[Netherlands] Diplomatic Note to the United States

[Dutchy]

GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS​

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

(NA)DC/2000/0003
PRIVATE​

​

Mr Jackson Fitzgerald (Odinson)
Department of State
United States of America

Your Excellency,

I have the honour to suggest a meeting between myself and your government’s representative to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The United States of America and the Netherlands share a long history, a history dating all the way back to the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1782. I believe that this relationship has played a significant part in shaping not only our own countries, but also the dynamics of multilateralism since the end of the Second World War. I believe that the recent lack of cooperation between our states needs to be reversed and I am eager to re-ignite the constructive bilateral relationship that has existed between our two countries for centuries.

I therefore suggest the scheduling of a meeting between our two governments to explore common issues upon which we can build a positive relationship.

I avail myself of the opportunity to assure Your Excellency of my highest consideration.

Yours sincerely,
Bernard Bot
Minister of Foreign Affairs

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DIGITAL DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE​

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Several Weeks Ago​

It was 5:30 in the morning. Unlike most other cities in America that still had some time to wake up and get busy, Washington always had dedicated civil servants heading to their jobs at all hours, especially early in the morning. Secretary of State Jackson Fitzgerald was one of those people. He normally showed up to the office at six, but on Fridays he liked to come in early and eat breakfast in the office. It gave him time to watch CNN for a while, plus it felt like something was always happening on Friday, so he liked to get there early. The office was dark except for the lamp on his desk which he had turned on for some light. Directly behind him were his diplomas from MIT and Harvard Law. On the walls of his office were various paintings and portraits. On one of them was a black and white photograph of JFK - something that any white collar man from Boston was likely to have in his office.

Virtually no one else besides janitors and his secretary, who was among the hardest working in Washington, were there. Jackson took a sip of his coffee and then a bite out of his banana as he listened to a news anchor talk about the wrap up of coalition activities in Turkey. He finished his banana and almost got a start the warm pastry in front of him when he heard the buzz of his intercom.

"I'm sorry to bother you Mister Secretary, but Mister..." she giggled as someone told her not to say who he was, "an old friend of yours is here to see you."
Jackson took another sip of his coffee and then moved the food items on his desk to the side where a small TV was. He put CNN on mute, wiped his hands, and straightened his tie. "Uh, yeah Sarah, send him in."

There was a confident knock at the door. "Enter," Jackson replied.

The door opened. "Anyone home?"
Fitzgerald nearly spit out his coffee and stood up. "John John?" He stood up and walked around his desk. John John was wearing a $20,000 suit and a $200 haircut. The men had went to law school together.
"Jack, it's good to see you," said John John. The man offered his hand, but Fitzgerald instead gave him a hug.
"It's been too long," Fitzgerald said. "Take a seat. How the hell did you get in here?"

Fitzgerald sat down behind his desk while John John looked around the room. His eyes first turned to the framed picture of JFK for a few moments, and then the diplomas on the wall.
"Jack, no joke, I walked in the front door downstairs. Security guard sees me, asks if he can shake my hand, and asks if I'm here to see you. I shake his hand and say yes and he walks me up here. I set the metal detector off and no one cared," he said, and both men laughed.

"Listen, I know you're busy. I don't want to take up your entire morning... I wanted to ask you to relay a message to President Gore for me, if that's alright," he said.
"Sure," Fitzgerald replied. "Name it."
"If there's some kind of job you need filled, even something small, I'd be happy to jump in. I want to put some more civil service under my belt."

---

[TR][TD]

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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

[TR][TD]

TO: Bernard Bot, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands ( Dutchy )​

FROM: Jackson Fitzgerald, Secretary of State of the United States of America

Minister Bot,

It is a pleasure to hear from you. The United States and The Netherlands do indeed have a storied history that goes back centuries, indeed to the founding of our republic. Your country has a reputation of stability, sensibility, and more recently environmental stewardship. I hope that we can eventually meet each other, but in the meantime President Gore has informed me that he would like to appoint an ambassador to The Netherlands if you were willing to accept him. In return, we would humbly accept an ambassador from your country as well.

Best Regards,

Jackson Fitzgerald
Secretary of State
​

[/TD][/TR][/TD][/TR]

 

[Dutchy]

GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS​

---

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

(NA)DC/2000/0003(B)
PRIVATE​

​

Mr Jackson Fitzgerald (Odinson)
Department of State
United States of America

Your Excellency,

We would gladly accept the appointment of an Ambassador to represent your government in the Netherlands. I shall have the Director of Protocol within my ministry reach out to your embassy to discuss the delivery of the letter of credentials to Her Majesty Queen Beatrix. However, I hope that your candidate is willing to meet me in the capacity of chargé d'affaires prior to the delivery of the letter and their official appointment as Ambassador.

