“We are going to preview the Third World War,” Arjen Lubach said cheerfully in an announcement of his new show on Monday. At that point, around eight o’clock, I thought I’d watch that first episode of The evening show with Arjen Lubach would look back, but something came up. Not even Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, but a previous war. When the bomb fallswas called the report that Danny Ghosen made for the VPRO in Hawija, the Iraqi city where 72 civilians died seven years ago after Dutch F16s bombed an arms factory on behalf of the international coalition against IS.
Now the mayor of Hawija had gathered a group of citizens so that they could tell “this Dutchman” what they had experienced. They crowded around Ghosen, their phones sticking out with pictures. A man was carrying a pack of paper: hospital records. A woman showed that her teeth had been damaged. Her daughter had died. A father showed a pile of photos of his killed son. “I had to bury him with my own hands.”
The stories tumbled over each other in the cramped town hall room. Again Ghosen had a phone shoved under his nose – and another. “One by one,” the reporter shouted, raising his hands in the air. “We will all visit you and then you can tell your story.” That’s exactly what Ghosen did after that. The stories were apocalyptic: “There was a fireball up to the sky,” one woman recalled. “The night turned into day,” according to one man. “Everything turned red. It seemed the Day of Judgment.”
They told Ghosen about dead children. A man lost three sons and two daughters. Another lost his shop. In desperation he had jumped from the roof.
The Netherlands does not want to know anything about compensation to the victims. Four million has been pledged in infrastructural support. 250 electricity poles will be installed, although it is not entirely clear where exactly. Minister Ank Bijleveld talked about “collateral damage”.
Ghosen spoke to a boy in the street whose face is burned and has become a large scar. He hardly goes to school. What do you want the Netherlands to do, Ghosen asked him. “I want them to do something to my face.”
Prime Minister of Dutch Bombs
And look, who was there an hour later also on televisionin Jinek† Mark Rutte, the prime minister of all Dutch bombs. The boss of the country with the disfigured face could immediately explain how we take responsibility for the damage we have caused. It didn’t work out. Because of the world war for which Arjen Lubach was counting down, you think? Meh. The talk shows had (in the case of On 1 previously recorded) celebratory conversations planned with returning Olympians – an incredibly cool topic that rather drowned out the war interpretation.
Also with Prime Minister Rutte, who attended the athletes about when the Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border Jinek confided that he now possessed “a television set” and “an iPhone.” Moreover, on the advice of his officials, he was now also on LinkedIn. “Resilience!” and ‘shoulders underneath’ – these remained characteristics of the Netherlands. Did he mention how fast the economy was growing? The prime minister routinely dodged questions about the Allowances affair, taunting Eva Jinek brutally. After the commercial, he announced that he had to leave because of the situation in Ukraine. Apparently there was someone somewhere who thought he needed it.
Before that, he had casually redefined the Netherlands: “That sweet, cool country.” I don’t know if Danny Ghosen dares to go to Hawija to explain what that means.
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