers, a Massachusetts beer importer, including one for “Santa’s Butt Winter Porter” that depicts St. Nick from behind, checking a list and drinking a beer, his ample posterior on a wooden barrel.

The bureau said the labels violated a regulation stating that alcohol advertisements cannot contain “undignified or improper illustrations.”

The Maine Civil Liberties Union sued the bureau on Thursday in Federal District Court in Portland on behalf of Shelton Brothers, claiming that its right to free speech was being violated.

As they should, and Santa's butt looks pretty harmless to me too:

This beer was also targeted by Maine's liquor board. Whatever the outcome, Shelton Brothers is getting some nice free publicity out of this affair and if their beers are as as good as their creative inclinations then their future looks pretty bright.

A poll last week revealed that no matter what leader the opposition Liberal Party would choose, Canadians still favored the incumbent Conservatives with a healthy margin. Yesterday, in a spectacular run-off the Liberals opted for a relatively low risk candidate, Stéphane Dion, ditching favorites Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff. Rae’s demise can no doubt be interpreted as a positive farewell to that dangerous and regressive mix of old-style socialism with elitist power. Yet, it is unfortunate that Ignatieff was shown the door as his thirty-year absence enabled some fresh and unconventional thinking in the Liberal ranks; although that is probably precisely what did him in.

Dion has little charisma and is unlikely to excite anyone in both his home province of Quebec and almost anywhere in Western Canada. His promise to make the environment and the Canadian effort in Afghanistan key issues in a future election may be nice soundbites on a party conference, but a credible campaign requires a more creative approach to issues such as childcare, healthcare and yes, taxes. On all of these files, Stephen Harper’s conservatives are well ahead and are in the envious position of launching regular legislative initiatives.

Still, Dion appears to be a man of ideas and integrity, qualities not exactly associated with his predecessors Chrétien and Martin. And since we know that Harper has proven to possess both, we can least expect a more mature and intelligent debate in Canadian politics going forward. And that is good news.

Others Blogging
Stephen Taylor is the frontrunner in Canadian political videoblogging and has been doing some great reporting (click on BT-TV) from the Liberal conference. For commentary, check out Ed Morrissey, Michael Stickings and Warren Kinsella - Canada's own Dick Morris - who usually nails it.

Michael Ledeen, a longtime favorite here, has started blogging at PJM. The name for the blog has been aruond for a while, and I have no doubt that it will develop into an enduring brand name for Ledeen inspired commentary.

After reading the Dutch emigration update, a reader wonders:

" ... the overarching question, however, remains unasked and therefore unanswered. Why? In my lengthy experience in the Netherlands and with the Dutch, I can honestly state that I have never met a more family-orientated culture or a more nationalistic (this is not intended to be a negative in any way) society. Families are close in The Netherlands, closer than they have probably ever been in the United States. I have seen friends suffer great distress when a family member moves beyond walking distance, a local bus ride or a short drive. There is something in the Netherlands that has revived that wanderlust in the Dutch that I had thought (until very recently) died along with Stuyvesant. I would be very interested to know what it is.

I don't think Dutch wanderlust ever died, it has been reignited. And there is not just one reason for that, although the deteriorating quality of life which encomapsses everything for immgirants to crime to environment is probably the most important one. The key accelerator is - much like the 17th century - globalization and wealth.

The Dutch economy has by necessity always been focused on trade and cross-border services. The vast growth of opportunities in an open Europe and a booming Asia - a familiar arena for the Dutch - have made overseas settlement much easier. And, as opposed to Stuyvesant's age, this is no longer the privilege of the upper class. The Dutch with their strong work ethic and broad language skills are a natural fit for the international job market. And, wealth has trickled down the classes too, buying property overseas or just taking the gamble by packing up and go is no longer that disruptive, at least from a financial perspective. The strong family ties and the generous welfare arrangments back home serve as a tangible insurance policy on which any adventurer can always fall back. I have seen many take advantage of it when the going overseas got a little too tough.

Charles Krauthammer's analysis today of the situation in Iraq is I believe on the mark. It pours cold water on the notion to engage Iran and Syria to help stablize the situation and it also gives a clear suggestion for the next steps:

The United States should be giving Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki a clear ultimatum: If he does not come up with a political solution in two months or cede power to a new coalition that will, the United States will abandon the Green Zone; retire to its bases; move much of its personnel to Kurdistan, where we are welcome and safe; and let the civil war take its course. Let the current Green Zone-protected Iraqi politicians who take their cue from Moqtada al-Sadr face the insurgency alone. That might concentrate their minds on either making a generous offer to the Sunnis or stepping aside for a coalition that would.

