The Dutch way of fighting a war !

[The_Canuck]

Its too bad the Canadians are stuck in the more dangerous and volatile provinces, and are also fighting at night. I think we've lost 45 soldiers now.

[h00t_h00t]

It was only a matter of time till this sprung up...

Its a flawed argument too, had America been involved at the begining of the war then it would have never happened, or at least been much much shorter.

[clutch-monkey]

don't forget Indonesia....

indonesia was the last time a member of my family fought as part of the dutch army, and they ended up as POW of the japanese. then they proceeded to get kicked out of indonesia when that country gained independence post war.
hopefully they do better this time..

[Kooper]

What's this of comparing how wars are fought? The Dutch are involved in a war, that's bad enough I'd say.

[henk4]

What's this of comparing how wars are fought? The Dutch are involved in a war, that's bad enough I'd say.

for the Dutch or for the "enemy"?

[drakkie]

Its funny that you would criticize the way the Americans and allies fight wars Drakkie, considering a lot of Americans, as well as British and French young men, died trying to free your country from the Nazis. Maybe we should have left them alone, because you apparently don't have any respect for what the U.S. military has done for you and your people, if the Dutch way is so much better, why was your country overrun?

A) The U.S. didnt liberate us, the Canadians and Polish did.
B) How can a tiny country stop a HUGE army wih the worlds best trained men. Above that the governement was expecting to stay neutral like in WW1.
C) The crisis of the 30's also took a high toll. Our army was barely mobilised and relied on horses and bikes for most of its frontline transport ! Tanks were barely existent and we were completely surprised and overrun(Blitzkrieg tactics).
D) Regarding the conditions we did a good job, you should google for the battle on the Grebbeberg. Also pretty nice was the job of just 100 marins against 3000 germans. They holded the center of Rotterdam. The Germans simply bombed down the city then,killing thousands. My school has still got bullet holes
E) The allies did a pretty lousy job in my country.They lost a major battle and because of that let thousands of people starve.
F) the Dutch had to fight on two fronts. For such a small country that caused quite some problems.

Anyways this is old stuff. It is over 60 years ago, so what does it matter to the case presented now ?

indonesia was the last time a member of my family fought as part of the dutch army, and they ended up as POW of the japanese. then they proceeded to get kicked out of indonesia when that country gained independence post war.
hopefully they do better this time..

I've had family there too.My grandmother was in such a POW camp,because she was a local. Both her parents were killed.She stills tells very emotional stories about it. They are quite interesting to listen too...

Another familymember fought on a battleship together with admiral Doorman. AFAIK from the stories told, he fled just in time and swam through burning oil.He was the only survivor of the entire battleship.

I can go on for a while... All in all they make me hate war.Some may se it as an "adventure" or something,but i dont. I am happy we fight the way we do now without risking too much...

[clutch-monkey]

I've had family there too.My grandmother was in such a POW camp,because she was a local. Both her parents were killed.She stills tells very emotional stories about it. They are quite interesting to listen too...

Another familymember fought on a battleship together with admiral Doorman. AFAIK from the stories told, he fled just in time and swam through burning oil.He was the only survivor of the entire battleship.

I can go on for a while... All in all they make me hate war.Some may se it as an "adventure" or something,but i dont. I am happy we fight the way we do now without risking too much...

yeah.. my grandpa was captured defending Indonesia and was held at the river kwai POW camp to work on the death railway. He and his brother were being shipped back to hiroshima to work in a coal mine when american bombers sunk the ship, killing most of the POWs including his brother, but he was topside and managed to swim to shore.
we visited the river kwai in 1998 and 2004 where they asked him to sign a guestbook and gave him a piece of the bridge to take home. i learned lots of stuff off him, he taught me how to shoot etc etc

[henk4]

I was actually not referring to Indonesia because of the Japanese occupation, but because of the events after the war that led to foundation of the independent Republic of Indonesia in 1948. During the second WW that area was called Nederlandsch Indie....

[dydzi]

sorry about getting back to the old stuff, but

Do we need armed forces to deal with local drug dealers? What about the local police? And in Afghanistan being a drug dealer and a terrorist is an unlikely combination, as it was the Taliban who banned all poppy growing.....

american's aim is to leave afghanistan as a peaceful country, without problems that can ruin it again. if the local police is not in the power to stop drug dealing, why shouldn't they help them?

[henk4]

sorry about getting back to the old stuff, but



american's aim is to leave afghanistan as a peaceful country, without problems that can ruin it again. if the local police is not in the power to stop drug dealing, why shouldn't they help them?

help is something else than taking over their role....in the past America's efforts to make Afghanistan a peaceful country resulted in support to the Taliban

[drakkie]

yeah.. my grandpa was captured defending Indonesia and was held at the river kwai POW camp to work on the death railway. He and his brother were being shipped back to hiroshima to work in a coal mine when american bombers sunk the ship, killing most of the POWs including his brother, but he was topside and managed to swim to shore.
we visited the river kwai in 1998 and 2004 where they asked him to sign a guestbook and gave him a piece of the bridge to take home. i learned lots of stuff off him, he taught me how to shoot etc etc

Do you happen to know the name of the POW ship ? I have forgotten it,but maybe if you say the name it might ring a bell. I have a far relative that has a similar story. He was on such a ship when it was bombed and sunk How remarkable is the coincidence that (iirc) his brother was also killed among many others

Edit:

You know what, ill go to my grandparent's place tonight. They know the entire story,with more details then me.

[clutch-monkey]

Do you happen to know the name of the POW ship ? I have forgotten it,but maybe if you say the name it might ring a bell. I have a far relative that has a similar story. He was on such a ship when it was bombed and sunk How remarkable is the coincidence that (iirc) his brother was also killed among many others

Edit:

You know what, ill go to my grandparent's place tonight. They know the entire story,with more details then me.

okay. i'll visit my grandpa in the next few days and get the ships name, from what i recall because of the way the POW's were kept below decks few survived

[dydzi]

help is something else than taking over their role....in the past America's efforts to make Afghanistan a peaceful country resulted in support to the Taliban

doh c'mon, i think supporting talibans then shouldn't be regarded as a bad move, only a mistake from todays perspective

i think when it comes to afghanistan the us has really good intentions

[henk4]

doh c'mon, i think supporting talibans then shouldn't be regarded as a bad move, only a mistake from todays perspective

i think when it comes to afghanistan the us has really good intentions

pity that they so rarely manage to convert good intentions into proper actions...

[drakkie]

okay. i'll visit my grandpa in the next few days and get the ships name, from what i recall because of the way the POW's were kept below decks few survived

indeed. And werent most chained or something ?