I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Tucked away in the middle of a Times report on her security snafu we find this:

In the case of Ms. Hirsi Ali, the [Dutch] government also provided security for her while she lived in the Netherlands and traveled abroad. That arrangement continued for several months after she moved to the United States 13 months ago to become a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Subsequently the Netherlands paid for protection provided by an American security firm.

However, last December, she was warned in a letter from the Dutch minister of justice, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, that payment for her American bodyguards would end in July this year. That decision was revoked after Ms. Hirsi Ali received new credible death threats in the United States.

CJ noted today at LGF that in fact the earlier reports were wrong. It wasn’t that the U.S. government refused to provide security for her, it’s that they’re legally unable to do so for anyone who isn’t a citizen. Which prompts the question: Why didn’t they grant her citizenship instead of permanent residency?

The New York Times article quotes her lawyer as saying she’s trying to arrange for her own security in the U.S., but according to the Times of London, it’s cost the Dutch government upwards of $5 million over the past three years to protect her. Worse, if ToL’s sources are right, she may be without any bodyguards at the moment. Where do we go to donate?