At this moment, Mr Karel Slootmaekers currently represents the Netherlands in Washington D.C., we are happy to have him deliver his letter of credence to President Gore at his convenience in order to make his position as ambassador official.

Yours sincerely,
Bernard Bot
Minister of Foreign Affairs

---

DIGITAL DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE​

 

[Odinson]

[TR][TD]

---

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE​

---

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

[TR][TD]

TO: Bernard Bot, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands ( Dutchy )​

FROM: Jackson Fitzgerald, Secretary of State of the United States of America

Minister Bot,

President Gore has appointed John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. as the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of The Netherlands. I can inform you that as of this morning, the Senate unanimously confirmed this nomination. The State Department has requested diplomatic VISAs for Ambassador Kennedy and his wife. He is happy to meet with you, and Her Majesty the Queen, at whatever time and place is deemed necessary by your government. I will send over additional information to your government so that we can have things finalized.

We are happy to receive Mr. Karel Slootmaekers. We will immediately issue him and his family diplomatic VISAs so that they can come to Washington as soon as possible. Once President Gore returns to Washington he would be happy to meet with the Ambassador to receive his letter of credence.

Best Regards,

Jackson Fitzgerald
Secretary of State
​

[/TD][/TR][/TD][/TR]

---

Private​

Once the diplomatic visas were received, Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy flew to The Netherlands along with their personal affects so that he could begin his appointment as the United States Ambassador to The Netherlands. Also, Mr. Slootmaekers and his immediate family would receive diplomatic VISAs from the State Department so that they could come to the United States at their earliest convenience.

 

[Dutchy]

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kingdom of the Netherlands​

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Recipient: John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr, United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, United States of America (Odinson)
Cc: -
Subject: Meeting & Letter of Credence
Attachment:
Classification: PRIVATE

Dear Sir,

Welcome to the Netherlands, we are honoured to receive you as the United States' Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. I am Yorick de Jonker, Director of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and liaison between the Ministry and all the diplomatic missions located within the Netherlands.

I have been informed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs that a meeting is to be scheduled, in line with this I will inform the Royal Household that the handing over of the letter of credence will be delayed until this meeting has been held. The office of the Minister has also informed me that there are plenty of availabilities these coming days to hold the bilateral meeting, I can understand if you require a few days to settle in. Please have your embassy respond with your earliest availability and I shall ensure that the meeting is scheduled.

I wish you good luck and for any further inquiries please do not hesitate to contact my office.

Yours Sincerely,

Yorick de Jonker
Director of Protocol

---

The Diplomatic VISAs would be granted to Kennedy and his family. Upon their arrival at Schiphol Airport they would be met by an aide of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who would be there to assist them through customs and passport control and would be available to offer any further assistance that may be required during their first day in the Netherlands.

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy would go to the American Embassy in The Netherlands where they would be met with an entourage of security, in the form of agents from the Diplomatic Security Service and U.S. Marines, as well as embassy staff from the State Department and other people. While there was a lot of unpacking to do and interviews to take, Ambassador Kennedy of course felt his duty was first and foremast to monitor and maintain relations between the United States and The Netherlands. He informed Mister de Jonker that he was prepared to meet with the Minister as soon as possible, as the matter sounded urgent.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would respond to the American Embassy by letting them know that the Ambassador would be welcome tomorrow afternoon at 14:00. The protocol office would further inform the Embassy to register with the reception upon arrival and that special security arrangements had been made to accommodate the personal security detail of the ambassador.

The evening prior to the meeting the Ministry would finalise its briefing documents for the Minister to make use of during the discussions.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

The American Embassy in The Netherlands would gather the information sent over by the Dutch government and condense it down for the Ambassador. A team of ten Diplomatic Security Service Agents would escort Ambassador Kennedy (via a motorcade) to the Ministry. In a stroke of American professionalism, he made sure that his motorcade arrived exactly at 14:00 to the Ministry. Travelling with the Ambassador, besides his security detail, was just his chief of staff. Ambassador Kennedy was dressed in a black suit and dark blue tie. The appointment of JFK Jr. would likely be out of left field, at least from the Dutch perspective, though there would be no reason to take it as an insult. He was the son of one of America's most well-known presidents, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, adored by the press and the public, and the closest thing to royalty that the United States had.

