Word: dutchness
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...ramparts of a giant castle. Beyond them lies a sprawl of steep ridges and peaks riddled with caves and crisscrossed with narrow trails. Camp Holland, the ISAF's main base in the province, squats in the desert on the town's outskirts. It is home to 1,400 Dutch troops and about 700 Australians. The Dutch forces include a Provincial Reconstruction Team, an armored battle group, and special forces. The Australians have a 370-man Reconstruction Task Force and a Special Operations Group made up of about 300 Special Air Service troops and Army commandos. The ISAF work alongside...
...past two years the Taliban have redoubled their efforts to get back their former power bases in southern provinces like Uruzgan. That has brought the ISAF into the area in force and increased the number of clashes - and casualties. In the past year, three Australians, nine Dutch troops and a U.S. soldier have been killed in Uruzgan. More than 100 Afghan civilians have died in the fighting, and some 1,600 families have fled their homes...
...Uruzgan is a longtime Taliban stronghold. "[Taliban leader] Mullah Omar grew up here," says former Dutch battlegroup commander Jelte Groen. "It was the first province to fall to the Taliban in 1994." With its rugged terrain, long history of opium growing, and network of smugglers' trails, Uruzgan "provides a safe haven for drug transport and moving troops," Groen adds. "So it is a very crucial area...
...Even in areas near the Tarin Kowt and Deh Rewood bases, people complain that the ISAF does not have the resources to protect them. Some say the Dutch seem reluctant to leave their bases, but the Netherlands force - aimed more at reconstruction than fighting - lacks the manpower to do all that locals ask of it. Deh Rewood tribal elder Ghulam Farooq says lack of security has driven many residents away. "We could control our district if the Dutch would just send two tanks, one on each hill," he says. "Then we would fight the Taliban." Dutch commanders say they cannot...
...Tribal elder Haji Obeidullah claims the Dutch troops should have arrived much sooner and came only when the situation turned critical. "It was only when the tribes came to [local police chief Toor Abdullah's] aid that he was saved," he says. "People are calling the Dutch cowards." It's not the first time the Dutch have heard such criticism. But it's unfounded, says Lieutenant Colonel Wilfred Rietdijk, leader of the Provincial Reconstruction Team. "For months we've been fighting every week - planned and forced," he says. "We've heard all kinds of things: other coalition troops come here...