U.S. criticizes information provision in Amsterdam attack
The Dutch intelligence services did not contact their American counterparts quickly enough after a Jawed S. stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station last week, Pete Hoekstra, the American ambassador to the Netherlands, said to the Telegraaf.
"It seems that he acted as a loner, but if it had been a more complicated attack with more perpetrators and successive actions spread over more days, then I have my concerns", Hoekstra said. If the information had been shared, the services would have a better understanding of the perpetrator and the risk of other attacks. "Part of the system works very well, but at the same time you can say that things might have been different."
According to him, the United States embassy extensively evaluated the attack in Amsterdam and will do the same with their Dutch colleagues.
Hoekstra attributes the 'gap' in the information provision to the fact that this was the first terrorist attack in the Netherlands since te murder of Theo van Gogh 14 years ago. "We know what the protocols are and what we have to do", he said to the newspaper. "Now that we've had to use them once, we can ask ourselves whether they are enough."
The United States previously praised the Dutch authorities' quick action during the attack. Jawed S. was shot by the police seconds after he attacked the two tourists.
