American understanding for Bot
De Telegraaf, Stan Huygens Journaal
Rotterdam
September 16, 2006
“I can understand that” said Roland Arnall, the American ambassador in The Hague, on the recent criticism by Minister Bot (Foreign Affairs) of his American colleague Condoleezza Rice. In contrast with earlier expectations, there appear to be substantial CIA prisons in Europe.
“But,” Arnall continued cryptically, “the glass is half full or the glass is half empty. In the American eyes it is half full of course. In the whole of Europe the Netherlands is the only one which is that precise” it sounded. The rest of Europe has no problems with it.” Today Bot will ask his European colleagues for a mutual standpoint on prisons where terror suspects were held and questioned.
The American ambassador and his wife Dawn had invited a number of guests for a performance of the alumni chorus of famous Yale University in the Kloosterkerk in The Hague.
“This is a special ambassador,” said Jonkheer Pieter de Savornin Lohman, head of the Protocol section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Earlier this week he brought together representatives of three large religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.”
The choir sang some wonderful songs, like the first article of the American constitution. Composer Neely Bruce had put the text to music, after he read that youth finds it acceptable to break the law because of national security.
On the first church bench, Saudi Ambassador Waleed Elkhereiji enjoyed the music. A couple of benches further, the Iraqi ambassador Sianmand Banaa applauded enthusiastically after the song Dona nobis pacem (give us peace). “The U.S. never started a war themselves! They always got involved” the Iraqi of Kurdish decent started.
“The present situation in Iraq cannot be blamed on the U.S. Without them, Iraq had much worse prospects. And that is also true for Europe!”