It's alleged that former Defence Minister Søren Gade declined to close down the isolated Armadillo military base in the dangerous Helmand province of Afghanistan, manned by 150 Danish troops, even though it no longer played any significant role in the war against the Taleban.
Although British military leadership recommended that the Danish base should be closed down in summer of 2009, it was kept going for a further 18 months, during which time five Danish soldiers were killed and another 69 injured.
According to Politiken, ex-Chief of Defence Tim Sloth Jørgensen said it was a purely political decision to maintain the base. "We offered a military perspective but the final decision was made by the Minister," he said as there were fears that public support for the war in Afghanistan would disappear if soldiers were withdrawn from the most high-profile base.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed again yesterday that all military forces will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the agreed 31.12.14 deadline and was backed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Villy Søvndal who stressed there's a roadmap that has to be adhered to.
"The active military effort is over at the end of 2014. but it’s not as though everybody will just get up and leave on New Year’s Eve. The international community is prepared to continue supporting Afghanistan after that date," Mr Søvndal said.