Dutch PM Seeks Terror/EU Link

Here's what Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said as he cast his vote for the EU constitution:

"If we want to continue the fight against terrorism, then we need each other ... I'm still optimistic." (LATimes)

It won't work. First of all, polls show the Dutch are probably going to reject the EU constitution by about a 60/40 margin in today's mostly non-binding vote. (It's only binding if there's a strong majority and over 30 percent of registered voters vote.)

But more important, Europeans know Europe has been sitting on its butt in the War on Terror. Intelligence and police actions have taken down a few dozen European terrorists since September 11, but intelligence and military power have taken down tens of thousands of them in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Still, seeing the EU flame out in the Netherlands is not all joy for right-thinking people. Note this from the LAT:

Opponents fear that the Netherlands, a nation of just 16 million people, will be engulfed by a superstate headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, and dominated by Germany, France and Britain.

That could mean the end of liberal Dutch policies such as tolerating marijuana use, prostitution and euthanasia.