Yes, the mission was poorly planned and organized, and far outside the capabilities of the DUTCHBAT. But it's not as though they even "did what they could." Many soldiers surrendered their positions and (unfired) weapons to the Serbians when asked and walked back to their base unarmed. Those who didn't abandon their posts stood idly by to watch as civilians were raped, maimed, and murdered (OK, a few had the foresight to make photographs or video recordings, which helped get countries such as the US involved and eventually settle the conflict.) The commander of the Dutch mission had been videotaped enjoying coffee and chitchat with Serbian militia leaders the previous day. None of this gels with the Dutch self-image as a bastion of human rights and respect for international law, however, so no one in the Netherlands likes to talk about it and I'm not surprised that you're so poorly informed.
Actually, I think many European countries are very much "police states" compared to Australia or North America. In the supposedly liberal Netherlands, police can stop anyone for 'preventief fouilleren' (preventive search) without any probable cause; in practice this is mostly used to harrass ethnic minorities. Anyone over the age of 14 who is not carrying an ID card can be fined or arrested. One of the victims of the Schiphol fire was a Bulgarian tourist who was picked up for not carrying his passport while shopping (http://thevoiceforum.org/node/390.) The U.S. RealID act standardizes the look of state-issued cards and requires them all to contain certain information, but it doesn't require anyone to carry or present it at particular times.
Similarly, the extension of telephone logs to the NSA by the major telephone companies without specific judicial warrants was a major scandal in America and ultimately held (by the Supreme Court of the United States, the ultimate arbiter) to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Europe, the free extension of telephone and email data to law enforcement agencies is actually/required/ by the EU Directive on Mandatory Retention of Telecommunications Data (http://epic.org/privacy/intl/data_retention.html). The system that guarantees the rights of U.S. citizens can occasionally be frustrating, particularly because it can take years for a case to work its way through the court system. But it's still miles ahead of those countries that don't even have a written constitution (United Kingdom), supreme court with a power of judicial review (Netherlands), or clear constitutional statements of individual liberty (Italy).
The historical ability of European countries to resist fascism or populism is pretty checkered; I encourage you to pay a little more attention to the world around you.
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Yes, the mission was poorly planned and organized, and far outside the capabilities of the DUTCHBAT. But it's not as though they even "did what they could." Many soldiers surrendered their positions and (unfired) weapons to the Serbians when asked and walked back to their base unarmed. Those who didn't abandon their posts stood idly by to watch as civilians were raped, maimed, and murdered (OK, a few had the foresight to make photographs or video recordings, which helped get countries such as the US involved and eventually settle the conflict.) The commander of the Dutch mission had been videotaped enjoying coffee and chitchat with Serbian militia leaders the previous day. None of this gels with the Dutch self-image as a bastion of human rights and respect for international law, however, so no one in the Netherlands likes to talk about it and I'm not surprised that you're so poorly informed.
...but, you'd rather just mark a statement of fact as a Troll. Check.
Actually, I think many European countries are very much "police states" compared to Australia or North America. In the supposedly liberal Netherlands, police can stop anyone for 'preventief fouilleren' (preventive search) without any probable cause; in practice this is mostly used to harrass ethnic minorities. Anyone over the age of 14 who is not carrying an ID card can be fined or arrested. One of the victims of the Schiphol fire was a Bulgarian tourist who was picked up for not carrying his passport while shopping (http://thevoiceforum.org/node/390.) The U.S. RealID act standardizes the look of state-issued cards and requires them all to contain certain information, but it doesn't require anyone to carry or present it at particular times.
/required/ by the EU Directive on Mandatory Retention of Telecommunications Data (http://epic.org/privacy/intl/data_retention.html). The system that guarantees the rights of U.S. citizens can occasionally be frustrating, particularly because it can take years for a case to work its way through the court system. But it's still miles ahead of those countries that don't even have a written constitution (United Kingdom), supreme court with a power of judicial review (Netherlands), or clear constitutional statements of individual liberty (Italy).
Similarly, the extension of telephone logs to the NSA by the major telephone companies without specific judicial warrants was a major scandal in America and ultimately held (by the Supreme Court of the United States, the ultimate arbiter) to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Europe, the free extension of telephone and email data to law enforcement agencies is actually
The historical ability of European countries to resist fascism or populism is pretty checkered; I encourage you to pay a little more attention to the world around you.