Gay Dutch soldiers responsible for Srebrenica massacre says US general
19th March 2010
The Dutch government condemned the comments by Gen John Sheehan, a former NATO commander and senior Marine officer, as outrageous.
Undoubtedly. But were they accurate?
“The case in point that I’m referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs,” he said, referring to the UN peacekeeping force deployed to protect Bosnian Muslim civilians.
“The battalion was understrength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone polls, marched the Muslims off and executed them.”
Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pressed him to clarify his comments.
“Did the Dutch leaders tell you it (the fall of Srebrenica) was because there were gay soldiers there?” asked an incredulous Levin.
“Yes,” Sheehan said and added: “They included that as part of the problem.”
Gen Sheehan, who retired from the military in 1997, said he had been told that by the former chief of staff of the Dutch army.
Rather an unimpeachable source, I should say.
Mr Levin vehemently rejected Sheehan’s allegation, saying that drawing a connection between the massacre at Srebrenica and gays in the Dutch military was “totally off-target.”
That’s Democrats for you: Facts that don’t fit the spin aren’t allowed.
“It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense,” the Dutch defence ministry spokesman Roger van de Wetering said. “I have never heard of a single statement by a Dutch political or military leader that drew a link between the fall of the enclave and the fact that there were Dutch homosexual soldiers.”
Uh, excuse me? Sounds like you just did.