November 22, 2024: Alarmed at the Russian aggression in Ukraine, European nations are rapidly rearming and preparing for the worst. An example of that is the Netherlands, which has created new tank battalions and ordered warships and F-35 jets. Holland is increasing its annual defense budget to $26 billion a year, about double what it was in 2022.

The Dutch believe Russian violence could reach as far west as the Netherlands and that the threat is real. That attitude is reinforced by Russian Cyber War and sabotage operations in Europe. The result is a Netherlands force that is ready to fight at any time. This means increased stocks of munitions, medical supplies and spare parts. There must be enough to sustain a year of combat while waiting for more to come from local factories or the United States.

With a population of only 18 million people, and a country about twice the size of New Jersey, the Netherlands has managed to send troops to participate in many of the significant military actions around the world since the end of the Cold War. These included deployments to Bosnia, Southern Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Dutch deployed six F-16s and six AH-64 Apache helicopters to Afghanistan and six Apaches to Iraq to support coalition operations. The deployments have not been quiet ones. There have been several Dutch troops killed and many more wounded.

In 2003 Dutch F-16s provided close air support in Afghanistan from the central Asian Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, flying a total of 804 missions and sometimes using laser-guided bombs and 20mm cannon fire in support of ground operations. Other Dutch military actions included the transport of Ethiopian peacekeeping troops in support of UN operations in Liberia.

Unfortunately, Dutch military forces have not always been so successful. In 1995, a 200 man battalion of Dutch peacekeepers were outnumbered and outgunned by an invading force of Bosnian Serbs in the town of Srebrenica. The Dutch commander repeatedly called for massive air strikes against Serbian forces, but the air support never arrived. The Serbs massacred 7,500 Muslim men shortly after taking charge of the area and the incident has been called the worst European atrocity since World War II.