From the Wall Street Journal: Among allied forces fighting in Afghanistan, few countries have deployed a bigger share of their armed forces than Denmark, and fewer still have taken higher levels of casualties. But the small Scandinavian country is emerging as an unlikely example of how to maintain public support for the war.

The popularity of the international campaign in Afghanistan has fallen across Europe and in the U.S. On Tuesday, the Dutch government set a June 9 date for general elections, nearly one year ahead of schedule. The move followed the unraveling of Netherlands’ coalition government last weekend after it failed win support to extend the mandate of the nation’s 1,600 troops in Afghanistan, presaging a likely withdrawal this year…

Amid this shift, the Danes have largely maintained public support for the effort, selling the mission as a humanitarian effort rather than simply protection against a terrorist threat, and building consensus among political parties. They have reaped the benefits of a largely supportive media and the country has, to some degree, rediscovered its pride in an active military…

Yet throughout a difficult 2009, polls consistently showed around a half of Danes surveyed by TNS Gallup believed Danish troops should be in Afghanistan; only one-third said they didn’t. In NATO nations such as the U.K., Germany and Netherlands, meanwhile, polls reveal over half wanting troops back home. 
"If you can’t win the public opinion, you have lost the war," Danish Defense Minister Søren Gade said in a recent interview. (photo: Mads Nissen)