The Ambassador stepped out of his limousine (which he had flown in from the United States) and adjusted his gold cufflinks as his chief of staff - a tall man with a Brooklyn accent - stepped out with a leather-bound legal pad. They waited to be allowed inside.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

Private​

With the scheduled arrival of the American Ambassador, security would be stepped up around the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the deployment of 25 members from the 1st HRB Platoon of the Koninklijke Marechaussee. 9 members would station themselves within the building, with 4 members outside the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and 5 members on the ground floor. The remaining 15 members, in teams of two would deploy themselves at the various entrance points to the building. Upon the arrival of the American motorcade the security team would increase their level of alertness.

Captain Tim van Daalen, in-charge of the platoon, alongside his deputy who was in charge of the section stepped forward to meet the American security team. If they did not have any concerns then the Ambassador would be escorted into the building and straight to the office of the Minister. The Private Secretary would open the doors to the office as the Ambassador approached. As the doors opened the Minister rose from behind his desk and stepped forward with his hand extended, "Ambassador Kennedy, I am pleased to have the honour to welcome you to the Netherlands. I have to admit that I was surprised to be informed that President Gore had submitted your name to serve as the Ambassador to our small nations, though I look forward to working closely with you on topics which will see mutual gain through cooperation."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Ambassador Kennedy shook the hand with Foreign Minister. "Thank you, Minister Bot. It's a pleasure to meet you and it's a pleasure to be in The Netherlands. It is an honor to represent the United States to your government. My goal is for our governments to be able to work closely together and become strong partners in these more uncertain times that we have found ourselves in... In regard to me? I want to serve my country, and this seemed like the best way to do it," he said.

He waited to see if he would be offered a seat and then said, "I was told that you wanted to meet on a pressing matter. So how can I help you, Minister Bot?"

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

As they spoke the Minister gestured to a small seated area which had a view over The Hague Central Station. Two glasses had already been placed on the table along with a large decanter filled with water, lemon and ice. Minister Bot seated himself on the sofa across from the Ambassador and placed a pile of files beside him. He leaned forward to start filling himself a glass of water, and would glance up to Kennedy, "could I offer you any refreshments before we begin?" Any refreshments would be immedieately ordered by the Private Secretary who was still standing at the door and would be delivered by an aide a few minutes later.

As the two men began their private meeting the Private Secretary retreated from the room and closed the door behind him. "A pressing matter would be the re-igniting of the flame which powered the Dutch-US partnership. We are excited to find areas of mutual cooperation where our two nations could form partnerships. Furthermore, at this moment in time we are dedicated significant investment in our armed forces. We have historically relied on American state-of-the-art technology and the Ministry of Defence has asked me to relay a list of equipment which we are interested in purchasing, I was hoping that you would be willing to relay this list to the Department of Defence before we contact them regarding the purchase."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Kennedy requested a glass of sparkling water. After receiving it, he took a small sip and set it down.

"I would be happy to answer any questions about defense purchases that you may have. The Netherlands is an important regional partner for the United States in Europe, and we would very much like to make a spark to reignite the flame of this critical relationship. I would be happy to hand the list over to the Defense Department and American Defense Sales for them to review," he said, curious to see the list himself.

"While you get that, I had an interesting offer from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security that I thought I would share with you. The United States Coast Guard Activities Europe has historically had a small presence in The Netherlands, off and on, since the end of World War Two. The Coast Guard would like to reestablish this presence, but in a different way. The mission of the Coast Guard is somewhat different than what the coast guards of most European countries are. It of course monitors commerce and performs life-saving activities, both of which are critical and major roles of the Coast Guard, but in America it also has environmental and defense missions. Despite popular belief, there are limited times when the Coast Guard is deployed or even stationed overseas. Occasionally Coast Guard cutters even assist or take part in training exercises with the Navy.

"If your government approved it, the Coast Guard would be interested in establishing a small station somewhere in the Port of Rotterdam. The station would be large enough to accompany two 425 foot, or 130 meter, long vessels as well as 600 Coast Guardsmen who would be stationed there. Most of them would be sailors on the ships, while others would have maintenance, security, and administrative jobs.

"The purpose of this station would be to foster cooperation between the United States and Netherlands coast guards. It would also give the U.S. Coast Guard a regular place to rotate Coast Guardsmen for a foreign deployment in another country. Because this would be a very unique experience for this specific service, I've been told that the Coast Guard stationed there could serve as a kind of auxiliary unit in the event that a large life-saving, maritime security, or defense operation ever had to take place in, or off the coast of, The Netherlands. The Coast Guard also working on establishing strong ground and water-based port security units. We would like to garrison one at this station which, again, could act as an auxiliary force to assist if there is ever any kind of major maritime security incident at one of your ports. Because these kinds of situations would be rare, they would normally be training, or training with your Coast Guard or Navy otherwise. The United States Lighthouse Service is an agency under the Coast Guard. I'm not aware if they would play any kind of role in this station, but if they would it would probably be limited to just a few people, if that.

"When this was brought up to me I thought it was an interesting idea. I know that The Netherlands has a long history of diplomacy and international cooperation. While the Coast Guard is considered a military branch in the United States, it doesn't fall under the Department of Defense except in extraordinary times. Because of its environmental, life-saving, and maritime security missions, I thought that this could be a fantastic way for our countries to have some kind of semi-military working agreement together without involving a branch of the military, like the Navy or the Army, and without it being strictly defense-related. Do you think that this is something that your government would be open to considering?" the Ambassador asked, and then took another sip of his sparkling water.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"The Ministry of Defence has passed along a list of items which it is interested in purchasing, or procuring a production license for. This is not personally my area of expertise so I hope that you can have the relevant authorities back in the US reach out to the Ministry of Defence to further discuss details surrounding this request," Minister Bot would say as he pulled out a document from his pile of papers and handed it over to the Ambassador. "I have to add that we are interested in developing an intensive military relationship between our two countries, and that this procurement would probably be just the start. I know that the Ministry is also interested in reaching out to conduct joint special forces and air force exercises in the near future, but I shall leave it to them to initiate those talks, I merely wanted to mention them at this time so that the DoD is aware that the Ministry of Defence may contact them in the coming months."

Official MoD Document

• [2] McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender
• [16] Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow
• [4] General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
• [4] Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules
• [2] Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
• [2] Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye
• [2] MIM-104F (PAC-3)
• [TBD] Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT)

Bot listned intensely and jotted down notes as Kennedy spelled out the proposal, and once he had finished the Foreign Minister leaned forward to take a sip from his own glass of water before responding, "I have to admit, this is an interesting proposal. I would have to take this to the Council of Ministers to be approved before we can have the appropriate authorities begin planning. However, in the spirit of cooperation I see that this could be a good stepping stone for further collaboration." He looked down at the ntoes he had taken before looking up and asking, "are you looking at contructing a lighthouse on the terrain for the lighthouse service to operate? I believe that would be slightly harder to achieve due to the complexity of the Port of Rotterdam."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I don't see any issue with the items that you have listed, with the exception of the MQ-9 reaper. At this time, the United States does not export unmanned aerial vehicles. The conditions with the equipment that you listed would be simple: your government cannot, under any circumstances, sell, lend, or give the equipment to any other nation, company, organization, or individual other than the United States. You may, however, scrap it at any time. I have a template for a treaty that would approve this kind of sale... this is what he would look like," he said as he passed a piece of paper over to the Minister. "If this is acceptable, I will request authorization from the government and we can both formally agree to the treaty."

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​

American-Dutch Arms Agreement of 2000 ​

​

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CONTEXT​

The American-Dutch Arms Trade Agreement of 2000 is between the nations of the United States of America (also referred to as the United States or the American Government) and the Kingdom of The Netherlands (also referred to as The Netherlands or the Dutch Government). This treaty is meant to foster a spirit of mutual cooperation between the American and Dutch governments, as well as laying the foundation for a prosperous relationship between the Untied States and The Netherlands. Contained within this treaty is an agreement to exchange products and money.

ARTICLE 1
ARMS EXCHANGE​

1.1 The United States shall authorize The Netherlands to build the following products (with quantities shown as i.e. x7): x2 McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender, x16 Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow; x4 Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules, x2 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, x2 Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye, x2 MIM-104f (PAC-3), x100 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT).
a. The United States is required to permit the Dutch Government to construct each item listed in Section 1.1, but only in the quantity and model that is listed.
b. The Kingdom of The Netherlands must pay a grand total of: $XXXX before it will be permitted to construct any of these items.
c. The Dutch Government will not sell, lease, lend, abandon, surrender, or give away any equipment that they purchase from the United States to any nation/entity/individual other than the United States, nor will they allow any of the aforementioned groups to train with the items listed in Section 1.1. or study them. However, The Netherlands may at any time scrap said equipment.
d. The United States will allow The Netherlands to maintain the equipment they purchase without charge.

ARTICLE 2
COOPERATION​

2.1 The United States of America recognizes the Kingdom of The Netherlands as a sovereign nation with the only claim to its territory. The Kingdom of The Netherlands recognizes the United States of America as a sovereign nation with the only claim to its territory.
a. If the United States were to enter into a war with a country that The Netherlands is not in a Mutual Defense Pact with, the Dutch Government will share any and all intelligence it finds necessary in order to support the American war effort.
b. If the Netherlands were to enter into war with a country that the United States is not in a Mutual Defense Pact with, America will share any and all intelligence it finds necessary in order to support the Dutch war effort.
2.2 The United States of America and The Kingdom of The Netherlands will both ratify this treaty through their respective legislative processes, but both parties will keep this treaty and the contents of it secret.

ARTICLE 3
TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT​

3.1 The United States of America or the Kingdom of The Netherlands may terminate this treaty after a [6] month notice has been issued. To terminate this agreement, a secure message that clearly states that this agreement is being terminated must be sent through the proper channels from the head of state/government of either party to the head of state/government of the other party. If both nations wish to terminate this agreement, no [6] month notice is needed. For a termination to be complete, the measures that follow must be taken.
a. If the Netherlands terminates this agreement, the Dutch Government must scrap all American vehicles/vessels/weapons/equipment that they procured from the United States under the American-Dutch Arms Trade Agreement of 2000.
b. If America terminates this agreement, the American Government waives its right to demand The Netherlands to scrap all American vehicles/vessels/weapons that they procured from the United States under the AKCAA.
i. The Kingdom of The Netherlands is still under the requirement to not resell, transfer, or in any other form allow another country to utilize procured equipment from the United States under this treaty and shall not, even in the event of the termination of this agreement, breach the terms over re-selling or transferring in any form the procured equipment from the United States.
3.2 If the Kingdom of The Netherlands violates this agreement by either violating Section 1.1.c or Article 3.1.i then it will incur a $3,000,000,000 penalty that they must pay to the United States for each unit they allowed another nation/entity to obtain, and the United States is no longer held to abide by Article 1 or Article 2 of this agreement.


Signed for the United States of America,

XXX
President of the United States of America


Signed for the Kingdom of The Netherlands,

XXX
Minister-President of The Kingdom of The Netherlands

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"Please, tell me what you think of this draft... Also, in regard to what we discussed about the Coast Guard: the United States Lighthouse Service has a special investigations division that works closely with the Coast Guard Investigative Service. Functionally, it is only a matter of time before the two organizations are combined. The purpose of their presence would be to investigate criminal matters, such as dereliction of duty or theft, on the premises of the base. Knowing the Lighthouse Service, I could see that they would potentially want to construct a navigational aid at the base if your government would permit it. A beacon like that would only serve to benefit everyone, as a lighthouse is the prime example of a public good, but it wouldn't be necessary if your government was against it," he said.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"This looks like a solid fair and solid draft. I believe that this would lay a foundation for future military and intelligence cooperation between our countries. I will have to bring this to the Council of Ministers for discussion, would it be alright if I request that the Ministry of Defence reaches out to your government on this treaty after it has been reviewed by the cabinet?"

The Minister smiled at the thought of a new lighthouse being constructed in Rotterdam, "I have to admit, I cannot remember the last time a lighthouse has been constructed in this country, I wouldn't even know where to start looking to find those permits. I would imagine that is something we can leave until after the construction of the facilities."

"As you have given me plenty to bring to the Council of Ministers, I would suggest that we perhaps adjourn unless you have any other pressing matters left to discuss? I am eager to get the ball rolling on these proposals and I think our relationship will foster from this cooperation."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I am happy to hear that this is something that you would be willing to pass along to your government. Thank you for inviting me to this meeting, I look forward to hearing back from your office. And yes, please feel free to contact the Defense Department for any questions you may have. Though, keep in mind that the United States Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security," Ambassador Kennedy said.

"In the meantime, if you need any clarification or have any more questions, please let me know and I would be happy to assist as necessary," he said.

With that, if there was nothing else to discuss, Ambassador Kennedy would return to the American Embassy where he would continue to organize things with his new staff.

Dutchy