From the desk of Paul Belien on Tue, 2006-05-02 12:05
The Dutch
secret services AIVD (state intelligence) and MIVD (military intelligence)
are investigating an unknown number of Muslims within the Dutch army. Last
Saturday, the Dutch newspaper Het Parool
reported that a growing number of Dutch soldiers
sympathizes with radical Islamists. The paper refers to the
annual report of the MIVD, which states that it conducted a number of investigations
into “alleged radicalisation of military personnel” as
“there are signs that indicate a possible radicalisation of Muslim individuals
or groups within the armed forces.”
During the past years the Dutch
army, in order to contradict allegations of discrimination, has applied a
policy of preferential recruitment among immigrant youths. The MIVD warns,
however, that youths between 17 and 25 are more easily influenced by radical
Islam, while the experience of Dutch troops in Afghanistan and Iraq can also
lead to an enhanced radicalisation.
At least
ten to twenty groups of Muslim terrorists are said to be active
in the Netherlands, planning assassinations of politicians and the bombing
of the AIVD headquarters.
General Bert Dedden, the retiring
MIVD chief, said today in the newspaper De Stem
that the Ministry of Defense has started procedures to oust a radical Islamist
from the army. According to Dedden about ten
Dutch soldiers are known to adhere to Salafism, Wahabism or other forms of
extremist Islam. These people can be a danger to Dutch national
security, the general explained, because they can persuade others to become
disloyal to the army or because they have access to protected buildings or
grounds. “We try to prevent the disappearance of sensitive information, weapons
or other material,” General Dedden said.
Other European countries also have growing numbers of Muslims soldiers. Last March three conscripts of the Austrian army refused to salute the Austrian flag because they said this was incompatible with their Islamic religion.
It is said that one of the reasons why the French authorities did not employ the army during the November 2005 riots, despite calls to do so, was because 15% of the French armed forces are made up of Muslims.
Last month a
Swiss website
reported that the number of Muslim soldiers in the Swiss army has grown from
16,000 to 310,000 during the past four decades.