Australia will not fill the gaps if the Netherlands decides to withdraw its military forces from the Afghan province of Uruzgan later this year. As well as political considerations, there is also the question of military capability. According to the Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Defence Force, sending additional troops would overstretch Australia’s military capacity.

Lieutenant General Mark Evans told Radio Netherlands Worldwide during a visit to The Hague that Australia is currently involved in five major military operations abroad. "For us to actually sustain a larger contribution would be difficult, and our view is that the 1550 people that we have in Afghanistan is about right from our perspective, militarily".

Effective
Were the Dutch to leave Uruzgan altogether, the Australian contingent would notice the absence of certain military facilities, General Evans said. "Certainly the medical support that is provided by the Dutch is important to us, as is the aero-medical evacuation, and also some of the support facilities in Tarin Kowt (the provincial capital, ed.)." Describing the work with the Dutch so far, General Evans calls it "cooperative, collaborative and effective", but he stressed that it is up to the Dutch to decide whether to remain in, or pull out of Uruzgan.

In the Netherlands, the political parties are discussing a possible future role of the Dutch army in Afghanistan. As of 1 August, the Netherlands will cease to be the lead nation for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Uruzgan. Whether it will keep a smaller contingent there, or leave Afghanistan altogether is open to debate.

Overlooked
In the Dutch media, the role of the Australian army is often overlooked. Yet, a sizable (700-strong) Australian Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF) is part and parcel of the Dutch-led Task Force Uruzgan. In addition, some 300 special operations personnel (commandos and members of the Special Air Service (SAS)) operate in Uruzgan.

The Special Operations Task Group is the largest non-US force of its kind in Afghanistan and works closely together with a smaller Dutch special forces. The contribution of some 1000 Australian soldiers in Uruzgan is not that much smaller than the Dutch contingent in the province, which on average has around 1300 soldiers. In addition, Australia has another 550 military personnel deployed elsewhere in Afghanistan.
 

Link:
Australian Defence Force: Operation Slipper 

Listen to an interview with Lt. General Mark Evans: