US General: Dutch Gays in Military to Blame for Massacre [Updated]

WASHINGTON D.C. (VOA)- A former top U.S. and NATO commander says the Netherlands’ inclusion of gays in their military rendered Dutch peacekeeping troops unable to prevent the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995.

Retired U.S. Marine General John Sheehan led the U.S. Atlantic Command and served as the top NATO commander in the mid-1990s,  the height of ethnic cleansing in former-Yugoslavia.

General (Ret.) John J. "Jack" Sheehan

He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military would breed friction and undermine unit cohesion in the armed forces.

Sheehan backed his contention that gay soldiers undermined Dutch combat readiness by pointing to the massacre of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995.  Four-hundred Dutch peacekeepers protecting the area were overwhelmed by Serbian forces, which killed an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Linking the massacre to the Netherlands allowing gays in the military prompted this exchange with Senator Levin, who seemed perplexed by Sheehan’s assertion.

SHEEHAN: “That [Srebrenica] was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II.”
LEVIN: “And did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?”
SHEEHAN: “It was a combination …”
LEVIN: “Did they tell you [that gay soldiers were to blame], that is my question.”
SHEEHAN: “Yes.”
LEVIN: “They did?”
SHEEHAN: “They included that as part of the problem.”

Asked for comment, Dutch military officials expressed astonishment.  The spokesman for the Netherlands Ministry of Defense, Roger van de Wetering, told VOA Sheehan’s assertions are “total nonsense” and that he “cannot believe that a man of that rank is stating such a thing.”  He added that he had never heard Sheehan’s allegation before from any source in the Netherlands or anywhere else.

Forum Democratic Underground

(RNW) – Retired US Marine General John Sheehan got one thing right in his testimony to the US Congress: gays serve in the Dutch military. But it takes a foreigner to point that out. Here in The Netherlands, gays have served in the military for decades.

What?

The reaction here in The Netherlands has been a universal, ‘huh?’ From the current Foreign Minister to the Defence Minister at the time of the Srebrenica massacre; from leaders of unions representing soldiers to the former army commander; all have said that General Sheehan’s remarks do not have the slightest basis in reality.

The Dutch caretaker Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said via

Twitter that he was amazed at the ex general’s comments – saying they reflected more about the discussion around homosexuals in the US army than anything else.

Minister of Defense Eimert van Middelkoop twittered: “scandalous and unbefitting a soldier”. And the Dutch ambassador to the US, Renee Jones-Bos, added in a statement on the embassy’s website that she “couldn’t disagree more” with Sheehan’s claims.

“I take pride in the fact that lesbians and gays have served openly and with distinction in the Dutch military forces for decades, such as in Afghanistan at the moment’,’ she said.

(Washington Post) Apr. 16. 2007 – Service to the nation is both a responsibility and an honor for every citizen presented with the opportunity. This is especially true in times of war and crisis. Today, because of the war in Iraq, this nation is in a crisis of confidence and is confused about its foreign policy direction, especially in the Middle East.

… It would have been a great honor to serve this nation again. But after thoughtful discussions with people both in and outside of this administration, I concluded that the current Washington decision-making process lacks a linkage to a broader view of the region and how the parts fit together strategically. We got it right during the early days of Afghanistan — and then lost focus. We have never gotten it right in Iraq.

3 Generals Spurn the Position of War ‘Czar’

“The very fundamental issue is, they don’t know where the hell they’re going,” said retired Marine Gen. John J. “Jack” Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job. Sheehan said he believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq.

General John J. Sheehan’s statement before the Senate Commission of Carl Levin:
“Serbs came in and handcuffed the Dutch forces to telephone poles”

May 1995 – 370 UN peacekeepers held hostage by Serbs at possible miliary targets to avoid NATO air strikes

The Dutch mission was a peacekeeping force in Bosnia, the UN and NATO would cover with military air support. The Serbs attacked the Bosnian enclave of Screbrenica in July, 1995. They calculated the UN and NATO would not provide cover with air power, due to large hostage taking earlier to offset NATO air strikes.

Dutch blast retired U.S. general John Sheehan for saying gay soldiers linked to Srebrenica massacre

CLIP 33 of 63 – TX 26.5.1995 UN peacekeepers chained up as hostages to prevent NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets BOSNIA: Tuzla: UN Peacekeeping soldier chained to a post along road (being used as human shield). Other soldiers held hostage and handcuffed to ammunition dump doors. UN soldiers used at human shields, chained together on a strategic bridge. One makes an anti-NATO statement (under duress, their words not their own). Smoke rising in distance and explosions heard as result of NATO air strikes. NATO commander at press conference explains air strikes were a success, points at map. Aftermath of Head Up Display pictures (pilot’s view) of a ground strike. Aftermath of Serb shelling on safe zones in city people milling around in the dark helping the injured and removing bodies. Day shot of aftermath of Sarajevo shelled, soldiers helping wounded out of the city. UN troops into UN vehicle.