Even Sullivan sees some potential here:

Maybe there is a realist-idealist compromise out there. Give Maliki two months, then withdraw to Kurdistan. Wait and see if anyone emerges from the slaughter who can deliver order. But don't be surprised if it's someone we really don't like.

Almost any scenario that is out there at the moment has the potential to deliver us someone who we won't really like. But having him within reach from a safe and secure Kurdistan may be preferable to all other options. For now.

Here's an interesting podcast over at PJM by the Sanity Squad, discussing Europe and the latest from Iraq. There is quite a bit that needs to be added to the discussion I think, but for now suffice it to say that there are limits to explain the continent's future from a perspective of 'demographic dogmatism'. There is for instance also a trend reported by Dutch statistics that immigrants over time adapt to European birth rates as economic pressures force women to start working – after all we’re debating burqa bans not because Muslim women are all confined to their homes.

What I do believe is that Europeans will disengage and adapt rather than fight. Most of my family and friends are right-of-center in ideology, but they don’t hesitate to vote for parties on the left as a way of preserving the status quo. Many did so in last week’s Dutch general election. Peace and stability above all.

The Peters-model of radical ethnic cleansing is more likely in Eastern Europe where the population has a materially different economic and social history, but also less immigrants – at least at the moment – to contend with. Again, this also brings home the point to start making the clear distinction between the three tiers of Europe (Old/EU, New/Eastern and Russia) and bring in economics as one of the key drivers for social and cultural change.

The debate gets more complicated, but it is getting better too.

Well, here is the hallmark of a free society. If the government plans to outlaw your habitual garb, you can protest it:

About two dozen Muslim women protested Thursday outside the Dutch parliament against a proposed ban on the burqa, the head-to-toe Islamic robe.

Several protesters wore long robes and veils exposing only their eyes, known as a niqab.

"We live in a free country and the government cannot tell us what to do with our religion," protest organizer Ayse Bayrak told The Associated Press. "We don't live in a dictatorship. We don't live under the Taliban, which oppresses women."

Apart from the impressive turn-out, the utilization of the Taliban as an argument in favor of wearing a burqa can only lead to hilarious situations. Luckily, a reporter with a brilliant sense of humour went out to find them, and here is his video report, in Dutch. And while the protesting burqas did not exactly share his wit, one lonely hijab wearer at the scene broke down in laughter at the suggestion she looked like a whore.

Once more, a ban on burqas is ridiculous and any free society to propose it should be embarrassed. At the same time the burqa-wearing protestations over ‘free choice’ and ‘respect’ sound highly suspicious, but at the very least a free society gives these ladies a constitutional option to take it off. That choice is usually not offered by the Taliban.

As we increasingly hear that demographics are determining the future of Europe and that droves are leaving the old continent, The Netherlands is always brought up in particular as an example of this phenomenon. Somehow, I’ve always felt that these statements were embellished by various commentators and thankfully the CBS (Dutch Bureau for Statistics) released a sort of interim report last month. And yes, this may indeed be the last year in quite some time to come that the Dutch are adding a net surplus to their population. And with the lowest number of babies born in twenty years, a marginal one of only 13,000 new Dutchies (on a population of 16.3 million) for the first 9 months of this year.

According to this CBS news release, emigration from The Netherlands is expected to be 130,000 for 2006, a record number and an increase of about 12% on the previous year. But half of that number is not Dutch in the first place. That group consists of Turkish immigrants returning home and refugees and asylum seekers who have not managed to obtain the status to legally reside in The Netherlands.

Even so, a large number of Dutch people are leaving and the question now is where are they off too? Well, it may be surprising but the top three of destinations is still European, and a few notable pillars of old continent decay at that. Germany, Belgium and the UK are taking in some 18,000 Dutch emigrants, with Spain and France – often equally described as futureless – taking a respectable 6th and 7th slot on the emigration destination top ten. Canada came in 5th and the USA 10th, and since they’re not listed I suspect that Australia and New Zealand probably come in somewhere in between.

There are a number of reasons for this ‘old continent popularity’. Germany and Belgium offer lower real estate prices, in Spain the weather is nicer while the job market in the UK offers a bit more excitement and earnings potential. On top of that, intra-European moves guarantee you the ability to stay close to home, a prospect that is especially interesting for the retirees who constitute some 10% of all the emigrants.

So, not exactly the massive and desperate journey across the ocean in search for a better life, but a more pragmatic approach to relocating. Still, if you net out those that stay in Europe and take account of immigrant-returnees, we see a remarkable trend to go elsewhere. And if it persists the Dutch population will start to decrease in the years to come.

Related Posts
More on the Dutch Exodus
Euro Exodus, Now The Farmers
Euro Exodus, Part II
Euro Exodus