i believe that Ireland and the Netherlands have a lot in common these days!
http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0516/asylum.html
Slán
~M

>Update:
>The Dutch Minister for Immigration has sent Ayaan a letter in which she is told that she has never been a Dutch citizen! This is at this very moment a VERY BIG SCANDAL here. All my colleagues have heated debates. Same in the media and same in the parliament. The Dutch television's evening program is a life broadcast of the very heated debates in the parliament. It is my expectation that the (female) minister (who is running for leadership of her party) will have to leave her position. That is, I hope that this will happen... We'll wait.
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>>I want to congratulate the people of the United States. Today, my beloved Ayaan Hirsi Ali, our most talented and inspiring Member of Parliament, has announced that in august she will leave The Netherlands to live in your country. She has accepted a position at the American Enterprise Institute. This is a right wing institute, as I was told. However, due to the coming of AHA, the institute’s image will become more balanced, I promise you.
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>>Meanwhile, in The Netherlands a proportional portion of the politicians, columnists and common people is blaming her for having lied on immigration about her name, age and previous country. Those people want her to witdraw as an MP and others even want her to be expelled. This is all caused by a television documentary that did some research on her and also interviewed her. The fact is that she herself has revealed those lies in various interviews in the past. Back then nobody cared. But the documentary makers have been suggestive. Their style can be characterized as ‘Gotcha Journalism’ and also one might say they have been ‘Recycling Old News’. That is, they have taken old news, crushed it in pieces, then they added only some minor new facts and made sensational new news out of it.
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>>There are many arguments in favor of her, but I’d like to focus here on the fact that she has 24/7 protection because she receives many dead threats. Most notably that aspect makes the blaming a respectless, hearthless and shameful act.
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>>Yes, today this is what happened in The Netherlands, my country. Today, I’m not proud of my country. In my personal Dutch weblog I have declared AHA as our own political fugitive. And she flees to the US.
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>>I ask you Americans, protect her and treat her well. She deserves it. I hope she will inspire you all as much as she has inspired me.