Gays in the Millitery: Dutch furious at at US General's Claims

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Homosexuality and the Srebrenica Massacre

Dutch Leader Calls US General's Gay Remarks 'Disgraceful'

A Muslim woman praying next to newly identified victims of the Srebrenica massacre in July of last year. On Thursday, retired US General John J. Sheehan said that gays in the Dutch military were partly to blame for their failure to prevent the slaughter.


Former NATO Commander John J. Sheehan testified on Thursday that Holland's policy allowing openly gay soldiers to serve in the country's military contributed to the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. The Dutch Defense Ministry said the comments were 'outrageous and unworthy of a soldier.'

The United States has been debating for years on the wisdom of allowing open homosexuality in its military. Indeed, the administration of President Barack Obama has pledged to revisit the "don't ask, don't tell" policy introduced by former President Bill Clinton.

On Thursday, though, the debate in Washington leapt across the Atlantic. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, former NATO commander and retired Marine General John J. Sheehan insinuated that the Dutch military's failure to prevent the 1995 massacre of thousands of civilians in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war was partly due to the presence of openly gay soldiers in Holland's army.


In a rambling statement on the transformation of European militaries after the end of the Cold War, Sheehan said that the Dutch battalion at Srebrenica "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."

When asked by Committee Chairman Carl Levin if Dutch leaders had told him that the service of homosexual soldiers was to blame, Sheehan said "yes they did. They included that as part of the problem."

'Disgraceful'

The Netherlands on Friday was quick to react to Sheehan's testimony. Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop issued a statement calling the remarks "outrageous and unworthy of a soldier." He went on to say, "I do not want to waste any more words on the matter."



Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the remarks were "disgraceful" and "should never have been made. ... It is way off the mark to talk like that about people and the work they do under very difficult circumstances." He added that he would not take up the matter with Obama because Sheehan is retired.

Wim van den Burg, head of the Dutch military union AFMP, called Sheehan's comments "ridiculous" and "out of the realm of fiction."


The Srebrenica slaughter was the largest massacre in Europe since the end of World War II. It occurred when the Dutch were serving as part of an undermanned United Nations peacekeeping force which was trying to prevent Serbian troops from overrunning declared "safe areas" during the Bosnian War. When the Serbs moved in on Srebrenica, the Dutch force put up little resistance. Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered.

Committee Chairman Levin said that Sheehan's attempt to connect Dutch military shortcomings to the service of homosexuals in Holland's military "was totally off target." Sheehan was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic in the mid-1990s.

Homosexuality and the Srebrenica Massacre: Dutch Leader Calls US General's Gay Remarks 'Disgraceful' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

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Dutch anger at US General's Srebrenica claim

The Dutch government has rejected criticism by a former NATO commander that its soldiers failed to prevent the 1995 massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica in Bosnia.

General John Sheehan said he had been told by senior Dutch military officials that this was partly because some of the Dutch soldiers were gay.

He was testifying before a US Congressional Committee examining whether to allow homosexuals in the US military to be open about their sexuality.



Bosnian Serb forces overran lightly-armed Dutch soldiers in the Srebrenica in July 1995 and subsequently massacred more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys.

The Netherlands Defence Ministry said there was no link between the massacre and the sexual orientation of some of the soldiers.

In a statement, the ministry said General Sheehan's claims were 'absolute nonsense' and added that gay Dutch soldiers routinely cooperate with the US military in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

The events in Srebrenica remain a sensitive subject in the Netherlands, where a six-year investigation into the massacre led to the government's fall in 2002.

RTÉ News: Dutch anger at US General's Srebrenica claim

 

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[pak-yes]

Huh now we will see how much Mainstream Media Covers this News.

 

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Retired U.S. general links massacre to presence of gay soldiers

