I think that her journey to the AEI is not surprising in the least. I'm surprised you can't see here obvious ideological affinity with the institution. She supported the Iraq War. She has basically an anti-Islamic neoconservative. She makes some valuable criticisms of Islam, but she also quite clearly a provocateur who has personal axes to grind and doesn't really show a great deal of ability for useful dialogue or ways forward. Becauase Islam isn't simply going away, even if she may hate the religion.
I've argued before that for a healthy debate provocateurs and appeasers are both needed in right quantities. The Netherlands was in a desperate need of people like Hirsi Ali who confronted not just the Islam society within the country, but the entire country itself.
Perhaps the Ayaan news is not surprising, but it's stigmatic for the Netherlands.
I have been very open about the fact that when I applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, I did so under a false name and with a fabricated story. In 2002, I spoke on national television about the conditions of my arrival, and I said then that I fabricated a story in order to be able to receive asylum here. Since that TV program I have repeated this dozens of times, in Dutch and international media. Many times I have truthfully named my father and given my correct date of birth. (You will find a selection of these articles in the press folder). I also informed the VVD leadership and members of this fact when I was invited to stand for parliament.
