US general blames gay soldiers for Srebrenica

[Guest shebavon]

Dutch outrage as US general blames gay soldiers for Srebrenica

 

(Times Online, 19 March 2010)

 

 

By Philippe Naughton

 

 

A retired American general has blamed the UN's historic failure to protect the Bosnian "safe haven" of Srebrenica on the fact that there were openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping battalion assigned to it.

 

The comments from former Marine Corps General John Sheehan prompted outrage in the Netherlands, where the humiliation in July 1995 of 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers and the subsequent massacre by Serb forces of 8,000 Muslim men and boys remains a subject of acute national sensitivity.

 

General Sheehan, one of two Nato "supreme commanders" at the time of the massacre, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee against a proposal to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the US military.

 

He told the senators how the Armed Forces of various European countries had lost their combat focus after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and turned to peacekeeping because “they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back”.

 

The general said that Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and other nations all took the decision that there was no longer a need for an active combat capability in the military.

 

"They declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military — that includes the unionisation of their militaries, it includes open homosexuality. That led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war," he said.

 

"The case in point that I’m referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs: the battalion was under-strength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off, and executed them.

 

“That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II."

 

Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat, chairman of the committee, was incredulous. He asked General Sheehan: “Did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?”

 

“Yes, they did. They included that as part of the problem,” he replied.

 

“That there were gay soldiers?” the senator asked.

 

“That the combination was the liberalisation of the military; a net effect was basically social engineering.”

 

Mr Levin, who backs moves to allow openly gay soldiers to serve, went on to tell the general that he was "totally off-target" in his comments — presaging a flood of complaints from Dutch officials.

 

Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, dismissed the general's claim today. "A disgraceful statement," he said. "I find it untenable ... towards homosexuals. You don't talk that way about people. I find it below standard if one speaks in this manner of the work that people have to do in difficult circumstances."

 

Renée Jones-Bos, the Dutch Ambassador to the United States, said that she "couldn’t disagree more” with General Sheehan, adding there was no evidence of his claims in the extensive record of research on Srebrenica.

 

Roger Van de Wetering, from the Dutch Defence Ministry added: “For us it is unbelievable that a man of this rank is stating this nonsense, because that is what it is.

 

“The whole operation in Srebrenica and the drama that took place over there was thoroughly investigated by Dutch and international authorities and none of these investigations has ever concluded or suggested a link between homosexual military personnel and the things that happened over there. I do not know on what facts this is based, but for us it is total nonsense.

 

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7068523.ece

[Guest fountainhall]

Anyone who watched his testimony knows that General Sheehan proved himself to be an idiot. In saying -

 

"The case in point that I’m referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs: the battalion was under-strength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off, and executed them.

 

“That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II."

- various official enquiries agree. The Dutch were indeed responsible for this ghastly massacre. In suggesting that Dutch commanders had informed him that the presence of gay soldiers in the Dutch military contributed to the situation, though, he is, in my view, a liar and a bigot.