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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tanks for sale

Leopard 2Today, the Dutch armed forces are saying farewell to of all their 60 Leopard tanks, four mine sweepers and 14 Cougar helicopters. The cabinet has decided to make a structural one-billion-euro cut to the defence budget. The surplus hardware will be sold off and 12,000 jobs scrapped.

Speaking to RNW, defence expert and retired major general Kees Homan said scornfully: "We are known as one of the world’s biggest arms exporters, but that’s mainly because we are selling off all kinds of materiel." General Homan said that the radical slimming down of the army will undermine the Netherlands’ international standing.

Export policies
The former general argues that the sales of surplus materiel can also lead to embarrassing situations. For instance in Egypt and Bahrain, where Dutch armoured personnel carriers and other arms were used against their own population.

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