In his latest op-ed published in the daily paper Trouw, IRW PhD candidate Jip van Dort raises a rather sinister question: What exactly do we (or are we allowed to) know about the dark side of warfare, specifically about civilian casualties? The Dutch public is told a lot about recent wars against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Islamic State, but civilian suffering is pretty much ignored. Jip argues that this ignorance is no accident, but is done to preserve the false image of ‘clean’ war.

Jip van Dort conducts his PhD research on wartime propaganda in contemporary Dutch politics at The Intimacies of Remote Warfare programme (GkG, UU). Read the op-ed (Dutch language) at the following link: https://www.trouw.nl/opinie/nederland-probeert-de-mythe-van-de-schone-oorlog-in-stand-te-houden~bc63e9e7/