Gen. John J. Sheehan

A retired Marine Corps general and former NATO commander told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that the presence of openly gay soldiers in the Dutch military contributed to a 1995 massacre of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.
Gen. John “Jack” Sheehan, who retired in 1997, was appearing before the committee to explain his opposition to the ending of the “ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" law which prevents those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from serving in the U.S. military.
The repeal of the law has looked increasingly likely in recent times as figures such as Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have indicated that they believe repeal to be desirable or at least inevitable.
But Gen. Sheehan does not agree with the repeal of the law and he has used the massacre of over 8,000 Bosnian-Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995 to support his argument.
The massacre was committed by Serb forces in the town in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the time that the former nation of Yugoslavia was disintegrating.
Serb forces had been able to carry out the largest mass killing in Europe since World War Two after "overwhelming" what the Voice of America (VOA) says were four hundred Dutch soldiers operating as peacekeepers for the U.N.
And it is the fact that the Netherlands - in common with countries such as Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel - allows openly gay people to serve in its military that Gen. Sheehan claims contributed to its soldiers being unable to resist the Serbs.
Noting that the collapse of the Soviet Union had led many European nations to concentrate the efforts of their armed forces on peacekeeping - although VOA reports that the Netherlands had openly gay members of its military years before that event - Gen. Sheehan is quoted by The Seattle Times/Associated Press as saying:
They declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military - that includes the unionization of their militaries, it includes open homosexuality
After describing how the Dutch battalion in Srebrenica was "understrength" and "poorly led" and as a result found its members handcuffed to telephone poles as the Serbs marched the Bosniaks off to be executed Gen. Sheehan was asked by committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin (Democrat-Michigan) if Dutch leaders had indicated that the presence of gay soldiers had undermined the effectiveness of their troops.
Responding to Sen. Levin, who believes that the assessment of the situation by the former NATO commander is "totally off-target", Gen. Sheehan said:
Yes. They included that as part of the problem. ... A combination of the liberalization of the military — a net effect, basically, of social engineering
Sen. Levin reportedly argued:
The Dutch military, as you point out, were peacekeepers and not peace-enforcers. I agree with that. But what the heck that has to do with the issue before us is what mystifies me
I think we all remember Srebrenica. Any effort to connect that failure on the part of the Dutch to the fact that they had homosexuals ... is totally off target. I see no suggestion of that. It’s no more on point than the fact that they may have allowed African or Dutch-African or women to serve
According to the Navy Times, to further justify his opposition to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", Gen. Sheenan cited a sexual assault committed by one man on another man within his unit fighting in Vietnam and the impact of the assault on morale and discipline.
He mentioned too statistics produced by the Pentagon indicating that seven percent of sexual assaults within the military in 2009 were male-on-male, although the Navy Times confirms that the correct figure is five percent of 3,230 recorded incidents.
Both the Dutch ambassador to the U.S., Renee Jones-Bos, and a spokesman for the Dutch Defense Ministry, Roger Van de Wetering, have criticized the views expressed by Gen. Sheehan.
Ambassador Jones-Bos stated that she "couldn't disagree more" with Gen. Sheehan, adding:
I take pride in the fact that lesbians and gays have served openly and with distinction in the Dutch military forces for decades, including in leading operational positions, such as in Afghanistan at the moment
Meanwhile Roger Van de Wetering spoke of it being "unbelievable that a man of this rank is stating this nonsense".
He continued:
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.
For us it is very simple. Every man or woman that meets the criteria physically and mentally is welcome to serve in our armed forces regardless of (religious) belief, sexual preference or whatever

Retired U.S. general links massacre to presence of gay soldiers

 

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Dutch furious at claim gays in military caused massacre

Dutch officials are reacting angrily to a retired U.S. general's assertion that having gays in the military led to Dutch forces being overrun in 1995, leading to the massacre at Srebrenica.

At a U.S. congressional committee meeting on Thursday, John Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired from the military in 1997, spoke out against the proposal to get rid of the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military.

Bosnian Serb forces overran light-armed Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica, and killed more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys.

Sheehan said the Dutch were overrun because of European efforts to "socialize" their militaries in the 1990s and "that includes the unionization of their militaries, it includes open homosexuality."

"That led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war. The case in point that I'm referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs," he said.

"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."

Dutch Defence Ministry spokesperson Roger Van de Wetering called the retired general's claims "nonsense."

"For us it is unbelievable that a man of this rank is stating this nonsense, because that is what it is," Van de Wetering told The Associated Press.

"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."

Renee Jones-Bos, the Dutch ambassador to the United States, also said in a statement, "I couldn't disagree more" with Sheehan.

American politicians also criticized Sheehan.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin told Sheehan he was "totally off-target."

He said that while it may be the case that some militaries suffered from a focus on peacekeeping, that had nothing to do with homosexuals serving their countries.

"But I think that any effort to connect that failure on the part of the Dutch to the fact that they have homosexuals, or did allow homosexuals, I think is totally off-target," Levin, who wants gays to serve openly, said.

"The Dutch military, as you point out, were peacekeepers and not peace-enforcers. I agree with that," he added. "But what the heck that has to do with the issue before us is what mystifies me."

Dutch officials also noted that the U.S. military works successfully with the Dutch military in Afghanistan. Canada, one the U.S.'s most active partners in the war torn country, has allowed gays to serve openly in the military since 1992.

The Srebrenica massacre remains a sensitive issue in the Netherlands. In 2002, a six-year investigation into the genocide led to the government's fall.

Dutch furious at claim gays in military caused massacre - CTV News

 

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US have a problem with everyone